‘Clog the toilet’: Racist online campaign targets Indians on H-1B visas
New York: Indian tech workers holding H-1B visas have become the target of a racist online campaign coordinated on far-right forums such as 4chan. The campaign, dubbed “Clog the Toilet”, reportedly seeks to disrupt flight bookings for Indians returning to the United States after vacationing in India.
The tactic involves reserving multiple seats on India–US flights and initiating the checkout process without completing payment. By repeatedly doing so, the campaigners temporarily block genuine passengers from purchasing tickets, leading to inflated fares.
The development follows former President Donald Trump’s September 21 announcement of a a$100,000 fee on H-1B visas, triggering panic among Indian professionals abroad. Many rushed to book tickets back to the US, fearing the new fee would apply to their re-entry.
One such passenger, Austin-based software engineer Amrutha Tamanam, said she struggled to secure a flight to Dallas on Qatar Airways and eventually paid nearly $2,000—more than double the original round-trip fare.
Posts on 4chan and Telegram contained racist slurs against South Asians, with users boasting about “wrecking Jeets” by blocking seats. Messages urged participants to “clog the flight reservation system” to keep Indians from returning.
Despite the online claims, an Air India spokesperson said the airline’s website had not experienced any disruption.
To ease concerns, the White House clarified that the $100,000 fee applies only to new H-1B petitions.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed: “Those who already hold H-1B visas and are currently outside of the country right now will NOT be charged $100,000 to re-enter.”
The campaign has raised fresh concerns about the intersection of immigration policy, racism, and online extremism in the United States.
***OPERATION: CLOG THE TOILET - UPDATE***
— CEO of Based (@UncyClaudius) September 20, 2025
4chan autists have now created automated scripts to overbook Indian flights.
If you're technically inclined, you can follow along using Postman! #CLOGTHETOILET pic.twitter.com/nplpaNwhAZ
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We will move court again to resist voter deletions: Mamata
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday hit out at the BJP and the Election Commission over voter deletions during the SIR exercise and said her party will move a court again to resist the removal of electors from the rolls.
Her comments came after nearly 91 lakh voters' names were deleted from the electoral rolls following the completion of the Special Intensive Revision in the state.
“You will not be able to defeat the TMC by deleting names. We will move a court again to resist the exclusion of names," Banerjee said while attacking her principal challenger BJP over the roll revision exercise.
Banerjee had in February argued in the Supreme Court as she sought an intervention in the SIR process.
The EC figures, which pushed the total deletion to over 90.83 lakh names from the original voter base of 7.66 crore in October 2025, showed that the proportion of removal of electors now remains at over 11.85 per cent.
Criticising the poll panel over the SIR process, she also said, "We will fight legally to get the names included on the list as per the Constitution. If people cannot cast their votes, what is the need to frame the tribunal? And then you are saying that the list has been frozen. What is this? We will challenge it and try to understand it."
Addressing a poll rally at Arambagh in Hooghly district, the TMC supremo accused the saffron party of trying to manipulate the electoral rolls and offering money to woo voters.
Banerjee also charged the Election Commission with intimidating people over the phone.
“It (EC) is working at the behest of the BJP. It is calling people over the telephone to threaten and intimidate them,” she claimed.
Later, while speaking at a rally in Balagarh in the same district, Banerjee warned that voting for the BJP would effectively mean "giving up fish, meat, and speaking in Bengali".
“People are not allowed to eat eggs, fish, or meat in the BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra. The same will happen here if the BJP comes to power," Banerjee claimed.
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