American entrepreneur and Azoria CEO James Fishback, last week, doubled down his criticism of the US H-1B visa program, calling it a “scam” that denies opportunities to qualified American workers. The 30-year-old former DOGE architect and founder of the investment firm Azoria took to social media and television interviews over the weekend to accuse US corporations of exploiting the visa system and importing cheaper foreign labor, primarily from India and China, instead of hiring American graduates.
“So-called American companies say they have no choice but to use the H-1B program because they ‘can’t find Americans for these jobs,’” Fishback said in a video shared on microblogging site X.
“Here’s the ugly truth: they’re not even looking for Americans. They refuse to interview them. They hide job postings in obscure newspapers to ‘check the box,’ and when no one ‘applies,’ they import another foreign worker—denying yet another qualified American a job, a wage, and the dignity and purpose that come with both. It’s disgraceful. It’s time to finally and fully dismantle the H-1B scam," he lashes out.
Reiterating his rigid stance in another post, Fishback wrote, “The H-1B scam is hurting Americans, especially in Florida. If companies in FL want to hire skilled workers, stop importing Indians and hire recent grads from FSU, UF, FAU, and UCF. They are brilliant, hungry, and love our state.”
It should be mentioned here that the Azoria CEO has frequently argued that American companies show little interest in hiring domestic talent despite an abundance of skilled graduates in fields like AI and computer science.
“The companies are not hiring Americans, who are far more qualified than the cheap foreign labor from India,” he said. “The Indians and Chinese think they are better off, but they too end up getting exploited. Otherwise, I have no sympathy for them, because they are treating us like slaves in our own country.”
During a recent interview with Fox News, Fishback was asked whether ending H-1B visas would reduce the number of skilled foreign workers coming to the US. He replied, “We don’t need to import foreign workers from India. We already have skilled Americans right here at home.”
He also recounted visiting Florida State University (FSU), where he met AI and computer science students who expressed concern that tech giants like Google, Amazon, Meta, and Apple were prioritizing H-1B hires over American graduates. “These are brilliant young Americans who just want a chance to work in their own country,” Fishback said. “Made in America should mean jobs for Americans.”
Calling for political accountability, Fishback urged voters to question where candidates stand on the H-1B issue. “If a politician does not support immediately ending the H-1B scam, don’t vote for them,” he warned. “It doesn’t matter if they’re Republican or Democrat — they are choosing cheap foreign labour over qualified Americans.” He added that 2026 should be the year Americans stand up for domestic workers.
Fishback has been an outspoken critic of the H-1B system ever since President Donald Trump announced a $100,000 fee on visa applications earlier this year. He argues that the current system “unfairly favors foreign workers over domestic talent,” hurting the country’s economic and social fabric.
Back in June, Fishback made headlines after declaring that he was leaving DOGE following Elon Musk’s criticism of Donald Trump. At the time, he demanded that Musk apologize to the former president for what he called “baseless personal attacks.” “The truth is, Elon set expectations for the President, me, and the country that he did not come close to fulfilling. That’s disappointing, but okay. What’s not okay is his baseless personal attacks against President Trump,” Fishback had said.
Fishback, who previously worked at Greenlight Capital in 2021 before founding Azoria in 2023, also runs Incubate Debate, a nonprofit that helps high school students build public-speaking and debating skills.
In December, he visited Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate to introduce the Azoria Meritocracy ETF, an investment fund that targets S&P 500 companies avoiding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. He has also collaborated with former DOGE representative Vivek Ramaswamy.
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