Daniel Keene served up a Texas-sized take on H1-B visas and immigration last month — and says he paid a hefty price for it.
Keene, who owns Boundaries Coffee, a popular local coffee chain outside Dallas, publicly shared his thoughts on the program that allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers for specialty occupations in a post on X, while noting the “typical view” in his suburban neighborhood.
“We have to cancel the H-1Bs,” Keene, of Aubrey, wrote on September 6. “I want my kids to grow up in America. Not India.”
The post, which was deleted days later, included footage of roughly 100 people celebrating outside during an Indian religious festival. After the post went viral, Keene said he started receiving threats via email, including a $20,000 extortion attempt, and the two drive-thru locations he operates in Little Elm and Prosper got a barrage of bad reviews online. He also lost $8,000 in sales over two weeks, as well as a potential employee who withdrew her application.
But Keene doesn’t regret sharing his beliefs on what has become a hot-button topic of discussion during the second Trump administration.
“I wanted to bring awareness to the policy effect on the ground,” Keene, 30, told Newsweek in an interview Thursday. “I did not want to get death threats.”
Keene’s wife shot the footage as she tried to drive to McDonald’s, but instead found a blocked road leading out of the neighborhood. The next few weeks were a whirlwind, Keene said, culminating with the couple leaving their Baptist church under disputed circumstances.
Keene insists elders at The Trails Church in Celina directly asked him to leave the congregation, although officials said the couple ultimately asked to be removed. The father of three blamed a communication mix-up related to a donation receipt.
“This was NOT requesting official membership removal,” Keene’s wife, Heather, wrote church officials in an email. “We would like to continue as members and active in our community group during this extremely difficult time until we find another church.”
The church disputed Keene’s account, insisting elders neither initiated removal of Daniel and Heather Keene nor took any interest in their stances on immigration or the H-1B program.
“At no time during our recent meetings with the Keenes were their political opinions ever a point of focus or topic of disagreement,” a Trails Church spokesperson told Newsweek in a statement. “Instead, our discussions centered on the gospel mandate to love our neighbors as Christ has loved his church — however or wherever or whenever those neighbors arrive. At our last meeting, we asked them to consider whether they could joyfully continue as members of the church.”
A week later, the Keenes requested via email that the church “remove us as members,” officials said.
“We have honored their request, and pray they will find a local church where they can participate in gospel ministry,” the church’s statement concluded.
The fallout from Keene’s post extended to his gym, which revoked his membership one month after he joined, although the owner insists the decision had “nothing to do with his political stance” on H-1B visas or immigration policy.
“It was based on our core values of fostering an environment where everyone feels welcome and respected,” CrossFit Prosper owner Ken Williams told Newsweek in a statement.
Williams cited Keene’s September 6 post on X, as well as subsequent statements that he didn’t have “anything in common” with the Indian community in his town.
“The stance we responded to wasn’t political; it was based on these statements by Mr. Keene that negatively single out a cultural group, which does not align with our core values of inclusivity and respect,” Williams said. “We would take the same approach if a similar situation arose involving any other cultural or community group, as our commitment to inclusivity and respect applies to everyone.”
The Indian American Muslim Council, which bills itself as the largest organization of Indian Muslims in the United States, declined to comment on the backlash to Keene’s viral post, but said it believes all societies are stronger when “diversity is celebrated and harmful speech of any kind” is rejected.
“We must build bridges of understanding rather than sow seeds of polarization and division,” IAMC President Mohammed Jawad told Newsweek in a statement. “This is essential to nurturing inclusive and compassionate communities where everyone feels safe, valued, and treated with dignity.”
‘Surge’ in Anti-Indian Racism
Jawad also cited what he described as a “disturbing surge” in anti-Indian racism. A report released last month by the Center for the Study of Organized Hate revealed hostility targeting Indian Americans on X has spiked in recent months, peaking in August amid the US-India tariff dispute with 381 posts generating nearly 190 million views.
Researchers identified American anger against the H-1B visa program, which enables tens of thousands of Indians to migrate to the United States for primarily tech jobs, as of one primary causes.
“The far-right in the US, including many MAGA voices, have long insisted that ‘underqualified’ Indians displace Americans from STEM jobs, which, in locations like Silicon Valley, tend to be well-paying and offer candidates the opportunity to work for prominent corporations,” according to the report, which analyzed trends and narratives of anti-Indian racism on X between July and September.
Keene, meanwhile, said business at his coffee shops has recently picked up after “silently suffering” for weeks. He denied harboring any hostility toward Indian Americans.
“There’s no racial animosity in the post and there’s no racial animosity for me at all personally,” Keene told Newsweek. “The objection is about the policy, the mass amount of immigration into specific areas, the sheer volume into small, dense areas.”
Keene believes his post went viral because it was “candid,” he said.
“It’s not about skin color or anything,” Keene told Newsweek. “It’s about what kind of country do you want to leave your kids, and do you have the right to object to the policies that are seemingly affecting my children? That was kind of my concern.”
