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HAF challenges Dave Brat’s H-1B allegation
The group says Dave Brat’s assertion about 220,000 H-1B visas from Chennai lacks verified data
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Pranavi Sharma - Fri, 28, Nov 2025
- 02:01 EST
- 11
Brat made his allegation during a Nov. 24 appearance on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast. / AI generated
The Hindu American Foundation said this week that former US Rep. Dave Brat’s allegation of large-scale H-1B visa fraud at the US Consulate in Chennai is an unverified claim, not an established fact.
In a statement responding to Brat’s remarks, the group said it is “troubled by the misinformation being shared about the Chennai Consulate supposedly issuing 220,000 H-1B visas.” It noted that media reports citing Brat’s figure “explicitly note that the figure has not been independently verified by any official US government source.”
The foundation said the annual cap of 85,000 H-1B visas applies only to new visas selected through the lottery. Renewals, extensions and dependent visas are not counted against that limit, meaning a consulate may process a high volume of visa activity without violating the federal cap. “There is currently no public data showing that Chennai issued 220,000 H-1B visas in a single year,” the group said, calling the claim “an unverified allegation, not a confirmed fact.”
ALSO READ: Former U.S. lawmaker alleges fraud in India’s H-1B data
The statement also cautioned that broad claims about a community or country can escalate prejudice. “Making sweeping statements like this about a community or a country, especially from a political leader, is dangerous and ignorant,” it said. The group added that such claims “can inflame prejudice and spread misinformation, and we should be careful not to amplify them.”
Brat made his allegation during a Nov. 24 appearance on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast. He said the Chennai district processed roughly 220,000 H-1B applications in 2024, far above the congressional cap. “There’s a cap of only 85,000 H-1B visas, yet somehow one district in India… got 220,000,” he said. “So that’s the scam.”
Brat also pointed to national-origin data, noting that Indian nationals make up 71 percent of H-1B recipients, compared with 12 percent from China. He argued the imbalance signals deeper problems in the system. His comments echoed older allegations raised by Mahvash Siddiqui, a former Foreign Service officer who worked at the Chennai consulate in the mid-2000s.
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