Trump Administration Rolls Out Long-Awaited H1B visa reform

[Anni di ghiaccio]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/h1-b-work-visa-trump-overhaul-restrictions-foreign-guest-workers/

Good. This is one of the few policies I agree with them on. Companies in fields like finance and tech have been abusing this system for cheap labor, trucking in hordes of workers from places like India, for years now.

[Wrong about 2024 Ghost]

The Department of Labor interim final rule will take effect Thursday, while the DHS companion rule is expected to be enforced in two months. Collectively, the rules represent the broadest overhaul of the H-1B program in decades, according to experts and government officials.

"We're making good on President Trump's promise that he made to the American people nearly four years ago, to restore the integrity to the immigration system, to protect Americans from those who seek to exploit our system for personal gain, and to never forget each and every hard-working American struggling to provide for his or her family," Cuccinelli said in a call with reporters. "This rule will help us rebuild our economy and put Americans back to work."

Good, although its sad this took four years (and I have no expectation that Trump won't roll it back if he wins). I will criticize President Biden if his administration rolls this back.

[Crumpets]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/h1-b-work-visa-trump-overhaul-restrictions-foreign-guest-workers/

Good. This is one of the few policies I agree with them on. Companies in fields like finance and tech have been abusing this system for cheap labor, trucking in hordes of workers from places like India, for years now.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

[Nightcore Nationalist]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/h1-b-work-visa-trump-overhaul-restrictions-foreign-guest-workers/

Good. This is one of the few policies I agree with them on. Companies in fields like finance and tech have been abusing this system for cheap labor, trucking in hordes of workers from places like India, for years now.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

Are there not Americans who are qualified, willing and able?



Of course there are, that's a rhetorical question.  Big business shouldn't exploit cheap labor at the expense of our shrinking middle class.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Under the Department of Labor rule, employers will need to pay H-1B holders higher wages, a move Trump administration officials said will discourage U.S. companies from turning to cheaper labor from abroad.

The DHS rule will redefine the "specialty occupations" H-1B visa holders can qualify for, requiring petitioners to prove they have a college degree in the specific field they are seeking to work in.

Ok I get the first rule, but for the 2nd dont H-1B visa holders have to already have college degrees to get the visa

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Under the Department of Labor rule, employers will need to pay H-1B holders higher wages, a move Trump administration officials said will discourage U.S. companies from turning to cheaper labor from abroad.

The DHS rule will redefine the "specialty occupations" H-1B visa holders can qualify for, requiring petitioners to prove they have a college degree in the specific field they are seeking to work in.

Ok I get the first rule, but for the 2nd dont H-1B visa holders have to already have college degrees to get the visa

Nope, it can be replaced with work experience.

[SInNYC]

The part where they require employers to pay H1Bs somewhat comparable wages is one of the few things Trump has done that I like.

But the part about requiring degrees in their field doesnt really mean anything. Most of these are in tech, and there are numerous tech degrees of varying qualities - computer science, information science, computer technology, web page design, cybersecurity, software engineering, etc. Some of these (in the US and internationally) arent worth the paper they are printed on since they basically train students on how to download some code A and change an x to a y (and leave before the users realize that A doesnt do exactly what they wanted).

[redjohn]

I agree that lower wages shouldn't be paid, but I strongly believe the wages should be the same for H-1B holders and American workers. The H-1B program is excellent and encourages immigration, which is a good thing, especially among highly-skilled workers.

[redjohn]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/h1-b-work-visa-trump-overhaul-restrictions-foreign-guest-workers/

Good. This is one of the few policies I agree with them on. Companies in fields like finance and tech have been abusing this system for cheap labor, trucking in hordes of workers from places like India, for years now.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

Are there not Americans who are qualified, willing and able?



Of course there are, that's a rhetorical question.  Big business shouldn't exploit cheap labor at the expense of our shrinking middle class.

There are STEM fields at great Universities that are dominated by international students. If you want to remain competitive internationally, you need to hire those bright students that will be at the forefront of innovation in those fields. It's far too simplistic to say that because there are Americans who could theoretically take jobs in a certain field, we should hire those people instead of foreign workers. Obviously, companies that can take an expense cut by hiring foreign workers isn't good for American workers, but I would shy away from rhetoric about the shrinking middle class when approaching a program that has and will greatly benefit the U.S. in the long run. It's not an either or; you can hire international workers without hurting the middle class.

[CityByTheValley]

Good. This is one of the few policies I agree with them on. Companies in fields like finance and tech have been abusing this system for cheap labor, trucking in hordes of workers from places like India, for years now.

