Revoke every Indian visa, deport them immediately: Florida councilman

Florida councilman Chandler Langevin sparked outrage after posting on social media that all Indian visas should be revoked and Indian immigrants deported

A Florida councilman and vocal Trump supporter has sparked outrage after repeatedly calling for Indian immigrants to be deported. Chandler Langevin, a member of the Palm Bay City Council, posted several comments over three weeks, accusing Indian Americans of disloyalty and demanding their removal from the United States.

 

“Today is my birthday and all I want is for @realDonaldTrump to revoke every Indian visa and deport them immediately. America for Americans,” Langevin wrote in one of his posts.

 

In another, he claimed that those who “hire only Indians, send remittance checks back to India, and lobby to fly Indian flags over American government buildings” should be deported for showing “loyalty to India.”

 

 

Public outrage and city council censure

 

Since late September, residents and Indian American advocacy groups have filled council meetings, demanding Langevin’s resignation. The Palm Bay City Council voted 3–2 to censure him, effectively curbing his powers by requiring him to seek consensus before adding agenda items, banning him from committee work, and preventing him from speaking during commissioner comments, Central Florida Public Media reported.

 

National advocacy group Hindus for Human Rights urged Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to remove him from office in an open letter.

 

Bharat Patel, former chair of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, said on October 2 that Langevin’s statements “echo some of history’s darkest rhetoric” and could incite violence. Prashant Patel, president of the Indian American Business Association and Chamber, told the council his comments were deeply divisive, according to *The Washington Post*.

 

Langevin’s partial apology and renewed backlash

 

On October 8, Langevin issued an apology on X, saying he regretted offending “patriotic Americans of the Hindu faith,” but reiterated his opposition to “all illegal immigration and most legal immigration.”

 

US Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi condemned his remarks, describing them as “dangerous” and reminiscent of former President Donald Trump’s mass deportation rhetoric.

 

“It’s unacceptable—and dangerous—that in 2025 we’re hearing elected officials call for the mass removal of Indian Americans,” said Krishnamoorthi. “When hate speech is normalised and communities are scapegoated, our democracy is weakened.”

 

Langevin responded by tagging the Department of Homeland Security on X, posting, “I would like to report a foreign occupier. Name: Unpronounceable.”

 

Growing anti-immigrant sentiment among conservatives

 

Nearly 2,10,000 Indian-origin residents live in Florida, according to AAPI Data, a nonpartisan research group on Asian American and Pacific Islander populations.

 

Langevin’s comments echo a growing chorus among right-wing leaders attacking immigration from India. Conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot dead on September 10, 2025, wrote days before his death, “America does not need more visas for people from India... Enough already. We’re full. Let’s finally put our own people first.”

 

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has also criticised the H-1B visa programme, calling it a “total scam” during a Fox News interview. “Most of them are from one country, India,” he said. “There’s a cottage industry about how all those people make money off this system.”

 

He added that American workers are often made to train their replacements before being dismissed.