Daniel Keene served up a Texas-sized take on H1-B visas and immigration last month — and says he paid a hefty price for it.
Keene, who owns Boundaries Coffee, a popular local coffee chain outside Dallas, publicly shared his thoughts on the program that allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers for specialty occupations in a post on X, while noting the “typical view” in his suburban neighborhood.
“We have to cancel the H-1Bs,” Keene, of Aubrey, wrote on September 6. “I want my kids to grow up in America. Not India.”
The post, which was deleted days later, included footage of roughly 100 people celebrating outside during an Indian religious festival. After the post went viral, Keene said he started receiving threats via email, including a $20,000 extortion attempt, and the two drive-thru locations he operates in Little Elm and Prosper got a barrage of bad reviews online. He also lost $8,000 in sales over two weeks, as well as a potential employee who withdrew her application.
Jawad also cited what he described as a “disturbing surge” in anti-Indian racism. A report released last month by the Center for the Study of Organized Hate revealed hostility targeting Indian Americans on X has spiked in recent months, peaking in August amid the US-India tariff dispute with 381 posts generating nearly 190 million views.
Researchers identified American anger against the H-1B visa program, which enables tens of thousands of Indians to migrate to the United States for primarily tech jobs, as of one primary causes.