‘No Infosys employee apprehended in US’: CEO Salil Parekh clarifies rumours of US ICE detention

A social media user had stated in a post on January 13 that he had heard of an Infosys employee hailing from Mysuru in Karnataka being arrested at his home in the US and deported to India by US ICE authorities. He also claimed that the employee had been working on an on-site project and was given a choice of going to jail or going back.

Heard a wild wild story tdy of an Infy employee from Mysuru who was on-site for a project in US.
Was picked up by ICE agents, given 2 hours to pack up from his home, given 2 choices.
Either go to jail or get deported.
Once that chap chose to return back to India, was escorted by…

— Chetan Anantharamu (@gandabherunda) January 13, 2026

“Once that chap chose to return back to India, was escorted by agents and handed to airport authorities in the US to ensure he is aboard the flight to India via Frankfurt transit,” the social media post stated.

Incidentally, Infosys had stated in October 2025 that the US Department of Justice had started an investigation into the process of usage of H-1B visas by the company for employees working with a client.

“The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) is conducting an investigation regarding how the Company classified certain H-1B visa-recipient employees working for one of its clients in immigration documents filed with certain U.S. government authorities,” Infosys had reported in filings under the title of ‘government investigations’ in October 2025 during the declaration of its results for the end of the quarter ending September 30, 2025.

“The Company is engaged in discussions with the DOJ regarding its ongoing investigation and has commenced its own inquiry regarding the matter. At this stage, the Company is unable to predict the outcome of this matter, including whether such outcome could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business and results of operations,” the company said.

Parekh had stated in October 2025 that “the majority of our employees in the US are employees who do not require any Infosys immigration support”.

“The way we are working with our clients, we reached out to each of them and made sure that we see and they see how their delivery continuity becomes on track and remains the way it is right now,” Parekh said.

‘No changes in approach’ to H-1B visa issue

On Wednesday, during the Q3 earnings briefing, Parekh said there had been no changes to the company’s approach to the H-1B visa issue for employees in the US. “On H-1B and recruiting, our approach is very clear, and as we have shared in the past, our employees in the US—who are not requiring any visa situation—we are continuing with our deployment and delivery using a mix of work in the US and work in India. So, there are no changes to that approach,” Parekh said. On the issue of seeking new H-1B visas, he said, “At present, we are continuing with our process since we have our existing set and we will examine it when it comes up in the future.”