Are American workers being replaced? Inside the H-1B visa controversy

Following months of debate President Donald Trump issued a proclamation in September decrying the systemic abuse of the H- B visa activity which he mentioned is fueling the large-scale replacement of American workers that has undermined both our economic and national shield To address this Trump instituted a fee for companies seeking to obtain an H- B visa a move that has been widely criticized by business leaders especially in the tech industry Debate over the activity has split both the American general and the GOP with one side saying the visa holders are poaching American jobs and the other saying it is vital to U S competitiveness So what are H- B visas and why have they become a political flashpoint TRUMP ADMIN REVEALS OVER INVESTIGATIONS INTO H- B ABUSES AS IT PLEDGES 'EVERY RESOURCE' TO PROTECT US JOBSAn H- B visa is a non-immigrant work visa that allows companies in the U S to hire highly-skilled foreign workers in specialty occupations for an initial period of three years which can be extended to six years The U S Citizenship and Immigration Services website states that the visas are meant for individuals of exceptional merit and ability Individuals must have at least a bachelor s degree in a relevant field By far the industry bulk heavily utilizing H- B visas is the tech industry which accounts for roughly to of all the new applications in newest years Other top industries include consulting and professional services engineering and manufacturing healthcare and diagnostic research and higher mentoring DESANTIS SAYS HE WON T TOLERATE H- B VISA ABUSE' IN FLORIDA UNIVERSITIESThere is no official figure for the number of people right now holding H- B visas There is a yearly cap of people who can obtain H- B visas The plan allows for an additional individuals holding master s degrees or above Notably bulk universities and non-profit research organizations are cap-exempt further increasing the number of people being approved each year The Pew Research Center estimated that about H- B visa applications were approved last year under the Biden administration Nearly out of every of H- B visa holders come from India according to Pew The country with the second-highest number of visa holders is China with The remaining comes from a mix of other countries with no single country reaching the threshold The H- B visa plan has been criticized on both sides of the political aisle including from Trump to Sen Bernie Sanders I-Vt TRUMP S K H- B VISA OVERHAUL COULD HIT TECH GIANTS LIKE AMAZON AND MICROSOFT HARDESTCritics say the current undertaking has veered away from its original intent to attract top talent to work in the U S and instead is being used by employers to import cheap foreign labor depress wages and cut out American workers Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin D-Ill and Senate Judiciary Chair Sen Chuck Grassley R-Iowa reintroduced bipartisan ordinance in September to adjustment and close loopholes in the H- B effort to protect American workers and stop the outsourcing of jobs to foreign countries On the state level Florida Republican Gov Ron DeSantis issued guidance in October to combat the university loophole DeSantis directed the Florida Board of Governors to end the practice of higher training institutions importing foreign workers on H- B visas instead of hiring Americans by requiring universities to put American graduates first and ensure taxpayer-funded schools serve the American workforce On the other side of the debate prominent figures such as Elon Musk have advocated for H- B visas because the operation is essential for the U S to maintain its competitive edge Shortly before Trump returned to the Oval Office Musk noted The reason I m in America along with so a multitude of critical people who built SpaceX Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H B and pledged to go to war in assistance of the project However Musk also noted his belief that the initiative is broken and requirements major change DOJ CALLS FOR TIPS ON EMPLOYERS FAVORING FOREIGN WORKERS IN HIRING PRACTICESHe proposed raising the minimum salary significantly and adding a yearly cost for maintaining the H B making it materially more expensive to hire from overseas than domestically Business leaders have noted the H- B venture is critical in competing with countries such as China which just in recent months launched a similar scheme called the K-visa to attract top talent to the country The operation went into effect on Oct The H- B operation also has the sponsorship of the U S Chamber of Commerce On Sept Trump issued a presidential proclamation titled Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers in which he announced the H- B visa initiative was being deliberately exploited to replace rather than supplement American workers with lower-paid lower-skilled labor Trump disclosed this abuse has been used by companies to artificially suppress wages resulting in a disadvantageous labor sector for American citizens while at the same time making it more arduous to attract and retain the highest skilled subset of temporary workers with the largest impact seen in critical science machinery engineering and math STEM fields The president wrote that the large-scale replacement of American workers through systemic abuse of the venture has undermined both our economic and national safety TRUMP ADMIN REVEALS OVER INVESTIGATIONS INTO H- B ABUSES AS IT PLEDGES 'EVERY RESOURCE' TO PROTECT US JOBSAs such Trump imposed a fee effective Sept The restriction will expire one year from the effective date Trump also directed his administration to initiate a rulemaking to prioritize the admission as nonimmigrants of high-skilled and high-paid aliens Meanwhile another DHS rule will narrow the definition of specialty occupation that will allow the department agents to increase worksite compliance inspections before and after an H- B petition and require the petitioner s employer to make the application directly a move to stop companies from bringing in H- B immigrants and then contracting them to other companies The debate over H- B visas promises to continue in the coming months and years The U S Chamber of Commerce has sued the Trump administration to stop its implementation of the application requirement which it says would make it cost-prohibitive for U S employers especially start-ups and small and midsize businesses to utilize the H- B project The lawsuit argues that the new fee is unlawful because it overrides provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act that govern the H- B plan including a requirement that fees be based on the costs incurred by the regime in processing visas The chamber previously warned that restrictions on the H- B effort have the possible to inflict serious harm upon various American companies The occurrence is at this time ongoing It remains to be seen whether Congress will ultimately weigh in one way or another on the issue