‘Please Come Home’: Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu Reacts As Trump’s Green Card Crackdown Shakes Indians In US

Last Updated:May 23, 2026, 13:30 IST

A new US immigration rule has triggered panic among Indian visa holders, while Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu is urging them to “come home.”

The American Dream for hundreds of thousands of Indian tech workers, students, and researchers just hit an absolute brick wall.

In a sweeping immigration shake-up, the Trump administration has completely transformed how permanent residency works. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) dropped a bombshell policy update on X that sent shockwaves through the global tech community: “An alien who is in the U.S. temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply. This policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivizing loopholes. The era of abusing our nation’s immigration system is over."

Under this new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) directive, the traditional “adjustment of status"—which allowed visa holders to wait out their green cards while safely living and working inside the United States—is effectively finished. Unless “extraordinary circumstances" apply, applicants must physically pack up their lives, leave their jobs and relationships, and wait out the notoriously brutal backlogs from their home countries.

As panic rippled through the Indian diaspora, Zoho Founder and CEO Sridhar Vembu stepped into the fray with a viral, raw emotional appeal, urging affected Indians to abandon the grueling hustle for American corporate validation.

Responding to the DHS announcement, Vembu tweeted: “Once again, my appeal to Indians in America on a visa. Please come home. Even if you feel it is hardship and sacrifice, self-respect should dictate your course. Let’s make Bharat proud."

Internet Reacts To Sridhar Vembu’s Tweet

Inside Vembu’s mentions, the conversation revolved around one thing: Is returning to India a dignified homecoming, or a logistical nightmare?

Some high-flying returnees passionately backed Vembu’s vision, sharing how they successfully transitioned away from the American grind. One user recalled: “sir, I went to US in 2004 but decided never to apply for a green card! When I left in 2018, I left without ever applying for one (I came back to reset my H1B status) I, along with my friend, now run a company with 130 people. Have some of the biggest companies as our Clients… India is MY country and this is the only country where I feel I belong. I didn’t come back home because US pushed me away. I knew I had to come back because I was a guest there!"

Others pointed out that leaving the Western lifestyle requires a massive shift in materialism – “It is very easy to live in India in a simple way. If you are in village 20 to 30 k is enought to lead a family. But people should be ready to sacrifice TV, Fridge, AC, Big TV, washing Machine, High end Cars, Flight Journey, Party, branded cloths etc."

However, a massive faction of users fired back at Vembu, pointing out that systemic red tape and bribery in India are the exact reasons why elite talent flees in the first place. “Self respect, sir? Where’s the self respect in paying money + begging every babu / govt employee to move things? Even to close down a failed business, we have to pay bribes and beg 5-14 Govt departments (based on the kind of business) here, from peons to HoDs."

Another user perfectly synthesised the deadlock: “Agree with’s vision, but we must see it through the eyes of Indians in America: great salaries, world-class education, thriving tech ecosystem. India needs to empower startups, crush corruption, and cut the brutal red tape. Then the talent will come."

News viral ‘Please Come Home’: Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu Reacts As Trump’s Green Card Crackdown Shakes Indians In US

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