President Donald Trump’s defense of H-1B visas has angered many on the right who view any foreigner taking an American job as a tragedy.
The H-1B visa will cost more but that may not fix the problem
While the H-1B visa will now cost companies $100,000, the fee may not motivate companies to hire American workers.
Immigration has been the signature issue of the Trump era of American politics. His initial ascendancy to the presidency inspired heated debate about his border wall proposal, and his second administration is laser-focused on mass deportations.
But there is a new area where President Donald Trump is pushing the immigration conversation. One of the significant divides in the post-Trump Republican Party will be overH-1B visas, which allow companies to hire foreign workers to fill high-skilled jobs.
There are no doubt problems with the H-1B program. However, the prevalence of these disagreements over the program is sure to have an impact on future elections and threatens to destroy a visa system that can be useful.
Why is everyone talking about H-1B visas?
H-1B visas are a rather simple program: They are intended to allow companies to hire foreign laborers to fill high-skilled positions that are facing a shortage of American talent. Ideally, workers with skills that America has a shortage of come over and train domestic workers.
Annually, 65,000 of H-1B visas are available, with an additional 20,000 available to those who hold a U.S. master’s degree or higher
The reality is that the program has major flaws, though. Critics argue that these foreign workers can be paid far below market rate because part of their compensation is the privilege of living in America during the term of their employment. This discount makes employees even more attractive to employers, particularly given that the visa also ties immigrants to a company. It gives employers massive leverage, because if recipients lose their job, they lose their temporary employment status.
On the other hand, those more interested in the economics of the matter have expressed concern that eliminating the program or adding burdensome fees would stifle American innovation.
Others have found that each H-1B worker grows the economy while shrinking the national budget deficit over the course of their lives.
Trump himself seems to be largely a defender of the visas, but he has proposed reforms. In September, his administration instituted a new rule that charges companies a $100,000 fee for each new H-1B applicant and suggests that American workers are being replaced.
This is a welcome development and should be fine-tuned as we see the effects. The amount can be raised or lowered, or exemptions can be created, to thread the needle between disincentivizing abuse and still allowing for the intended recipients.
However, Trump’s defense of the program has angered many on the right who view any foreigner taking an American job as a tragedy, regardless of whether there are Americans who can or want to do that job.
H-1B work visa fight is just a sample of what is to come
Which side of the issue you come down on in the visa debate is a litmus test for your entire view on the role of immigration in the American economy. This is why it inspires such heated infighting on the American right.
More traditional conservatives and free marketeers, such as myself, are more open to merit-based immigration practices. I agree that the system is broken as it has been operating, but I think that reforming the program to reflect its intended purpose is certainly preferable to tearing it down.
There is a genuine need for certain professions that America has a shortage of, and in which American workers cannot quickly be trained. Foreign workers can serve as both a stopgap for these shortages or can be utilized for training American workers.
Reforms aimed at ensuring that companies use visas only for highly skilled laborers, such as a wage-ranking system or fee structure, can redeem the program.
Structuring the visas to prevent corporate abuse is a priority, but it does not mean the program is beyond saving. When it functions at its best, the H-1B system is a boon for America, including our workers. We should be trying to make the system work as intended, not burn it down.
Members of the new right, particularly nationalists, typically come down against these visas because they claim to prioritize “the nation” and the American people over economic growth. Their view is that the only people who benefit from these visas are corporations, which get discounts on labor, and foreign laborers, who get to reap the immense benefits of living in America.
This crowd is ordinarily on Trump’s side when it comes to tariffs, mass deportations and other policies he claims help the American worker, so their split from him here clearly shows that they are ideological beyond Trump.
Most notably, Vice President JD Vance has been a vocal critic of the H-1B system and even has broken with the president on the issue.
This divide on the right is far from over and is sure to continue into the post-Trump reckoning for the Republican Party in elections. I hope that people see the value in the H-1B work visa and fix it, rather than raze the system entirely.
Dace Potas is an opinion columnist for USA TODAY and a graduate of DePaul University with a degree in political science.