'Indians Are The New Oil, Coal, Or Gas,' Says Xavier Fernandes, Founder of Y-Axis On Skilled Tech Workers

Talking about the immigration crackdown in the US, Xavier Fernandes, founder of immigration consultancy Y-Axis, offered the sharpest assessment of what is at stake. Speaking to CBS, he pointed out that Indian skilled workers are as precious as oil and gas, and the new immigration policies are going to be detrimental for America in the long run.

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Fernandes said that Hyderabad alone has produced a disproportionate share of America's technology leadership. "Many CEOs are from Hyderabad. It's just a breeding ground of tech." His broader argument was direct, "Indians are the new oil, coal, or gas. It's brainpower to run the modern day industries." On whether that calibre of talent can be sourced domestically in the US, he was unequivocal. "That kind of talent, you can't manufacture it. It's not a thing that you can get locally."

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It is a point even President Trump has, in his own way, conceded. Trump acknowledged last year, "You do have to bring in talent you don't have." According to data from the University of Southern California cited in the CBS report, over 70 per cent of H-1B holders in 2024 were Indian nationals.

Hyderabad's Hi-Tech City employees

Hyderabad's gleaming technology corridor, officially named Hi-Tech City but universally known now as Cyberabad, has long been India's answer to California. Google, Facebook, and virtually every major American tech company have built significant operations here, drawing a steady stream of India's brightest engineers. For years, the unspoken deal was simple. Work hard, prove yourself, and a path to the US would open up.

That deal is now under serious strain. The Trump administration's decision to add a $100,000 fee on new H-1B foreign worker visa applications, announced last September on the stated grounds of protecting American jobs, has sent shockwaves through Hyderabad's tech community.

Rajesh Jack Nally, who has worked for an American technology company in the city for a decade, captured the mood with quiet clarity. "Our dream was to perform, give you a hundred percent, and then probably we'll get a chance to move to the US," he told CBS. That dream has not died, but the price tag attached to it now makes it unreachable for most.

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"Nobody's going to hire you and give $100K"

For Hamid Abdul, whose job at Amazon he had hoped would eventually open a door to the US, the maths no longer works. "It's not beneficial for any employer, to be honest. Nobody's going to hire you and give $100K," he told CBS Evening News.

His decision, like that of a growing number of his peers, has already been made. "I decided to move to Canada," he said simply. "It's definitely America's loss."

Canada, Australia, China become big takers

The policy shift has not gone unnoticed by America's competitors. Canada, Australia, and China are now actively streamlining their visa processes to attract exactly the talent Washington is pricing out. Jack Nally is already acting on it. "I'm currently applying to Australia," he told CBS. "The process is pretty straightforward there."

Fernandes sees this as a structural realignment, not a temporary blip. "Many Indians will stay back and build India," he reportedly said

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