Church joins persecution of Texas business owner who criticized H-1B visas

Daniel Keene did not expect a post on X to derail his life.

The small-business owner posted a video of an Indian block party taking over an entire street of his North Texas suburb and expressed his frustration at the rapid demographic and cultural changes sweeping through large swaths of the greater Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

“We have to cancel the H-1Bs. I want my kids to grow up in America. Not India," he wrote in the since-deleted post.

'We feel your public stance doesn’t align with our core values of inclusivity and respect.'

The post went viral on X, and all hell broke loose. As previously reported by Blaze News, Keene and his family were subjected to doxxing and threats, his business was review-bombed, and someone claiming to have access to millions of Indian-American contacts apparently tried to extort him for $20,000.

Keene’s business, Boundaries Coffee, continues to weather the storm, and Google has shut down reviews for the business, putting a stop to the lies, threats, and insults that had flooded in.

The backlash was not contained to Keene’s professional life. In the midst of dealing with the attacks on his business, the owner of his gym decided to weigh in on the issue by revoking his membership.

Keene received a text from Ken Williams, the owner of CrossFit Prosper, telling him, “We feel your public stance doesn’t align with our core values of inclusivity and respect,” and “We’ll be ending your membership effective immediately,” according to a screenshot reviewed by Blaze News.

The text took Keene by surprise since Williams did not raise the issue when he visited the gym. “He didn’t say anything to me in person," Keene told Blaze News. "… Not even a peep of conflict.”

In canceling the membership, Williams explained that “a large part of our community is Indian and inclusivity is central to who we are, we can’t overlook how this impacts our members and staff, and the culture we work hard to protect,” the screenshot showed. CrossFit Prosper advertises itself as LGBTQ+-owned and LGBTQ+-friendly, according to its Google Maps profile.

The gym did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

Things continued to get worse when Keene’s church decided to interrogate him on his immigration stance. The elders at the Trails Church called him about his initial post, telling him to repent and that the post was “uncharitable.” Keene, who deleted the post shortly after it went viral due to the stress it was causing his family, did not disavow his position on immigration and the H-1B visa in particular.

He said that’s when problems with the church really escalated.

RELATED: Trump to impose $100K fee on H-1B visa applications

Photo by Andrew Harnik / Contributor via Getty Images

Keene and his wife — who was eight months pregnant at the time — were called in for a meeting with “all the elders and staff who could be there,” he recalled. This time, they weren’t just concerned about one post. “They just hammered me for ... hours,” he said.

The elders had apparently gone through the last three years of Keene’s X account, looking for problematic posts. Keene said they brought up two posts that they found “concerning.”

Keene described the meeting as confusing. “The goalposts got shifted significantly," he said.

Keene claimed he was unable to get a straight answer from the elders on the actual substance of his offense. “On one hand, they are saying that the issue is not the position itself; it’s how I expressed it," he said. "… But then we’ve had three hours of phone calls, and they’re just hammering me on the position itself."

Keene requested that the elders put his offenses in writing to eliminate uncertainty, but they refused, he said. Keene expressed his confusion to the elders about the nature of his supposed offense and what he was supposed to do about it.

He offered to post clarifying messages on X and talk to anyone at the church who had found his posts offensive. The elders apparently were not satisfied with an offer to clarify things.

According to Keene, they wanted him to apologize for his original post showing the Indian block party on his street and abandon his position on Indian immigration. While he respected their right to disagree with him, Keene told Blaze News he did not think apologizing for the post was appropriate.

“As far as the content, I stand behind it. That’s the policy position I stand behind.”

When asked how serious this offense was, the elders told Keene he was on “the path of discipline,” meaning he would be removed from membership if he continued on his present course, he explained. Keene described the removal process as a very serious step in a Baptist church.

They are “basically saying, ‘We don't think you’re a Christian any more because you haven't repented of a sin,'” he said.

'Why would you need to meet with my wife? What does my wife have to do with this?'

Keene left the meeting still confused. Shortly after, a friend sent him an episode of "The King’s Hall" podcast discussing immigration and H-1B visas. Keene found the episode insightful and posted a clip of it along with the following questions: “What would get you in more trouble at your church? Significant doctrinal error on the Trinity? Or opposing immigration to the harm of your neighbor?”

Keen said he knew the post would "upset" the church elders. He did try to reach out privately at first just to say, "Hey, hear me out on this." After he posted the clip, the elders asked him to come in with his wife for another meeting, he claimed.

Keene said declined to bring his wife. “Why would you need to meet with my wife? What does my wife have to do with this?” he wondered.

When he went into the meeting, the elders formally asked Keene to leave the church. Keene suspected he would be asked to leave and that posting the podcast clip almost guaranteed it. “I knew I was poking the bear a little bit,” he acknowledged.

Still, Keene said he does not regret posting the clip or maintaining his position on immigration. “I’ve been trying to draw out what the real issue is here," he said. "… What are the values of your church? Are they doctrinal? Scriptural? Or is it public policy with regard to immigration?”

The Trails Church did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

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