Vice president JD Vance’s photo with Indian-origin venture capitalist Asha Jadeja Motwani became a flashpoint amid the H-1B row as social media users questioned what was the purpose of the visit at a time when MAGA activists are opposing the US’s quota for H-1B programs. Asha Jadeja Motwani is a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley with investments in over 100 tech startups. She posted a photo with JD Vance and wrote about their family gathering, in which she said she raised the issue of immigration. Usha Vance accompanied the vice president and Motwani said both of them are “humble to a fault”. “JD took endless questions from about a dozen of us around the dining table and answered them patiently. I had concerns about immigration policies, and wanted to be reassured that America will not lose highly gifted and talented immigrants from foreign countries — top brains of the world. He gets an A+” the venture capitalist wrote.“Many of us on the table had been Democrats, just like him, for over 30 years. Our departure from the Democratic Party to the center right had many resonances,” Motwani said, adding that she gifted a two-inch statue of Lord Ganesha to JD and Usha. “They loved it, and Usha told me that her older son actually wanted one…three if us hit it off beautifully for some reason,” the post read.The meeting comes amid a fresh row over H-1B programs after the USCIS released that they cleared over 120,000 H-1B visas for 2026. US tech workers complained that they are losing jobs because of the low-pay hiring that the companies make through the H-1B programs. Meanwhile, Walmart announced 1500 job cuts in tech roles triggering the row further. “Let me get this straight, JD Vance just wined and dined with a BJP RSS agent of India to facilitate India’s national interests, we can kiss our economy goodbye,” one user wrote. “Nice! But we should scrap H-1Bs and help our young, enterprising youth first,” one commented on Asha Motwani’s photo. “O gross we will not accept the endless stream of H1bs to continue. Why support layoffs for Americans?” another wrote.
