‘This is not 1969…’: Nikki Haley’s son clashes with Mehdi Hasan in heated immigration debate

A heated debate over immigration erupted on social media between Nalin Haley, the 24-year-old son of Republican leader Nikki Haley, and British-American journalist Mehdi Hasan, exposing growing tensions in the United States over employment, artificial intelligence and foreign workers.

The discussion began after Nalin Haley posted on X (formerly Twitter), urging an end to “mass immigration.” He argued that overcrowding, a fragile economy and the rapid rise of AI in the labor market made it “irresponsible” to allow more immigrants into the country.

“I don’t care where you’re from. Even if it’s Canada, we have to stop mass migration,” Haley wrote. “It’s irresponsible to let immigrants in when companies are no longer hiring, AI is replacing many jobs, and the economy is fragile. The last thing we need is foreigners taking away jobs that Americans can do.”

Haley further suggested that states should be empowered to deny H-1B visas and backed stricter controls introduced during the Trump administration, which recently imposed a $100,000 fee on new H-1B applications.

Journalist Mehdi Hasan, founder of the media platform. zeteohe responded by highlighting Haley’s own immigrant lineage. Hasan noted that Nalin’s grandfather, Ajit Singh Randhawa, immigrated from Punjab, India, to the United States in 1969, a time when immigration regulations were much stricter and public hostility toward immigrants was high. Randhawa, a biologist with a PhD from the University of British Columbia, later joined Voorhees College in South Carolina as a faculty member and remained there until his death last year.

Hasan, whose own parents immigrated from Hyderabad, India, drew attention to the irony of Nalin’s anti-immigration stance, given his family’s history.

Haley snapped back, rejecting the comparison and escalating the exchange:

“This isn’t 1969, buddy. And you should be denatured. All you’re doing is complaining about America anyway,” he wrote.

The heated exchange has since sparked a broader online debate about the hypocrisy of immigration, the economic impact of AI, and the political influence of second-generation immigrants in shaping the American narrative.