Hey! As someone that's been through this process Trump is doing this to get people's votes; the way they rolled this regulation out makes it so that it'll get struck down in court. Furthermore, the easiest way to prevent fraud is to ban the contracting model entirely that is the main source of training replacements. Instead, this is simply a way for Trump to reduce high-skilled immigration. I can assure you no one I know or myself on this visa is "cheap labor" and there are a lot of misconceptions regarding this immigration pathway. Rhetoric like this is why a lot of immigrants are not friendly to leftist or far-right politicians who portray us as job stealers, as opposed to business-friendly moderates.

[Anni di ghiaccio]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/h1-b-work-visa-trump-overhaul-restrictions-foreign-guest-workers/

Good. This is one of the few policies I agree with them on. Companies in fields like finance and tech have been abusing this system for cheap labor, trucking in hordes of workers from places like India, for years now.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

Are there not Americans who are qualified, willing and able?



Of course there are, that's a rhetorical question.  Big business shouldn't exploit cheap labor at the expense of our shrinking middle class.

There are STEM fields at great Universities that are dominated by international students.

That's a big problem too.

[Anni di ghiaccio]

Good. This is one of the few policies I agree with them on. Companies in fields like finance and tech have been abusing this system for cheap labor, trucking in hordes of workers from places like India, for years now.

Hey! As someone that's been through this process Trump is doing this to get people's votes; the way they rolled this regulation out makes it so that it'll get struck down in court. Furthermore, the easiest way to prevent fraud is to ban the contracting model entirely that is the main source of training replacements. Instead, this is simply a way for Trump to reduce high-skilled immigration. I can assure you no one I know or myself on this visa is "cheap labor" and there are a lot of misconceptions regarding this immigration pathway. Rhetoric like this is why a lot of immigrants are not friendly to leftist or far-right politicians who portray us as job stealers, as opposed to business-friendly moderates.

I'd be completely in favor of banning it entirely, that would negate a lot of the interest in sponsoring H1B visas.

In America we have schools and career fields that are too prohibitively expensive for many students; our public education is serially underfunded which further heightens the hurdles. So corporations tell us the only answer is to bring in these workers. Not only that, contrary to the "high skilled immigrants" label, some are doing low to mid grade tech support. Especially the ones I knew who were from India and worked at large banking conglomerates. They are desirable to the employers because they are cheaper and they can be threatened with the revocation of sponsorship. And I should say a lot of them hated it and hated their employers, but what choice did they have? I felt bad for them. And I felt bad for Americans entering the workforce who aren't able to access those jobs because the corporations refuse to hire them.

I don't blame the employees who use the visas, but this is an American program that has put many Americans at a big disadvantage. The purpose of government should be first and foremost the promotion of the citizens' welfare.

[CityByTheValley]

Good. This is one of the few policies I agree with them on. Companies in fields like finance and tech have been abusing this system for cheap labor, trucking in hordes of workers from places like India, for years now.

Hey! As someone that's been through this process Trump is doing this to get people's votes; the way they rolled this regulation out makes it so that it'll get struck down in court. Furthermore, the easiest way to prevent fraud is to ban the contracting model entirely that is the main source of training replacements. Instead, this is simply a way for Trump to reduce high-skilled immigration. I can assure you no one I know or myself on this visa is "cheap labor" and there are a lot of misconceptions regarding this immigration pathway. Rhetoric like this is why a lot of immigrants are not friendly to leftist or far-right politicians who portray us as job stealers, as opposed to business-friendly moderates.

I'd be completely in favor of banning it entirely, that would negate a lot of the interest in sponsoring H1B visas.

In America we have schools and career fields that are too prohibitively expensive for many students; our public education is serially underfunded which further heightens the hurdles. So corporations tell us the only answer is to bring in these workers. Not only that, contrary to the "high skilled immigrants" label, some are doing low to mid grade tech support. Especially the ones I knew who were from India and worked at large banking conglomerates. They are desirable to the employers because they are cheaper and they can be threatened with the revocation of sponsorship.

I don't blame the employees who use the visas, but this is an American program that has put many Americans at a big disadvantage. The purpose of government should be first and foremost the promotion of the citizens' welfare.

