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‘I want my country back too,” Pooja Sethi rebuts anti-immigrant post
She responded to a post describing a Texas park as “unrecognizable” over foreign languages, triggering a wider backlash online
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Malvika Choudhary - Mon, 20, Apr 2026
- 13:40 EDT
- 40
Pooja Sethi/ Sara Gonzales / X/ Pooja Sethi/ Sara Gonzales
Pooja Sethi, a candidate for Texas House District 47 and former chair of the Travis County Democratic Party, pushed back against an anti-immigrant social media post, calling out rhetoric that frames immigrants as a threat.
Sethi’s response came after Texas YouTuber and journalist Sara Gonzales wrote about being at a park in Plano, Texas, where she was “surrounded by foreigners” speaking multiple languages.
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Gonzales said that her hometown felt “unrecognizable,” adding, “I want my country back.”
“I want my country back too,” Sethi wrote in reply. “The one before divisive and political posts like this were written, and when neighbors and children in a park weren’t treated like a threat.”
I want my country back too. The one before divisive and political posts like this were written, and when neighbors and children in a park weren’t treated like a threat. https://t.co/ZD1l4gpIWN
— Pooja Sethi (@PoojaforTexas) April 20, 2026
The response drew sharp reactions online.
One user replied directly to Gonzales, writing: “F off. You’ve completely lost yourself in hatred toward minorities,” adding that young children from immigrant families primarily speak English and concluding, “This is my country too.”
Another user, replying to Sethi, criticized the “hateful words” directed at her but said concerns about immigration should be acknowledged. “People generally approve of immigrants who come legally… just because someone doesn't speak the same language, doesn't mean they are a threat,” the user wrote, while also pointing to demographic changes and language barriers as concerns raised by some residents.
Sethi, who previously worked as an immigration attorney and led one of Texas’ most active county Democratic organizations, has focused her campaign on civil rights, public education, and community issues.
Gonzales has recently gone viral online for posts critical of Indian professionals and the H-1B visa program.
In a separate instance, she accused an Indian-origin man, Naveen Tummala, of running an H-1B-H4 “scam,” claiming his visa was sponsored by a company while he identified himself as the owner of a food truck business operating in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Cities such as Plano and Frisco have seen significant growth in their Indian-origin populations over the past decade. A May 2025 study by the Pew Research Center estimated that Texas is home to about 570,000 people of Indian origin, one of the largest such populations in the United States.
Discover more at New India Abroad.
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