H-1B visa reforms: White House details strategy to prevent exploitation and protect domestic jobs

Washington: A day after US President Donald Trump defended the H-1B visa programme, the White House has reiterated its commitment to tackling alleged abuses within the visa system.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted a clarification to 'The Daily Wire' on X, following questions about the administration’s stance. In a statement to the publication, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said on Wednesday that the administration remained determined to “reform the immigration system.”

“In record time, President Trump has done more than any president in modern history to tighten our immigration laws and put American workers first,” Rogers said.

“The $100,000 payment required to supplement new H-1B visa applications is a significant first step to stop abuses of the system and ensure American workers are no longer replaced by lower-paid foreign labour,” she added.

In an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on Tuesday, Trump was asked whether his administration planned to deprioritise H-1B visas. “You do have to bring in talent." When Ingraham countered, "We have plenty of talent," Trump responded, "No, you don't.”

“You don't have certain talents.... And people have to learn, you can't take people off an unemployment line and say, I'm going to put you into a factory. We're going to make missiles,” he said.

Last week, the US Department of Labour (DOL) launched at least 175 investigations into potential misuse of the H-1B visa programme as part of a wider Trump administration initiative to crack down on the foreign worker visa system.

The effort, dubbed Project Firewall, was launched in September to target companies accused of exploiting the visa scheme, which allows US firms to employ foreign workers in specialised fields such as information technology, engineering, and healthcare.

“The Department of Labour is using every resource at our disposal to put a stop to H-1B abuse and protect American jobs,” said DOL Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer in a post on X.

In October, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis directed the state’s Board of Governors to end the use of H-1B visas across public universities, stating that positions currently held by visa holders should be filled by Florida residents.

Days later, the White House reaffirmed that President Trump’s top priority in reforming the H-1B visa programme is to put “American workers first,” vowing to contest lawsuits filed against the administration’s visa restrictions.

The policy has drawn strong opposition from lawmakers and business groups, including two major legal challenges, one led by the US Chamber of Commerce, the country’s largest business organisation.

On October 31, five US lawmakers sent a letter to Trump urging him to reconsider his 19 September proclamation on H-1B visas, warning of its “potentially negative impacts on the India–US relationship.”

India-born professionals accounted for more than 70 per cent of approved H-1B visas in 2024, largely due to a significant processing backlog and a high concentration of skilled immigrants from India.

IANS