I'm sorry but I don't think you understand what I'm saying although you may well just dislike immigrants. I'm not sure your personal experience quite fits the data regarding the program itself although you may well have been replaced yourself so I sympathize with you if that happened. I understand that I've possibly antagonized you here but to dumb down the explanation if there's a skills gap present, completely banning talent from entering the nation, corporations are more likely to shift jobs and offices abroad further as opposed to maintaining openings here. A skills gap will not close overnight and universities aren't going to stop international students from coming here so I'm not sure what your solution is other than acting in an authoritarian manner and forcing companies from leaving. As I explained previously if you read and comprehended, a large part of the tech support is from the contracting model as opposed to direct sponsorship from companies and therefore (I agree!) not high skilled. Additionally, the government can mandate at least one degree from the US for a sponsored employee to prevent unskilled people from entering the country. The H1B program can certainly be reformed but this isn't the way to do it correctly and is simply going to push companies away from the US. I understand the sentiment you've outlined but that's exactly why I've mentioned a relatively simple solution to ensure basic IT functions aren't replaced and to maintain opportunities for citizens to break into the field.

[Anni di ghiaccio]

Good. This is one of the few policies I agree with them on. Companies in fields like finance and tech have been abusing this system for cheap labor, trucking in hordes of workers from places like India, for years now.

Hey! As someone that's been through this process Trump is doing this to get people's votes; the way they rolled this regulation out makes it so that it'll get struck down in court. Furthermore, the easiest way to prevent fraud is to ban the contracting model entirely that is the main source of training replacements. Instead, this is simply a way for Trump to reduce high-skilled immigration. I can assure you no one I know or myself on this visa is "cheap labor" and there are a lot of misconceptions regarding this immigration pathway. Rhetoric like this is why a lot of immigrants are not friendly to leftist or far-right politicians who portray us as job stealers, as opposed to business-friendly moderates.

I'd be completely in favor of banning it entirely, that would negate a lot of the interest in sponsoring H1B visas.

In America we have schools and career fields that are too prohibitively expensive for many students; our public education is serially underfunded which further heightens the hurdles. So corporations tell us the only answer is to bring in these workers. Not only that, contrary to the "high skilled immigrants" label, some are doing low to mid grade tech support. Especially the ones I knew who were from India and worked at large banking conglomerates. They are desirable to the employers because they are cheaper and they can be threatened with the revocation of sponsorship.

I don't blame the employees who use the visas, but this is an American program that has put many Americans at a big disadvantage. The purpose of government should be first and foremost the promotion of the citizens' welfare.

I'm sorry but I don't think you understand what I'm saying although you may well just dislike immigrants. I'm not sure your personal experience quite fits the data regarding the program itself although you may well have been replaced yourself so I sympathize with you if that happened. I understand that I've possibly antagonized you here but to dumb down the explanation if there's a skills gap present, completely banning talent from entering the nation, corporations are more likely to shift jobs and offices abroad further as opposed to maintaining openings here. A skills gap will not close overnight and universities aren't going to stop international students from coming here so I'm not sure what your solution is other than acting in an authoritarian manner and forcing companies from leaving. As I explained previously if you read and comprehended, a large part of the tech support is from the contracting model as opposed to direct sponsorship from companies and therefore (I agree!) not high skilled. Additionally, the government can mandate at least one degree from the US for a sponsored employee to prevent unskilled people from entering the country. The H1B program can certainly be reformed but this isn't the way to do it correctly and is simply going to push companies away from the US. I understand the sentiment you've outlined but that's exactly why I've mentioned a relatively simple solution to ensure basic IT functions aren't replaced and to maintain opportunities for citizens to break into the field.

On the contrary, I think immigration is great and has made our country better. Immigration is not inherently bad because society is not a closed loop - the more people, the more jobs. My main beef is with corporations abusing it to keep wages down and shielding themselves from hiring American employees. This is a negative for everyone - the employees and the Americans, and the economy because that's less income in the hands of workers.

I think you have a good idea about a potential solution to this problem, but I think the Trump administration's plan is worth trying. However, this is only a part of a wider failure in the way American society has degraded in the past few decades - as I mentioned, education costs have skyrocketed, which has led to a mass influx of foreigners in fields like engineering and medicine. Obviously America should try and attract the best and brightest, but at some point you have to ask: Are Americans not in these fields because they are stupid, or because the barriers to entry have been made so artificially high? At many universities tuition has spiked 400-500% in the past 20 years, while our education budget (which was always uneven due to millage rates) has taken hits, so the latter is the more obvious answer.

[PSOL]

Yeah, big tech won’t like this for a long while now.

[TopShelfGoal]

Are there not Americans who are qualified, willing and able?



