'We're full': Charlie Kirk’s remarks on Indian immigrants resurface after Utah shooting

Trump ally Charlie Kirk's remarks on Indians resurfaces

Hours after conservative US leader Charlie Kirk was fatally shot during a college event in Utah on Wednesday, his remarks from last week resurfaced in which he said that America does not need more visas for Indians, adding that the country was “full” and it was time to put “our own people first.”

The 31-year-old Trump ally entered the ‘America First’ debate, a central theme of the former president’s agenda, with his comments on legal immigrants, particularly from India.

"America does not need more visas for people from India. Perhaps no form of legal immigration has so displaced American workers as those from India. Enough already. We're full. Let's finally put our own people first," Kirk wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on September 2.

Indian professionals, especially in STEM, healthcare, and education, have long been integral to the US workforce. Critics called Kirk’s comments xenophobic, arguing they could harm bilateral relations and disrupt critical innovation pipelines.

US President Donald Trump described right-wing activist Charlie Kirk as a "martyr" for conservative values after he was shot dead at a Utah university.

"Kirk fought for liberty, democracy, justice and the American people. He's a martyr for truth and freedom," Trump said in a video posted to his Truth Social platform. In the statement, he blamed the "radical left" for Kirk’s killing, accusing them of comparing people like Kirk to "Nazis and the world's mass murderers and criminals."

Kirk, also the executive director of the conservative Turning Point USA advocacy group, was speaking at an outdoor event at Utah Valley University when he was shot in the neck.

Several videos of the incident surfaced on social media, showing Kirk moving his hand toward his neck as he fell off the chair. Though he was rushed to a hospital, doctors pronounced him dead.