Tech investor mocks Vance’s call to hire Americans as 'DEI', gets blasted by Trump officials in H-1B firestorm

Ankit Gupta, a general partner at the influential Silicon Valley startup accelerator Y Combinator, drew criticism from Trump administration officials after mocking Vice President JD Vance’s call to prioritize American workers over hiring cheaper foreign labor.

The controversy began after the Trump administration proposed a $103,265 fee for many new H-1B visa petitions. As it stands, the H-1B visa program allows U.S. companies to hire foreign workers for specialty occupations and is overwhelmingly used by the tech industry.