Nalin Haley, son of former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and 2024 Republican presidential contender Nikki Haley, stoked controversy by saying that naturalized citizens of the United States should not be allowed to hold public office.
The 24-year-old said that growing up in America is the “biggest part of understanding” the country and argued that only those born in the U.S. should be eligible for elected positions. These comments were made in a conversation with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson.
Nalin Haley had already drawn attention for his strong opposition to the H-1B visa program. He called for a complete halt to the skilled worker visa, a policy that has long benefited mostly Indian professionals in the United States.
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In a recent interview, Haley expressed frustration over the current job market, saying that none of his friends, despite earning “great degrees from great schools,” have been able to find employment. “We are seeing kids graduate with six figures in debt and not having a job to show for it. My main friend group graduated with great degrees from great schools. It’s been a year and a half since graduation. Not one of them has a job,” he said, speaking to Fox News.
“And when we look at all the other statistics, we see that 58% of recent college graduates are unemployed. Of those 42% that are employed, 50% of them have temporary jobs or jobs that don’t require a degree,” Nalin Haley added.
Nalin Haley previously clashed with journalist Mehdi Hasan, even suggesting he should be denaturalized. This happened after Hasan responded to Haley’s anti-immigration stance by reminding people Haley’s grandfather had immigrated to the United States from India in 1969.
“Nalin’s grandfather, Ajit Singh Randhawa, the late father of Nikki Haley, a Sikh immigrant from India, had to confront similar bogus anti-immigrant arguments from the right when he moved to the US for work in 1969,” Hasan wrote in a post on X.
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Nalin Haley’s grandfather, Ajit Singh Randhawa, originally from Punjab, immigrated to the United States more than 55 years ago and went on to build an academic career. He earned a master’s degree in biology, completed a PhD at the University of British Columbia, and in 1969 joined the faculty at Voorhees College in South Carolina. Haley’s remarks have been seen as especially ironic considering the immigrant background of his family.
This comes at a time when H1-B visas are a point of much debate. President Donald Trump has recently softened his stance on the issue, creating a split in the MAGA base.