New York : US President Donald Trump appeared to defend the H1-B visa programme, whose majority of beneficiaries are Indians, saying the country needed to bring in talent. During an appearance on Fox News, Trump was asked whether his administration would prioritise the H1-B visa programme over fears that it could suppress wages for American workers. I agree, but you do also have to bring in talent, he replied.
You don’t have certain talents. People have to learn. You can’t take people off an unemployment line and say, ‘I’m going to put you into a factory where we’re going to make missiles’, he added. The President’s rare endorsement of the H1-B came less than two months after his administration hiked the annual fee for the visa programme to a whopping USD 100,000, sending shockwaves among the country’s entire expat workforce, including Indians.
In the proclamation issued by Trump on September 19, H-1B employees, including current visa holders, would be denied entry to the US unless their employer has paid the amount for the employee. Further in the interview, Trump also pointed to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid at a Hyundai facility in Georgia in September.
They raided because they wanted illegal immigrants out. There were people from South Korea (at the facility) who made batteries all their lives. Making batteries is very complicated. It’s not an easy thing. Very dangerous, a lot of explosions, a lot of problems. They had like 500 or 600 people, early stages, to make batteries and to teach people how to do it. Well, they wanted them to get out of the country.
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