Silicon Valley entrepreneur Ethan Agarwal, who is running for Congress in California-17 as a challenger to Ro Khanna in Dem primary, urged President Donald Trump to reconsider his immigration ban on Iran as that would force thousands of Iranian students who will be graduating in May this year out of the US. These students are now on F-1 visa, but as the US has paused all immigration processing for Iran, these students will not be able to enrol for OPT, STEM OPT or H-1B visa programs unless the pause is lifted.
“These are young people who want to contribute to America; who are in school at places like Berkeley, Santa Clara University, and Stanford. Without lifting the pause, they will have to return to Iran in 60 days. We want these young, brilliant people staying and working in America, paying taxes in America and creating jobs here,” Agarwal wrote.
“While USCIS figures out the broader timing and implications of lifting the pause against affected immigrants, we request that the pause for students graduating in 2026 specifically be lifted,” he added.
Agarwal also shared a letter by a group of Iranian students who said they never had any affiliation with the Islamic Republic. They said they want to be fairly reviewed based on all security protocols of the US and then allowed to stay in the US.
But the pause means they won’t be allowed to stay in the US after they graduate from their colleges.
“I don’t know who elected this moron to represent Iranians; many of the F-1 students at Stanford, Berkeley, and in Silicon Valley in CA-17 (Google, Apple, etc.) are agents or assets of the regime. Please keep exercising extreme caution and vetting,” one wrote, criticizing Agarwal.
Ethan held his ground and said he was advocating for the screening of all students and deporting those who the State Department decides are harmful for the US.
“Here we have yet another aspiring US politician who advocates for NOT US CITIZENS. He could be fighting for American students and workers, instead he is fighting against them,” another criticism read.
Who is Ethan Agarwal?
40-year-old Ethan Agarwal is a tech entrepreneur best known for founding the digital fitness company Aaptiv and co-founding the fintech firm The Coterie. Born in 1985 in Montreal, Canada, he was raised in Los Gatos, California. His father, Vinod K Agarwal, was a computer engineering professor and later founded a semiconductor company, LogicVision.
Agarwal began his career in finance, working at firms such as Lehman Brothers, LionEye Capital, and McKinsey & Company before moving into entrepreneurship. In 2015, he founded Aaptiv, an audio-based fitness app that grew rapidly, attracting investment from major companies like Amazon and Disney and reaching over a million users globally. He later stepped down as CEO after the company was acquired, and in 2021 co-founded The Coterie, a financial technology company focused on investment access and wealth management.
In 2025, Agarwal entered politics by announcing his candidacy for Governor of California as a Democrat. He has described himself as a “pro-capitalism” or market-oriented Democrat, emphasizing business-driven solutions to economic, infrastructure, and policy challenges. His campaign reflects a broader trend of tech entrepreneurs moving into politics, aiming to apply private-sector experience to governance.
