With the debate over H1-B VISA holders, who are in large numbers from India, being drummed up to a crescendo by Republic (GOP) conservatives and President elect Donald Trump standing firm behind the administrators of Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) tech billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy wanting to expand it on grounds of hiring the best minds for specialized jobs in tech sector, current H1-B holders have been left in a state of uncertainty over their future.
The confusion has been caused by GOP opposition to expansion of the H1-B programme, Trump strongly backing the programme and the Department of Homeland Security issuing guidelines to H1-B holders not to travel outside USA until Trump is sworn in as the President.
This is because after Trump is sworn in, the DOGE along with Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement -ICE is expected to roll out the new program on H1-B visas, the highlight of which is that H1-B visa holders exiting the USA will no longer require reverse stamping of the US Visas from their home countries where the passport was issued to be eligible to re-enter the USA.
The scene in India: The US embassy is overloaded with work on clearing H1B visas which were suspended during the Covid 19 period of 2019-20. The backlog has to be cleared. Tourist visas have also piled up which need to be cleared, and the US government has told the embassies abroad to put them on fast track. Student visas have also been suspended and are now being fast tracked.
This being the situation, the homeland security to be on the side of caution with the battle lines drawn between GOP and DOGE and President Elect Trump has issued an advisory to H1-B VISA holders not to travel to their home countries (especially India) for want of clarity on the issue and also Trumps statement that H1-B visa holders no longer need reverse stamping and that overseas students with US degrees would qualify automatically for their Green Cards instead of going through the 1-140 route from H1-B visas. This I-140 application jump starts an applicant to be in the queue for the Green Card.
Trump could well issue an executive order on the expansion of the H1-B visa programme soon after he takes office on Jan 20. Whether the expanded program needs congressional approval will be decided in the course of time. Trump’s word is law in the GOP, and nobody dares oppose him. Trump is also beholden to Musk for spending quarter billion on his election campaign and its payback time for him for this favour.
Hence the GOP leaders are mighty confused by Trump’s 360-degree reversal on the H1-B visa program of 2017 when he opposed it and restricted the entry of H1-B programme with the proviso that US tech companies and Indian tech companies based in California in the USA need to pay the minimum wage of $100,000 to all workers hired domestic or overseas.
Tech companies were beating the law by importing Indian labour cheap at half the wages or at 60k to 70k dollars per year. The law forced them to restrict the import of Indian labour in favour of locally available American labour.
This created an anomaly for the US tech sector – shortage of skilled labour from India. So, Musk and Vivek wanted the restrictions to go and influenced Trump to expand the program. Trump even said he liked the H1-B programme, it’s a great idea, a great programme, I have several H1-Bs working on my properties.
Ramaswamy infuriated several GOP members with his statement: American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence referring to the GOPs opposition to hiring overseas skilled technology experts.
The latest position: President-elect Donald Trump claimed that he has not changed his mind about the controversial H-1B visa program and that the U.S. needs “smart people” coming into the country, amid a furious intra-Republican debate on the visa program.
“I didn’t change my mind. I’ve always felt we have to have the most competent people in our country, and we need competent people,” Trump said at Mar-a-Lago. “We need smart people coming into our country. We need a lot of people coming in. We’re going to have jobs like we’ve never had before.”
The H-1B visa program allows U.S. companies to hire foreign workers for specialty occupations and is overwhelmingly used by the tech industry. However, it has long been controversial for some conservatives, who say it is abused by tech companies to bring in cheap, predominantly Indian, labour to replace American workers.
President-elect Donald Trump looks on during Turning Point USAs America Fest at the Phoenix Convention Centre on Dec. 22, 2024, in Phoenix. The program hit the headlines last week when Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who have been tapped by Trump to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, argued for the importance of foreign workers for tech companies. “The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla, and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B,” Musk said on X.
Elon Musk came in on a H1-B visa from South Africa and began working until he turned an entrepreneur. Since then, he has ridden the crest of success building the TESLA empire now valued over $400bollion making him the richest person in the world – there are several success stories of H1-Bs occupying top position in American industry especially Indians. Like TESLA EVs have sold over in millions, his space X is now bringing back the stranded astronauts such as Sunita Williams marooned in space for more than a year through his rockets. He is a success story of H1-B that stands out for the success of the programme.
