US Vice President JD Vance has defended the Trump administration’s efforts to tighten the H-1B visa programme, saying the changes are aimed at attracting highly skilled workers rather than allowing companies to use foreign workers to displace American professionals, ANI reported.
Speaking on the business and technology podcast All-In , Vance said the administration chose to act through executive measures because Congress lacked the political will to change the system through legislation.
He said the administration wanted to ensure that companies seeking H-1B visas were hiring workers who could significantly contribute to the US technology sector and broader economy.
"Look, man, we looked at the fraud in the system and we said, you know, one, Congress is not going to pass a law changing this. There just isn't the political will to do it," Vance said, according to ANI.
He said the administration was seeking to prevent companies from using the programme to replace US workers with lower-paid foreign employees.
"You’re not just replacing one accountant who makes $60,000 with a lower-wage foreign accountant who makes $45,000 a year. That is not what the programme exists for," Vance said.
$100,000 H-1B fee
As part of the administration's measures, Vance said the US is imposing a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas while also examining ways to prevent companies that rely on the programme from laying off large numbers of American workers.
Vance questioned the hiring practices of companies that cite worker shortages while simultaneously carrying out large-scale layoffs.
"You’ll have a company that applies for an H-1B and they’ll say, oh, we're desperate for workers. We can't find the workers. And then you go and look at their history and they've laid off 5,000 people. Well, that's ridiculous," he said.
Vance on H-1B visa reforms
Vance said companies that are cutting US jobs should not simultaneously be seeking foreign workers to fill similar roles.
"If you're laying off American workers, you shouldn't be going to the market searching for foreign workers to replace them," he said.
He added that the administration was pursuing the changes within the limits of existing law and had faced legal challenges over some of its actions.
"We've gotten sued on some of this stuff, but I think fundamentally we're on the right on both the law and the policy," Vance said.
The vice president reiterated that the administration does not want the H-1B visa programme to become a route for companies to hire lower-cost foreign labour in place of American workers.
"The H-1B should not exist to replace American workers with low-wage foreigners. It should exist to enrich the American economy. And that's exactly what we're trying to make sure it does," he said in the report.
