'Clog the toilets' campaign: What’s this new low, racist move against Indian H-1B workers?

The Trump administration dropped a financial bomb on the H-1B visa programme, proposing a dizzying $100,000 fee hike. While that news was a huge blow, the real panic button was hit when industry heavyweights like Microsoft, JP Morgan, and Meta issued a sudden, non-negotiable mandate: Be back by September 21. This corporate directive, more than the government’s announcement, sent a shockwave through the Indian community, the programme’s primary user base.

As Indians rushed to secure tickets and fly to the US as soon as possible, a far-right troll group was reportedly attempting to sabotage their efforts through a campaign called ‘clog the toilet.’

What was the campaign’s goal?

Trolls from far-right groups, active on sites like 4chan, ran a planned operation to block flight seats. They openly boasted about reserving over 100 seats to “wreck Jeets,” a mean name used for people from South Asia. The trolls would search for popular flights, especially those between India and the US, and start the booking process but never pay. This trick temporarily took seats offline, stopping real travellers from booking and making the ticket prices go up.

The group targeted high-traffic routes, particularly flights to cities such as New York, Newark, and Dallas. The scheme was coordinated on platforms like 4chan, Telegram, and similar forums, where numerous posts included racist language and guidelines on how to disrupt travel for Indian workers. Their primary aim was to “keep Indians in India” and incite fear and confusion.

The idea was to lock seats without completing the purchase, making it harder for Indians to find available flights.

“I got 100 seats locked,” one of the messages on the thread read.

Users also claimed to be reserving seats on Air India flights to block availability, although the airline spokesperson informed AFP that their website worked normally and had no issues.

Founded in 2003, 4chan has a reputation for internet memes, trolling campaigns and extremist content. In reaction to H‑1B announcements, some users suggested deliberately jamming flight reservations to prevent travel from India, with at least one user boasting of occupying the last seat on a Delhi–Newark flight. Several additional messages included aggressive hate speech that advocated violence and demeaning language toward the targeted community.

Indians working in the US were first panicked by the Trump administration’s visa fee hike, but this fear was soon eased. Although tech companies had already ordered employees to return quickly, a White House official confirmed that the fee change was only for new visa petitions, not renewals.