That re-opened a rift between those on the right over the program and whether it is being used to attract the best talent or being used by companies to bring in cheaper labour, who are tied to their job by the visa.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said on Fox News Sunday that H1-B visas are being “abused.”
“I think the abuses of the H-1B program have been evident, where you have sort of the sons and daughters of those factory workers who lost their jobs, got white collar jobs as accountants, and they’re, you know, training their replacements, the foreign workers who are undercutting their wages,” he said.
“The H-1B program is neither high-skilled nor immigration: these are temporary foreign workers, imported from abroad, for the explicit purpose of substituting for American workers at lower pay. I remain totally committed to eliminating rampant, widespread H-1B abuse and ending outrageous practices such as those that occurred at Disney in Florida when Americans were forced to train their foreign replacements,” Trump said in 2016.
“I will end forever the use of the H-1B as a cheap labour program, and institute an absolute requirement to hire American workers first for every visa and immigration program. No exceptions,” he said.
Elon Musk listens as President-elect Donald Trump addresses a House Republicans Conference meeting at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill on Nov. 13, 2024 in Washington, D.C.
His administration immediately began looking into reforms to the H-1B visa program, and, in 2020, it proposed a sweeping rule that would prioritize the selection of higher wage applicants for the approximately 85,000 visas allocated annually.
The H1-B visa program attracts over 65,000 skilled workers from overseas especially from India, China and the Philippines into the technology sector. On top of this there are 20,000 visas being issued to students especially from India qualifying with American degrees and applying for jobs.
That rule would have required that registrations at the highest of four wage levels get to apply for the visa allocation first. “Once those at the highest level have applied, then the process would turn to level III, and so on until the spaces are filled.” (“Trump says he’s not changed his mind on H-1B visas as debate rages …”)
“Put simply, because demand for H-1B visas has exceeded the annual supply for more than a decade, DHS prefers that cap-subject H-1B visas go to beneficiaries earning the highest wages relative to their [Standard Occupational Classification] codes and area(s) of intended employment,” the rule says. (“Trump says he’s not changed his mind on H-1B visas as debate rages …”)
The rule was not put into effect due to the Biden administration, which abandoned it and has since proposed a rule of its own. However, it was greeted favourably by immigration hawks. Other rules put forward during the Trump administration proposed narrowing the definition of “specialty occupation” and making changes to the way the “prevailing wage” is set in order to make sure U.S. wages are not undercut.
The incoming Trump administration has not said specifically what it will do in terms of H1B and whether it will resurrect its first-term efforts. However, Musk proposed “raising the minimum salary significantly and adding a yearly cost for maintaining the H1B, making it materially more expensive to hire from overseas than domestically. ”
Elon Musk, with his son on his shoulders, and Vivek Ramaswamy Walk on Capital Missouri resident Madhav Rao Pasumarti holds an H-1B visa working in IT managing product processes. Over the last couple weeks, he’s watched as he and others who share his visa status have been called “invaders” and “cheap labour.” He said it’s hurtful and baffling, and he pointed out that visa holders like him are people who want to contribute and have much at stake.
As the issue continues to be the subject of debate, people like Pasumarti, 49, who hold an H-1B, a temporary visa for high-skilled workers, say they’re unsure of what will happen to them. “It is confusing, actually, to be frank with you,” Pasumarti said, pointing out the whiplash between other recent messaging that focuses on embracing immigrants with specialty skills.
A fiery debate between different factions of MAGA loyalists ignited on social media in the days following Christmas after some of President-elect Donald Trump’s advisers came out in support of legal, high-skill immigration. It started after Trump named venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan to an artificial intelligence advisory role. An explosion of racism and xenophobia against Krishnan followed, with some on the far right criticizing him for past statements in support of green cards for skilled workers.
Amid the feud, Trump said he supported H-1B visas. In the past, he’s made comments about the program, saying, “We shouldn’t have it. Very, very bad for workers.” (“Some H-1B workers say they feel insulted by debate over visa holders”)
Musk added in his own post that “the number of people who are super talented engineers and super motivated in the USA is far too low.”
A number of prominent names spoke out about these comments, including far-right activists Laura Loomer and Steve Bannon. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley also said the tech industry was being “lazy” and needed to “invest in our American workforce.” A segment of social media called for the end of the H-1B visa program, making racist posts about Indians “invading” the U.S. Indians make up around 75% of all H-1B petitioners, outpacing the next highest group, Chinese workers, who make up less than 12%.
