Chad Wolf, who took office Wednesday as the acting head of the department of homeland security , was once a paid lobbyist for Nasscom, a trade body of Indian IT companies that are among the heaviest users of US H-1B visas, which have come under harsh scrutiny of the Trump administration.

“Any senator who agrees to the nomination of CHAD WOLF is actively voting against the American workers and putting the swamp as head of DHS,” wrote Sarah Blackwell, an anti-H-1B attorney who has represented American workers displaced by workers brought on H-1B by Indian IT companies.

According to some news reports, Wolf intends to hand over the management of the H-1B visa programme to some other official in view of a potential conflict of interest. But there has been no official announcement yet, and Wolf, who tweeted Thursday to thank President Trump, has not addressed the anxiety felt among some quarters about his past work as a lobbyist.

There was no response to a request for a comment from Nasscom. The trade body has used professional lobbyists to work on “issues related to immigration and trade policy, and skilled worker training”, as was said by Abraham Strategies LLC, its current lobbyist, in a mandatory lobbying disclosure document filed with the US senate in August.

RJ Hauman, government relations director at the hawkish Federation for American Immigration Reform, told Politico some days ago, “Going with a career official or someone who once lobbied to replace American workers with cheap foreign labor sends the wrong signal right before an election year.”

Wolf does not need to be confirmed by the senate as an “acting” secretary. The White House has not said when the president intends to name an official to lead the department on a permanent basis, and whether it will be Wolf, who would then require to be confirmed by the senate.

Indian IT industry officials here, who have lived since January 2017 in dread of that one morning tweet from President Trump that could completely upend their day and businesses, have been watching the appointment closely. But they wondered if Wolf can prevent that tweet or loosen the screws.