Of course there are, that's a rhetorical question.  Big business shouldn't exploit cheap labor at the expense of our shrinking middle class.

It is hilarious that some think H1B and related categories are "cheap labor". That tells me that folks have no idea how it actually works. Here's some knowledge, the company I work for (tech company on the west coast that everyone here has heard of) routinely hires H1Bs, the pay average of Software Engineers for these roles is 150,000-250,000 base salary plus significant RSUs. We are certainly not tapping into that market for "cheap labor".

As to why these positions are not being filled by Americans, the answer is as follows- first of all the are being filled by Americans at a larger rate every passing year. However, a skills gap exists at the moment where there are noway near enough qualified US born individuals to keep up with the demand. Universities aren't pumping out graduates at a rate to fulfill the demand. Pre-Covid there were way more jobs in the industry than qualified candidates. I personally know of companies for whom the main bottneck to their growth is being able to hire enough qualified folks to keep up with their roadmap.

These jobs are highly technical and require someone to have a university degree or multiple years of experience. You cannot pick an average person off the street and train them in 3 weeks to be able to do these jobs.

I know for a fact that many tech company including mine started to invest in their satellite offices in Canada a couple of years ago as a backup. I expect that to increase in volume. These kinds of measures will just push these companies to house their foreign born candidates in Canada and Europe and/or just have them work remotely. It certainly won't have any measurable effect on Americans having these jobs, pretty much every qualified American software developer already has a job, that particular talent pool is saturated.

Are Americans not in these fields because they are stupid, or because the barriers to entry have been made so artificially high? At many universities tuition has spiked 400-500% in the past 20 years, while our education budget (which was always uneven due to millage rates) has taken hits, so the latter is the more obvious answer.

I agree that tuitions are ridiculous, that said more people are graduating from university now than at any point in American history. However graduation from STEM fields (which is what most H1Bs visa holders have degrees from) remains disproportionately low compared to demand and compared to other fields. I would posit that for whatever reason many American kids don't have interest in these fields compared to say those in China or other parts of Asia.

[Ferguson97]

Are there not Americans who are qualified, willing and able?

Native born Americans are not more deserving of jobs than immigrants are

[Big Abraham]

Are there not Americans who are qualified, willing and able?

Native born Americans are not more deserving of jobs than immigrants are

The first duty of any government is to provide first and foremost for its citizenry; therefore, the United States should not adopt policies which puts its own "native" laborers in further job insecurity and lowering wages in favor of businesses employing cheap labor from overseas. No one is saying that foreign workers are less entitled to a job, but that doesn't mean they should have the unadulterated right to find employment here.

[Ferguson97]

but that doesn't mean they should have the unadulterated right to find employment here.

I disagree.

[OSR stands with Israel]

but that doesn't mean they should have the unadulterated right to find employment here.

I disagree.

The number 1 job of any nation is to do what they think is in the best interests of the people living in their nation not the world.

Im pro-immigration(merit-based) cause I think merit-based immigration is in the best interest of our nation

[WD]

but that doesn't mean they should have the unadulterated right to find employment here.

I disagree.

Why? A nation should emphasize employment for it’s citizens. The US is not obligated to support people from other nations. As others have said, a government should pursue policy that is in the interest of and direct benefits it’s citizens and no one else. This program clearly hurts American workers, it deprives them of job opportunities and deflates their wages, just so businesses can make the maximum profit and pay foreign workers as little as possible. Reforming it or getting rid of it is the right call. Really, by denying Americans employment/ driving down their pay and paying the immigrants the bare minimum, it’s both foreigners and Americans who are hurt by this policy. Everyone is a loser. Big businesses are the only ones who benefit, it’s more money in their pockets and less for everyone else.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

but that doesn't mean they should have the unadulterated right to find employment here.

I disagree.

The number 1 job of any nation is to do what they think is in the best interests of the people living in their nation not the world.

Im pro-immigration(merit-based) cause I think merit-based immigration is in the best interest of our nation

It's odd that a party that thinks the government is either unable to or simply shouldn't pick winners and losers in the economy believes it can do so with immigrants. That said, I don't mind limiting increases in immigration to skilled workers, but if reductions in lesser skilled immigrants makes it harder for highly skilled workers to bring their families here, it makes it likelier they'll head elsewhere.

[SevenEleven]

How Obvious. Right-wing Sympathists Endorse Setbacks Here. Oppression Everywhere.

How Obvious. Revolutionary Socialists Endorse Setbacks Here. Obliterate Employment.