The Indian government is watching with increasing alarm as the proposed Protect and Grow American Jobs Bill is now headed for the US Senate after being passed by the House Judiciary Committee.

If the US administration passes the Bill, which is in line with President Donald Trump’s vision of ‘Buy American, Hire American’, it means India will be welcoming back 5 lakh to 7.5 lakh of its own citizens.

Trump has decided to tighten H1B visa rules and regulations as his administration no longer wants lower paid foreigners for jobs that “rightfully” belong to American citizens.

NDTV in a report stated that software body Nasscom has cautioned that the “proposed US Bill is riddled with ‘onerous conditions’ and places ‘unprecedented obligations’ on both Indian IT companies and clients using H-1B visas”.

In July 2017, when PM Narendra Modi had visited the US, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had said in the Rajya Sabha that “without using the word H1B, there was extensive discussion (between PM Modi and President Trump)” on the “spirit” behind such visas. She also said Trump had admitted that the contribution of Indian professionals was benefitting both countries and “if they (US) harm their (professionals’) interests, then it will in turn affect them (US)”.

In September 2017, when Swaraj herself visited the US and met US secretary of state Rex Tillerson, ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had tweeted that Swaraj had “strongly raised the issue of H1B visas with secretary Tillerson”.

This time, the Indian administration has remained silent on the matter.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, a US source briefed by homeland security officials told McClatchy DC that “the idea was to a create a sort of ‘self-deportation’ of hundreds of thousands of Indian tech workers in the US to open up those jobs for Americans”.