When the owner of a coffee shop in Little Elm expressed frustration about an Indian festival blocking the streets in his neighborhood, he faced significant backlash, including numerous negative reviews and even an extortion attempt.

Daniel Keene, owner of Boundaries Coffee in Little Elm, posted a video of an Indian festival in his neighborhood on September 6 showing crowds blocking the street, with loud drums in the background.

 

The post sparked outrage online, with The Times of India and The Hindustan Times covering Keene’s remarks, with some Facebook groups calling him racist and others putting a call out to support the coffee shop and its owner, who reportedly has been doxxed.

Threats began arriving in the afternoon of September 7 and continued throughout the night, Keene told The Dallas Express. “At 3 a.m. I’m getting taunting messages like, ‘I see you’re awake,’ ‘We’re coming for you,’ ‘Take your business down.’” 

Meanwhile, online accounts he referred to as “bots” began leaving negative reviews about his coffee shop. 

At one point, someone tried extorting him – threatening to share his business profile with 6 million Indian Americans unless he paid $20,000.

 

Keene said he only posted the video for his followers and never expected it to go viral. However, it quickly gained momentum, accumulating more than 1.7 million views in a single repost. 

A priest at Shirdi Sai Samsthan in Texas, a nearby Hindu temple in Little Elm, told The Dallas Express he feels the neighbors were not doing anything wrong. He declined to provide his name.

“That is a small festival they are celebrating. Maybe the person sitting in the car is getting late to go to work or something, or maybe for some reason he is frustrated,” he said. “We have to respect others, and we have to be friendly with others, maybe a little bit of patience.” 

Keene denied allegations of racism and said his concern lies with the H-1B visa program bringing in such a large volume of foreign residents all at once.

“I’m not racist,” Keene said. “I simply oppose the policy and its effects that it’s having on my community.”

A Changing Landscape

Keene grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but moved when he went to college. He got married and moved back with his wife in 2021 to escape the “chaos of the world.” They found a house in Little Elm. 

“Met some cool people on our street, and neighbors, and really enjoyed the community,” he said. “I was surprised when I came back, how diverse everything was. Specifically, how large the Indian population was in the area.”

Keene said he had a community of neighbors and friends on the street, and didn’t initially think much of the growing Indian population. 

While he still has “really good friends” who are Indian, Keene said it became more difficult to develop a community.

“I grew up riding my bike all across town, and loved it. It was great, amazing. Basically an ‘80s childhood,” Keene said. “My daughter’s riding her bike around, and it’s kind of weird. The road’s blocked, they’re worshiping Ganesh and beating drums.”

In nearby Celina ISD, the Indian language Telugu surpassed Spanish as the second-most spoken vernacular this summer, according to the Celina Record.

“We really desperately want our kids to grow up in a similar place that we grew up in,” Keene said.

The Hindu priest expressed gratitude to America for its opportunities and called to “respect everyone’s religious practices.”

“They have to follow the law of the land, and this person also has to welcome the neighbors,” the priest said. “He has to respect the neighbors because they are living in the same neighborhood.”

H1-B Visa Concerns

Some of Keene’s friends lost opportunities in the tech sector, which he attributed to the high number of H-1B visas. As The Dallas Express reported, a recent survey found 56% of Americans feel the visa system creates unfair competition.

“I’m seeing the effect of the policy, specifically on the use of this visa, and just the sheer numbers of it hurting my friends,” Keene said. 

H-1B visas are different from green cards – lasting for up to 6 years, allowing U.S. companies to temporarily hire foreign workers in specialty fields that usually require a bachelor’s degree. They can, however, create a pathway to green cards, which are indefinite. 

Indian nationals hold 72% of H-1B visas, while Chinese nationals hold 12%. As The Dallas Express reported, Texas companies, including Cognizant Technology, Oracle America, and Tesla, employ a large number of these visa holders. 

“We came from India, we started working here. The land has given opportunities, and we are respecting the law of the land,” the Hindu priest said. “We have to work together for the good world, the peace of the world.”

“Nobody is stealing anybody’s opportunity. Here, the only thing is who are eligible,” he added.

The DFW area had the second-highest number of H-1B visa approvals in America – 74,000 – from 2010 to 2016, bested only by the New York City metroplex, according to Pew Research. In 2024, the federal government approved 400,000 applications nationwide.

“I sincerely have all the affection in the world for Indians,” Keene said. “I think maybe it’s just too much at one time.”

Keene expressed concern about the H-1B program’s economic and cultural implications. “DFW is kind of one major homogeneous culture to me, like a town.”