David Sherfinski
RICHMOND, Virginia ( Thomson Reuters (NYSE:) Foundation ) – As President-elect Donald Trump prepares his crackdown on immigration, his allies in his Republican Party have split over policies surrounding U.S. worker visas for specialized occupations such as the technology industry.
The dispute over the so-called H-1B visas pits Trump’s Silicon Valley allies like X CEO Elon Musk, who support the program, against opponents like former White House strategist Steve Bannon, many of whom want to curb overall levels of immigration — legal and illegal — by Trump’s return to duty.
How did H-1Bs end up in the fray? Here’s what you need to know:
What are H-1Bs and how are they different from other US work visa programs?
The H-1B visa program is reserved for people from other countries who are employed in specialty occupations in the United States, often in the technology field.
They may include software engineers, technical program managers, and other IT professionals.
Persons in the United States on H-1B can extend beyond the initial six-year time frame – three years plus a three-year extension – if a green card application is filed.
Under the terms of their visas, laid-off workers face the possibility of having to leave the country within 60 days unless they can find another job or manage to change their immigration status.
Other labor programs include H-2A visas, which are for temporary agricultural workers, and H-2B visas for seasonal non-agricultural workers.
Tahmina Watson, an immigration attorney based in Seattle, Washington, has proposed a new “startup” visa category for people who want to come to the country to start new businesses.
“The startup visa is something I’ve advocated for almost two decades,” she said. “I think our visa system is in desperate need of reform.”
What are Trump’s allies saying about H-1B?
Musk defended the program and vowed to “go to war” over it after other Trump supporters criticized the president’s appointment of Indian-American businessman Sriram Krishnan as a senior political adviser on artificial intelligence and argued that the H-1B program favors foreign-born workers over Americans.
Musk has been listening to Trump since the election and is working on a newly created Department of Government Efficiency to reduce spending and perceived waste.
On the other side are people like Bannon, one of the architects of Trump’s 2016 campaign, who dismissed the H-1B program as a “fraud.”
“We’re winning this round, and a pretty big win,” Bannon said at a Politico event this month, referring to the H-1B fight. “I think we’ll get Elon there. As soon as I can turn Elon Musk from a techno-futilist to a populist nationalist, we’ll start making real progress.”
Watson said an important takeaway from the national debate was to recognize the lack of talent in STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — fields that the country needs.
“Recognize and acknowledge that we don’t have enough of the homegrown talent that we need, and address both at the same time by allowing skilled immigrants to come now, but also by using that policy to mandate that America start training the next generation,” she said.
What are Trump’s views?
After initial clashes, Trump said he supported the program.
“I have a lot of H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I’ve used it many times. It’s a great program,” he told the New York Post.
Ahead of the inauguration, Trump’s team did not respond to questions about whether he supports the program or plans to push for changes to the H-1B or other work visa programs.
He tried to limit them during his first mandate from 2017 to 2021.
Who might be affected by policy changes?
People from India accounted for the vast majority of approved H-1B beneficiaries in 2023, followed by China.
Under the current system, those affected by layoffs in the tech sector may struggle to retain their legal status.
Meta (NASDAQ: ), for example, which has about 72,000 employees, recently said it plans to lay off about 5% of its staff.
Watson said people or businesses that depend on H-1Bs could be well-served to tune into the political spin.
“Don’t let the national rhetoric dissuade you from using the H-1B if your business needs it,” she said. “I tell many of my clients that your business success is your north star, so do what you need to do.
“For employees who may be afraid, I would say they shouldn’t be if they work in harmony with their employers.”
