President Donald Trump opposes longstanding U.S. immigration rules.
In a September proclamation, Trump imposed a one-time $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa applications, which allows skilled foreign workers to be temporarily employed in the United States. The White House says the program was exploited, facilitating the large-scale replacement of American workers.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s clumsy proclamation and conflicting comments have sparked panic among H-1B visa holders, who are unsure whether the new rules apply to them. Many immigration lawyers and companies employing H-1B visa holders have advised overseas workers to return to the United States by the September 21 deadline set by the proclamation.
Two-thirds of the approximately 600,000 H-1B workers are employed in computer or information technology-related businesses, according to the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute. Despite the clarification that the fee only applies to new applicants, Trump’s proclamation is expected to be challenged in court. The new fees effectively end the H-1B category, the Cato Institute noted in a review posted on its website last month.
The new policy will force big tech companies out of the United States, reduce demand for American workers and disrupt the supply of goods and services in everything from computing and education to manufacturing and medicine, Cato warned. Other business-related think tanks, such as the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the Bush Institute, and the Conference Board, offer similar critiques.
The United States will not be the only country affected by the repression.
India, whose citizens hold about 71% of approved H-1B visas, will likely shift its economy away from the United States while experiencing slight offshoring and an influx of American talent, analysts say.
“Overall, the policy shifts high-skill jobs from the United States to India and other talent destinations, while leaving American companies struggling with higher costs and tighter labor markets,” says Usha Haley, Barton Distinguished Chair in International Business at Wichita State University.