Trump Defends H-1B Visa Program Amid Crackdown, Cites Need for Skilled Foreign Talent

Washington, Nov 2025 : US President Donald Trump has defended the H-1B visa program, emphasizing that certain industries in the United States rely on skilled foreign talent.

In an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on Tuesday, Trump was asked whether his administration intended to deprioritize H-1B visas. He responded, “You do have to bring in talent.” When Ingraham countered that the US has sufficient talent, Trump insisted, “No, you don’t… You don’t have certain talents. And people have to learn; you can’t take people off an unemployment line and say, ‘I’m going to put you into a factory. We’re going to make missiles.’”

Trump’s comments come amid his administration’s efforts to tighten control over the H-1B visa system. In September, he issued a proclamation imposing a hefty $100,000 application fee for companies seeking to hire foreign workers on H-1B visas. The move was widely seen as part of a broader effort to prioritize American workers and reduce dependency on foreign labor for highly skilled roles.

Last week, the US Department of Labor (DOL) announced at least 175 investigations into potential abuses of the H-1B visa program. Launched in September, ‘Project Firewall’ targets companies accused of exploiting the system, which allows US firms to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations such as information technology, engineering, and healthcare.

“The Department of Labor is using every resource at our disposal to put a stop to H-1B abuse and protect American jobs,” DOL Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer stated in a post on X.

Meanwhile, opposition to H-1B visas has also emerged at the state level. In October, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis directed the state’s Board of Governors to phase out the use of H-1B visas across state universities, insisting that positions currently held by foreign visa holders should be offered to Florida residents. “Why are we bringing people in to assess our accreditation on an H-1B visa? We can’t do that with our own people?” DeSantis questioned, criticizing the practice as “cheap labour” and urging university leaders to reassess hiring policies.

Days later, the White House reiterated that Trump’s priority in reforming the H-1B visa program is to put American workers first, promising to defend the administration’s policy against ongoing legal challenges. The crackdown has already faced opposition from lawmakers and major lawsuits, including one filed by the US Chamber of Commerce, the country’s largest business organization.

On October 31, five US lawmakers wrote to Trump urging reconsideration of the September 19 proclamation, warning that it could have “potentially negative impacts” on the India-US relationship. This concern stems from the fact that India-born workers received over 70 percent of all approved H-1B visas in 2024, largely due to a high backlog of applications and a significant number of skilled Indian immigrants.

As the debate continues, Trump’s administration maintains that reforms to the H-1B visa program are necessary to balance protecting American jobs while still ensuring access to critical foreign talent in specialized industries.