MAGA Rep. Brandon Gill Links Gujarati Gathering To ‘Caste System’

India-West Staff Reporter

DALLAS, TX – Rep. Brandon Gill, a Republican congressman from Texas’s 26th District and a staunch supporter of Donald Trump, is facing backlash over an inflammatory tweet criticizing an Indian American community gathering in Dallas.

On March 1, tech analyst Dylan Patel tweeted a photo of a crowd at a Leuva Patidar Samaj volleyball tournament, noting that approximately 8,000 attendees had gathered, representing a community of about 40,000 in the U.S. He described the group as predominantly business owners in the motel and gas station industries.

Gill responded with a tweet that drew immediate criticism: “America is the ‘land of opportunity’ precisely because we DON’T have a caste system. We cannot sustain America’s prosperity and liberty by importing foreign class allegiances. Immigration without assimilation is national and cultural suicide.”

Gill’s remarks, which framed the gathering as a threat to American values, were quickly condemned by Hindu American Foundation co-founder Suhag Shukla. Responding to the congressman, Shukla tweeted, “Respectfully, the misuse of the word ‘caste’ and now your tweet are fomenting the type of anti-Indian and anti-Hindu hate that days ago led to real violence. This is over a volleyball ‘tournament’ at a reunion of an Indian American immigrant community (wrongly termed ‘caste’) of traditional farmers now contributing to America as small store and hotel owners creating jobs and paying taxes.”

She further challenged Gill’s framing of the event, asking, “Would you have said the same thing if Scot-Irish farming families from West Virginia or Mennonite families from Pennsylvania were meeting up in Dallas? We need our elected leaders to do much better.”

Gill, a former conservative student leader at Dartmouth College and an outspoken critic of progressive policies, has positioned himself as a defender of traditional American values. His tweet echoes broader nationalist rhetoric about immigration and assimilation, themes that have been central to former President Donald Trump’s political movement.

The controversy comes amid increasing scrutiny of how caste is discussed in the U.S. and growing concerns about anti-Indian and anti-Hindu sentiment. It also underscores ongoing tensions between right-wing politicians and minority communities over identity and belonging in America.