Other politicians, such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, also weighed in, saying Musk is wrong and agreeing the H-1B program needs reform. “The main function of the H-1B visa program is not to hire ‘the best and the brightest,’ but rather to replace good-paying American jobs with low-wage indentured servants from abroad,” he wrote. “The cheaper the labour they hire, the more money the billionaires make.”
The H-1B visa mandates applicants work in jobs that require a bachelor’s degree, but a number of jobs employers make visa requests that only require an associate degree, such as working in operations.
Pasumarti said the overall characterization is insulting. “That is really painful,” he said. “Those words are really kind of concerning, actually.”
According to immigration experts, the federal government can’t change visa caps; it can make the process slower and more difficult, which Trump attempted to do in his first term.
“They do have the power to heavily audit firms and make life very difficult for companies that are hiring H-1B workers,” said Gaurav Khanna, an associate professor of economics and an immigration scholar at the University of California, San Diego. “The tech sector is heavily reliant on H-1B workers. (“H1B visa hopefuls bracing for the impact of a second Trump term – NBC News”) “If you cut off that supply, the tech sector is going to be unhappy.”” (“Some H-1B workers say they feel insulted by debate over visa holders”)
Witnessing the two warring factions of Trump’s movement, workers like Pasumarti say there’s much at stake. He said he is worried about his daughter, who has a disability and isn’t able to go to college or travel. “”She will soon turn 21 and won’t be eligible for a green card under Pasumarti’s petition.”” (“Some H-1B workers say they feel insulted by debate over visa holders”)
He pointed out that she can’t get a student visa or a subsequent H-1B. “I’m going through a different pain to protect my child’s status over here,” he said. “She needs me. She can’t even travel outside the States.”
“Though it remains to be seen how much oxygen this issue gets, Dhingra said, many on the right might already feel more emboldened in their anti-Indian views.” (“Some H-1B workers say they feel insulted by debate over visa holders”) “They’re going to be able to more freely voice these sentiments that make the Indian Americans the outsider, the enemy,” he said.
The Impact of Trump’s H-1B Visa Crackdown in 5 Charts
President Donald Trump signed the “Buy American, Hire American” executive order in April 2017, and we’ve seen companies, employees and students adjust to a new climate. The order directs the Department of Homeland Security to help ensure H-1B visas used by employers to hire foreign citizens are awarded to the most-skilled or highest-paid beneficiaries.
“Since then, it has become much harder on average to be approved for one of the skilled worker visas.” (“The Impact of Trump’s H-1B Visa Crackdown in 5 Charts – Investopedia”) Reuters reported in February that the government is denying and delaying more H-1B visa petitions than at any time since at least 2015. Department of Homeland Security data tells us that the denial rate for H-1B petitions rose to 15% in FY 2018 from 7% in FY 2017, 6% in FY 2017 and 4% in FY 2015.
“Due to the time and expense, employers and attorneys only apply for individuals they believe have a good chance of gaining approval, which means an increase in denial rates and Requests for Evidence reflect changes in government policies and practices,” said The National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) in a press release.
New cap-subject H-1B visa petitions submitted during a single filing period rose for FY 2020 to 201,011 after falling significantly the last few years. A new policy that is expected to increase the number of visa recipients with advanced degrees from U.S. colleges by 16% came into effect this year. According to government data, 190,098 applications were received for FY 2019, down from 199,000 applications for FY 2018 and 236,000 for FY 2017.
Here are some of the other ripples the administration’s mission to curb H-1B visa abuse has caused.
Fewer students applying to American colleges. According to the State Department-backed Institute of International Education (IIE), new international student enrolments in the U.S. fell by 6.6% in 2017/18, “continuing a slowing or downward trend first observed in the 2015/16 academic year.”
“This is not great news for universities or the economy since international students tend to pay higher fees than their American counterparts.” (“The Impact of Trump’s H-1B Visa Crackdown in 5 Charts – Investopedia”) In 2017, they contributed $42.4 billion to the U.S. economy through tuition, room and board, and other expenses. This is the main reason some colleges have been reclassifying their economics majors as STEM degrees.
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