‘H-1B visa programme is a disaster’: US Congressman says govt should crack down on both legal and illegal immigration
A US Congressman has said that Washington does not only need to crack down on illegal immigration, but also on legal immigration. “The H-1B visa program is a disaster,” said Representative Riley M Moore from West Virginia.
Speaking at The Will Cain Show, Moore said he has real issues with the H-1B visa programme, legal as it is. This work visa has driven American youths out of jobs, which are then given away to people from India and other countries.
“I have a real issue with the H-1B visa programme. It is a real problem in this country because it is not only the blue collar jobs, it is also the white collar jobs that are affected by the H-1B visa. We send our kids to college to be an accountant or any job that is so important to the economy. Then you turn around and these companies go and apply for the H-1B visa and bring somebody in from India or wherever and undercut our young people that we are trying to put into the workforce,” he said in the show.
Moore shared a clip of his interview on the show on social media, adding that the H-1B visa “drives down wages, replaces American workers with foreigners, and leaves American college graduates with few prospects”. “We don’t just need to crack down on illegal immigration, we also need to rein in legal immigration,” he said.
Moore told Cain that he proposed an amendment to address perceived abuses in the H-1B visa program. He said that the amendment requires the “Department of Labour to report how H-1B visas are negatively impacting the workers here in the United States”. “That is legal but it is a conversation that we need to have because it is hurting blue collar and white collar jobs in this country,” he said.
The amendment was approved by the House Appropriations Committee that directed the Department of Labor to investigate claims of “false shortage” of STEM talent.
In a recent social media post, the US Department of Labour urged American companies to prioritise hiring American workers and to stop the abuse of the H-1B visa. This came after the fee for the visa was increased to $100,000 by US President Donald Trump, effectively limiting access for many applicants. This hike comes amid rising rhetoric that immigrants have taken jobs from American citizens.
Indians are the biggest beneficiaries of the H-1B visa, followed by China. Critics and experts have questioned the decision to hike up H-1B visa fees, pointing to the significant contribution of the Indian diaspora to the US economy. Meanwhile, countries like the UK, Germany, and Canada are looking to attract skilled Indians to boost their own economies.