Frisco City Councilman Burt Thakur pushed back against allegations aired at a recent council meeting and circulating widely online, saying claims tying him to immigration fraud or demographic manipulation are unfounded and distract from the city’s real challenges.
Thakur’s response follows remarks made during the January 20 Frisco City Council meeting by resident Marc Palasciano, whose comments, including allegations of widespread H-1B visa fraud and demographic “takeover,” have since gone viral on social media and been amplified by publications.
Videos of Palasciano’s speech have drawn national and international attention to the north Texas suburb.
Palasciano questioned campaign donations to Mayor Jeff Cheney and Thakur, Frisco’s first Indian American city council member, and suggested ties between political donors, real estate interests, and companies associated with the federal H-1B visa program. Thakur was first elected to the council in 2025.
The Mayor of Frisco, Texas, is asked why his top donors were Indians not living in America.
Follow: @AFpost
— AF Post (@AFpost) January 22, 2026
In a telephone interview with The Dallas Express, Thakur said he has no authority over federal immigration policy or visa enforcement and rejected the premise that local officials are orchestrating demographic change.
“H-1B is something that I have no control of,” Thakur said. “That’s a USCIS issue. That’s a federal government [responsibility].”
Thakur added that he would welcome scrutiny if wrongdoing exists. “I really would have no problem with any federal agency coming in and doing an audit,” Thakur said. “And if things are found that are illegal … I’ll be the first supporter and the biggest supporter of those agencies coming in and being able to do their job.”
Thakur’s assertion is correct. Given the federal style of government established under the United States Constitution, Texas city councilmen have little direct influence over federal visa programs. Moreover, the City of Frisco does not directly employ any H-1B workers, according to the USCIS H-1B database.
Palasciano also alleged that Thakur used a consulting firm linked to a fraud conviction.
In an email to The Dallas Express, Palasciano acknowledged an error in identifying the consulting firm, writing that he had confused two similarly named companies and that he had “issued an apology and will be making a correction at the next meeting.” He said, however, that he stood by his other questions regarding donations and H-1B-linked companies.
Regarding campaign donations, Thakur said he was “very proud” of his donors and emphasized that contributions do not equate to control or influence. He said he did not vet donors based on immigration status or business visa usage and questioned how such information would even be accessible to a local candidate. Thakur had several donors with Indian-sounding names in his campaign finance reports, but most had addresses in Frisco or the surrounding area, such as Wylie.
“If people have done stuff legally … it’s something that is their right to do,” he said, adding that he takes offense at suggestions that the presence of Indian residents itself is problematic. “Please, feel free to tell me what percentage of the population is allowed to be Indian,” Thakur said.
Thakur framed himself as an American citizen focused on local governance, citing his military service during 9/11 and support for prioritizing jobs for U.S. citizens. He said his focus on council includes infrastructure, public safety, workforce development, and attracting high-paying jobs to a city where the median home price is roughly $600,000.
“What could I do about it as a councilman?” he said of immigration concerns. “You want to talk about potholes, you want to talk about roads, you want to talk about funding the police — that’s my area of purview.”
The Dallas Express contacted Mayor Cheney for comment on Palasciano’s allegations and campaign donations. Cheney did not respond by the time of publication.
Palasciano, who described himself as a former T-Mobile whistleblower, said in his email that, “I don’t believe Burt is having much impact on the demographics changing in Frisco. I see Burt as a product of those demographics already changing. Indians showed up to the voting polls to make sure they got their guy in office.”
Thakur does not deny that Indians voted for him; in fact, he says that he worked very hard to make they voted Republican. The councilman noted that Indians are a major voting bloc in North Texas and told DX he is fighting to make sure they are America First Republicans, not Democrats, as they are in other parts of the country.
Thakur said the broader conversation should focus on civic engagement rather than on accusations.
“Exercise your freedom of speech. Go out and vote,” he said. “If we have [fraud] here, I’ll be the first one to tear it down. … But if your problem is that you just don’t like it, I can’t help you.”
