Companies that want to bring in foreign workers should prepare to pay bigly, according to a new report.
Bloomberg reported President Donald Trump is planning to overhaul the H-1B visa program by imposing a $100,000 fee on employers seeking to bring in overseas workers.
The financial news outlet cited “a White House official familiar with the matter” as its source.
Silicon Valley’s tech sector uses H-1B visas as a tool to import skilled workers. Yet the Trump administration is arguing these practices have been abused and are harming Americans.
The report stated Trump will order Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer to revise the program’s rules, effectively altering the wage rates paid out to H-1B workers.
This change is reportedly aimed at limiting visa use to avoid undercutting “wages that would otherwise be paid to American workers.”
The article cited a White House fact sheet that framed these reforms as vital because “American workers are being replaced with lower-paid foreign labor.”
The fact sheet — viewed by Bloomberg — said the influx of foreign tech workers is “a national security threat.” In addition, the sheet highlighted how too much foreign labor limits opportunities for Americans, forcing them to enter other sectors instead.
Newsweek noted on Friday how H-1B visas are awarded through a lottery. Employers pay $215 to enroll in said lottery, and a $780 fee to file a required form, so they can bring in a foreign worker.
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It was not made clear if the $100,000 fee would replace existing fees, or be added on top.
Bloomberg said the current system allow some companies to abuse H-1B visas, so they can bring in lower-skilled, lower-wage workers, below the intended standard.
About 85,000 H-1B visas are awarded per year, according to U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services.
Newsweek also pointed out comments made by Republican Sen. Jim Banks of Indiana on Friday, who has drafted legislation that would require anyone coming into the country on an H-1B visa to make at least $100,000 a year.
Under current rules, the requirement is only $60,000.
“Corporations rigged the system to flood the country with cheap foreign labor and drive down wages,” Banks said. “This bill puts American workers first.”
Banks has called for federal intervention on this issue for several years, dating back to his time in the House of Representatives.
“Big Tech is setting aside some of the most lucrative and valuable career opportunities in America and giving them exclusively to foreign guest workers,” he said in 2022, while serving in the House.
“They’re cutting out Americans to save a few bucks. It’s domestic outsourcing,” he added. “This shocking disregard for American workers and their role in our nation’s future is unpatriotic. We must fix Big Tech’s incentives, so they begin putting Americans first.”
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