I unpack the misguided outrage over America’s immigration quotas, pointing out that every nation has the right to control its borders. I draw from my own years in India, where I’ve respected the culture, laws, and politics without overstepping. I explain that guests should act like guests, and criticizing your host country while expecting to stay is both entitled and risky.

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I just watched a video where a young Indian woman expressed shock—genuine, wide-eyed shock—that U.S. immigration enforcement operates with quotas. She compares ICE officers having targets to meet to “sales targets for human beings,” as if this represents some moral collapse of the United States.

It’s a telling reaction, but also a deeply confused one. What she’s struggling to comprehend is simple: Americans have the right and responsibility to decide who enters their country, how many people come, and under what conditions. And yes, that means enforcing laws, setting limits, and sometimes, removing people who overstay their welcome or break the rules.

Here’s the reality she, and frankly much of the world, seems unable to accept: A 2023 Pew Research survey found that 56% of Americans want immigration levels reduced or kept the same, with only a small minority favoring increases. But generations of American leaders, obsessed with the “nation of immigrants” slogan, eager to attract global talent, and in many cases pushing liberal cultural narratives, have broadcast to the world that America belongs to everyone. That anyone, from anywhere, is entitled to be in the United States, to criticize it, to demand changes, to redefine its culture.

They are wrong.

I say that as someone who’s been a long-term guest in another country. I’ve lived in India since 2004. I run a business here. I respect their laws, pay taxes, and have even adopted many of their customs. But there’s one thing I’ve never done: I’ve never inserted myself into Indian politics. Not because I’m afraid, but because I’m polite and I would like to continue to be welcome here. I also don’t overstay my visa, and am fully aware that I can be deported, refused re-entry, or even put into prison if I do. Every country has laws like this. Except America.

So, I don’t get on social media criticizing India’s leaders, policies, or institutions. I don’t march in protests. I don’t write articles or make videos lecturing Indians on how to run their country. In fact, I deliberately stay ignorant about much of Indian politics because it’s simply not my place. I’m a guest. As long as I respect that role, I’ve found Indians to be incredibly welcoming, generous, and supportive of my life and work here.

Contrast that with the entitlement some people show when they step onto U.S. soil—often on temporary student visas, no less—and immediately believe they can loudly criticize the country, insult its leaders, and still demand to stay. Let me be blunt: You are a guest. America, like every other nation, has every right to remove people who abuse that hospitality.

Do I know exactly what the Trump administration is doing with visa enforcement? No. But they’ve openly admitted to using AI to screen social media posts. It’s entirely possible they’re flagging people with minor infractions and anti-American, anti-Trump rhetoric and targeting them for removal. Is that political? Sure. Is it new? Hardly. Every administration—left or right—will use the tools available to enforce its vision of immigration policy.

If you want a future in America, or an education there, my advice is simple: keep your opinions to yourself unless they’re neutral or constructive. Call it self-censorship if you want. I call it respect—and realism. I’ve traveled enough to know that loudly criticizing the politics of your host nation rarely ends well. It’s common sense.

So to those confused by immigration crackdowns, quotas, or visa revocations, remember: America doesn’t belong to the world. It belongs to Americans. And guests should act like guests.

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