Chaos at booking portals as engineers scramble to return to the US

Vijayawada/New Delhi: Vacationing in India, software engineer Amrutha Tamanam rushed to return to the United States after former President Donald Trump’s abrupt announcement of a one-time $100,000 fee for H-1B visa holders. While trying to secure a flight, Tamanam faced disruptions due to coordinated efforts by far-right trolls who sought to clog booking systems on popular India-US routes.

The trolling campaign, dubbed “clog the toilet,” was organised on the message board 4chan and circulated among fringe Telegram groups. Participants were instructed to initiate flight bookings without completing the purchase, aiming to lock seats, inflate prices, and make it harder for Indian visa holders to travel before the fee’s announcement took effect. Some users bragged online about blocking dozens of seats on Delhi–Newark flights, posting screenshots as proof of their impact.

Tamanam told AFP that repeated crashes on airline websites made booking difficult. She eventually secured a one-way ticket to Dallas on Qatar Airways at around $2,000 — more than double her original fare. “It was hard for me to book a ticket and I paid a huge fare for the panic travel,” she said.

Campaign intended to “keep Indians in India”

The 4chan thread explicitly stated its goal: “Indians are just waking up after the H1B news. Want to keep them in India? Clog the flight reservation system!” Posts frequently included racist slurs targeting Indian nationals. While Air India and other airlines reported no significant disruptions, experts highlighted the psychological impact and the potential to cause panic among H-1B holders.

Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, told AFP, “The trolling was an attempt to cause panic among H-1B visa holders. The real scary thing about 4chan is its ability to radicalise people into extremist beliefs.” She noted that several mass shooters in the U.S. had previously posted manifestos on the platform.

H-1B visa context

H-1B visas allow companies to sponsor foreign workers with specialised skills, such as engineers and programmers, to work in the U.S. for an initial three years, extendable to six. Around 85,000 visas are issued annually, with Indian nationals receiving approximately three-quarters of them.

The U.S. administration later clarified that the $100,000 fee was a one-time payment and would not apply to current holders. However, the initial announcement prompted U.S. companies to advise employees abroad to return quickly to avoid complications.

Brian Levin, founder of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, said the incident shows how quickly international online campaigns can mobilise around shared political antipathies. “As nationalistic politics takes hold across the world, informal international associations of opponents use aggressive online tools to disrupt ordinary people’s lives,” he added.

Conclusion

While the trolling effort may have had limited success in blocking travel, it illustrates a growing trend of online harassment and international coordination targeting specific communities. Experts warn that such campaigns could have broader implications as digital mobilisation intersects with political agendas.