Indian-Malaysian Vishen Lakhiani, a CEO of an American company with 230 employees internationally, shared his recent experience of being questioned by two FBI agents the moment he stepped out of the plane in Miami. Lakhiani holds an O-1 visa, which is meant for individuals with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business or athletics. And he is also not new to America. With a net worth of around $40 million, the founder of Mindvalley has been paying taxes in America for the last 22 years, he said in his video. Lakhiani said the FBI agents asked him why he visited countries like Istanbul, Dubai and Brazil and was also asked to give them all his social media handles and WhatsApp number. As he described his ‘scary’ experience in a now viral video, he said the agents were super nice and were just doing their jobs, but the exchange made him dread coming to the US.“It is crazy the sheer amount of xenophobia and fearmongering that’s happening in this country right now towards immigrants, towards people who come from foreign countries. It’s no wonder that tourism in America is down 15%. This is a big problem. Foreign students applying to American universities are down close to 20%. Gosh and I can’t wait for the next election because what’s happening right now in the US, as in other western countries: men with no idea on how to navigate the future are vilifying anyone who looks different. Because pressing the fear button is the easiest way to gain votes when you have no talent,” Lakhiani said.
“If you are an American, I hope you learn how to identify candidates that actually align with American values, freedom, democracy, pro-immigration, entrepreneurship, diversity,” the CEO said. Born to Indian parents in Malaysia, Lakhiani founded Mindvalley after discovering meditation at 26 to manage startup stress. Mindvaley is a platform for personal transformation and education reform.
