President Donald Trump is anticipated to issue a proclamation reforming the H-1B visa program, mandating a $100,000 application fee to encourage hiring American workers. The proclamation limits H-1B entry to applications accompanied by this fee, citing that program abuse has displaced American workers. Additionally, Trump intends to direct the Labor Secretary to adjust prevailing-wage levels for the H-1B program to prevent visas from being used to undercut wages typically paid to American workers.
Josh Wingrove and Hadriana Lowenkron for Bloomberg News:
The move is the latest immigration reform by the Trump administration and will heavily affect the technology industry in particular, as it relies heavily on H-1Bs. The administration argues that the revisions will bring more certainty to legitimate filings under the program by weeding out abuses.
In a fact sheet set seen by Bloomberg News, the White House said American workers are being replaced with lower-paid foreign labor and called it a national security threat. The dynamic is suppressing wages and disincentivizing Americans from choosing careers in STEM fields, the White House said.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the $100,000 figure was in addition to, or inclusive of, existing fees that are much more modest.
Fees directly tied to the H-1B visa application currently include a $215 fee to register for the lottery and a $780 fee for a Form I-129, which is a petition for a non-immigrant worker that is filed by an employer sponsor.
H-1B visas are awarded based on a lottery system, but Bloomberg News has reported previously that flaws in the system create loopholes that some employers exploit by flooding the lottery with entries.
MacDailyNews Take: The following editorial was published by The New York Times‘ Editorial Board, June 16, 2016, five months prior to the 2016 U.S. Presidential election:
Visa Abuses Harm American Workers
There is no doubt that H-1B visas — temporary work permits for specially talented foreign professionals — are instead being used by American employers to replace American workers with cheaper foreign labor. Abbott Laboratories, the health care conglomerate based in Illinois, recently became the latest large American company to use the visas in this way, following the lead of other employers, including Southern California Edison, Northeast Utilities (now Eversource Energy), Disney, Toys “R” Us and New York Life.
The visas are supposed to be used only to hire college-educated foreigners in “specialty occupations” requiring “highly specialized knowledge,” and only when such hiring will not depress prevailing wages. But in many cases, laid-off American workers have been required to train their lower-paid replacements.
Lawmakers from both parties have denounced the visa abuse, but it is increasingly widespread, mainly because of loopholes in the law. For example, in most instances, companies that hire H-1B workers are not required to recruit Americans before hiring from overseas. Similarly, companies are able to skirt the rules for using H-1B workers by outsourcing the actual hiring of those workers to Tata, Infosys and other temporary staffing firms, mostly based in India.
Criticism of the visa process has been muted, and reform has moved slowly, partly because laid-off American workers — mostly tech employees replaced by Indian guest workers — have not loudly protested. Their reticence does not mean acceptance or even resignation. As explained in The Times on Sunday by Julia Preston, most of the displaced workers had to sign agreements prohibiting them from criticizing their former employers as a condition of receiving severance pay. The gag orders have largely silenced the laid-off employees, while allowing the employers to publicly defend their actions as legal, which is technically accurate, given the loopholes in the law.
The conversation, however, is changing. Fourteen former tech workers at Abbott, including one who forfeited a chunk of severance pay rather than sign a so-called nondisparagement agreement, have filed federal claims with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission saying they were discriminated against because of their ages and American citizenship. Tech workers from Disney have filed federal lawsuits accusing the company and two global outsourcing firms of colluding to supplant Americans with H-1B workers. Former employees of Eversource Energy have also begun to challenge their severance-related gag orders by publicly discussing their dismissals and replacement by foreign workers on H-1B and other visas.
Congressional leaders of both parties have questioned the nondisparagement agreements. Bipartisan legislation in the Senate would revise visa laws to allow former employees to protest their layoffs. Beyond that, what Congress really needs to do is close the loopholes that allow H-1B abuses.
— The New York Times‘ Editorial Board, June 16, 2016
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Since well before the glorious 2016 election, I’ve been explaining Trump’s position and why the likes of Tim Cook supported his crooked, perennial failure of an opponent:
For Silicon Valley and Apple’s Tim Cook, it’s all about H-1B visas and cheap labor.
American companies and their shareholders, in general, want skilled labor as CHEAPLY as possible. That’s a main reason why Tim Cook, Apple and other tech firms backed the loser Clinton – they wanted unlimited H-1Bs to continue, so they can pay Ajeet from India half what they’d have to pay Tom from Tulsa who can’t find a job after graduating from college and has to live in his parents basement because Apple got Ajeet from India to do it on the CHEAP.
H1-B visas for skilled workers DO NOT EQUAL uneducated illegal aliens streaming across the southern border intent on cashing in on American taxpayer’s largesse while setting up shop in the domestic drug trade and/or other crimes (gangs, rape, robbery, etc.).
Trump is for upholding the laws already on the books designed to protect our borders and our nation’s sovereignty.
And, furthermore:
Perfect posting, First Then.
You nailed it.
The purpose of the H-1B visa program is to attract top talent without reducing U.S. wages, but most H-1B positions pay below-median wages; just one in six reaches the highest wage level.
Replacing the random lottery with a wage-based ranking system would curb abuse, prioritize high-skilled roles, and better align with the program’s original goals.
Also, why does the US allow vast numbers of Chinese to exploit the program, considering China is our fiercest rival? Shouldn’t we favor Japanese, Korean, i.e. friendly countries instead?
Charging a $100K fee seems the wrong solution, now only large companies will be able to afford it. Definitely need to ban the gag orders, and give clear rights to foreigners who qualify for the program. What foreign worker is going to complain about unfair treatment or sub-standard wages, when they know they can easily be kicked out by their employer. Companies should have to prove not only that they are hiring a foreigner because no Americans are available, but also prove they are paying competitive wages, and workers should have some kind of leverage to “shop around” on a regular basis, without fear of being deported. Think of foreign players in the NBA for example. There shouldn’t be issues of highly-qualified foreigners working at USA companies if everyone is competing on a level playing field. The H-1B visa program tilted the field towards the companies because of too many dumb regulations.
There is a Section 1(c) Exemption In Trump’s H-1B Fee Proclamation “… the Secretary of Homeland Security has the full right to determine at its discretion the applications of companies for H-1B visa holders. It would grant the exemption of $100,000 fee only if it finds the occupation workers are in the national interest and do not pose a threat to the security or welfare of the United States.”
You are right, only large companies can afford the fees – or the option above…
https://www.news18.com/business/explained-what-is-section-1c-exemption-in-trumps-h-1b-fee-proclamation-who-can-get-relief-ws-l-9585654.html