'Love My Indian In-Laws': JD Vance Clarifies After Storm Over 'Indentured Servants' Remark On H-1B Workers

US Vice-President JD Vance on Sunday clarified his remarks describing H-1B visa workers as “foreign indentured servants.” Vance admitted that his choice of words may not have been perfect as the term historically referred to a person who agreed to work for a fixed period, usually four to seven years, in exchange for travel to another country, food, clothing and shelter instead of wages. However, Vance defended his argument stating that American companies should give local workers a fair chance before hiring foreign employees.

JD Vance's Indian In-Laws Reference

Speaking about his earlier remarks in an interview with the CBS news, Vance referred to his wife and second lady, Usha Vance, whose parents immigrated to the United States from South India. He said he respected his in-laws and was proud of his wife, who was born in the US.

“You know where my family comes from, and I love my mother-in-law and father-in-law who immigrated from South India, and obviously their daughter, born in the United States of America, is now the second lady, and I’m very proud of her, and I love her very much," JD Vance said when asked about his earlier remarks on H-1B workers.

ALSO READ: 'Deeply Offensive': India Hits Back At JD Vance's Remarks On H-1B Workers, Says PERM Move Undermines Shared Goals

Vance acknowledged that his “rhetoric may have been imperfect” but maintained that his main concern was protecting American workers. He argued that companies should not replace existing employees with foreign workers when suitable candidates are already available in the US.

JD Vance defended his immigration stance after an Indian-American challenged his remarks about H-1B workers. He expressed affection for his South Indian in-laws and called for a balanced system that welcomes contributors. #Immigration #H1BVisa https://t.co/UTVMiAXbD0

— Rubina (@Rubina171607) October 18, 2026

“I think that we can have a respect and a welcome to people who want to contribute to the United States of America…but also recognise that if you’re a major corporation – let’s say you’re a trillion dollar company and you bring in somebody, an accountant, and you say that you cannot hire an accountant from your existing labor pool, and when you’re doing that, you fire an accountant that was already on the payroll. That’s not fairness,” he added.

PERM Suspension

Earlier, on October 8, Vance had announced a crackdown on Microsoft, Adobe and several major IT outsourcing companies, including Indian firms Infosys, TCS, Wipro and HCL. The companies were suspended from the PERM programme, which helps employers sponsor foreign workers for green cards. During the press conference, he had accused companies of using foreign workers to replace Americans, claiming that H-1B workers earned less than American employees doing similar jobs.

‘Microsoft, you're a great American company, but you've got to hire great American workers. You cannot lay off American workers and then replace them with foreign indentured servants,” Vance said. His remarks had triggered a storm on social media and were even condemned by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

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