Washington DC [US], November 12: US President Donald Trump has taken a more accommodating stance toward H-1B visa reforms. During a Tuesday interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, Trump asserted the United States must continue to “bring this talent” in from abroad to meet needs in critical positions in its workforce. He explained that the United States couldn’t just pull unemployed citizens off the street for highly-technical jobs in manufacturing and defence without any training.
“You Can’t Take People Off the Unemployment Line”
Trump defended skilled foreign professionals, arguing not all people in unemployment have the expertise or learning capability required for complex skills.
When countered during the interview that the US has “plenty of talented people,” Trump countered, “No, you don’t. There are certain skills you don’t have, and people have to learn them. You can’t take people off the unemployment line and say, ‘I’m going to put you into a factory where we’re going to make missiles.'”
H-1B visa fees increase significantly
Trump’s comments come following a proclamation he signed in September that would substantially change how the H-1B visa works. With the new rule, there is a fee of USD 100,000 for new visa petitions; the previous fee was $1,500. The US State Department said that the fee only applies if the petition is filed after September 21, 2025; current visa holders would not face the new fee.
An example in Georgia illustrates the skill gap
Trump cited an example from Georgia, investigating the impact of not having skilled workers from South Korea working on production in a Hyundai battery plant. The point, he made clear, is that battery manufacturing is complicated and takes years of experience. “They had people from South Korea that had made batteries all their life. Making batteries is very complicated and very dangerous — a lot of explosions, a lot of problems. They had like 500 or 600 people in the early stages to make batteries and to teach people how to do it,” said Trump. When those workers left, he said, they used untrained workers to take their place, and the workers caused a lot of problems due to not having experience and not being able to troubleshoot problems.
A shift from the hardline immigration stance
Trump’s recent remarks mark a significant departure from what had been a stricter approach on immigration and foreign worker visas. His administration had previously tried to tighten up the rules for H-1B visas. Trump now seems to be taking a less partisan stance by saying the US needs international talent to maintain a competitive technological and industrial industry.
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