Washington: US Vice President JD Vance has acknowledged that his comments on H-1B visas were “imperfect” after facing criticism from a naturalised American citizen during a CBS News town hall.
During the one-hour programme, titled “Things That Matter,” Niv Agaram accused Vance of blaming immigrants for problems that he and the Trump administration were expected to address.
Referring to reports of ICE personnel behaving like military police and Vance’s earlier description of H-1B workers as “indentured servants,” Agaram questioned why immigrants were being held responsible for these issues.
Vance responded by accepting responsibility for his choice of words, saying, “I would say, and to the extent that my rhetoric has been imperfect here, that’s on me.”
However, he clarified that his criticism was directed at the visa system and the companies using it, rather than the workers themselves. He argued that the system allows employees to be treated like “indentured servants” who can be sent back to their countries of origin.
During the discussion, Vance also referred to his wife, Usha Vance, and his in-laws, highlighting their immigrant family background amid accusations of xenophobia and scapegoating.
The exchange brought renewed attention to Vance’s position on H-1B visas and his criticism of the system governing foreign workers in the United States.
