US Senator Drags Chilukuru Temple To Attack Indians?

While Trump’s administration is adopting stringent measures to tighten the US Visa system, some of the Senators are going a step further and making use of every opportunity to project that Indians have long been abusing it to secure jobs and other forms of employment. In recent times, there has been strong debate over the US Visa culture.

Now, a fresh controversy has erupted among the Indian diaspora after US Senator Eric Schmitt made startling comments about H-1B visa culture while criticizing America’s employment visa system. What is more shocking is that his scathing remarks especially targeted Hyderabad’s famous Chilkur Balaji Temple, which is popularly known as the “Visa Temple” among devotees.

The Chilukuru Temple is a revered shrine which is visited by thousands of devotees everyday with majority of them believing that their long cherished dream to set foot in USA place will be fulfilled if they seek the blessings. But, Eric Schmitt calls the temple as a part of the visa fraud.

The Republican senator from Missouri posted a series of messages on X where he attacked programs like H-1B, L-1, F-1 and OPT visas. According to him, these visa systems are impacting American workers and lowering wages in the United States.

In his criticism, Schmitt referred to the famous Chilkur Balaji Temple in Hyderabad and called it part of what he described as a “Visa Cartel.” He claimed that many Indians visit the temple to pray for successful US work visa approvals. The temple has been known for years as a place where students and IT professionals seek blessings before visa interviews or travel abroad.

His comments quickly went viral on social media and triggered strong reactions from Indians online. Many users criticized the senator for dragging a religious place into a political debate about immigration and jobs.

The Chilkur Balaji Temple is one of the most famous temples near Hyderabad and is widely associated with visa-related prayers. Every year, lakhs of students, software employees and job seekers visit the temple before attending US visa interviews. Many devotees also return to the temple after receiving their visas successfully.

Schmitt also alleged that major tech companies in the US are replacing American workers with cheaper foreign labor through visa programs. He further said that billions of dollars are flowing to India through outsourcing and AI-related work.

India remains the biggest beneficiary of the H-1B visa program, with thousands of Indian professionals receiving the majority of approvals every year. The issue has once again sparked debate in the US over immigration, outsourcing and the role of foreign workers in the American technology industry.