President Elect Donald Trump’s Change of Heart, Suddenly Embraces H-1B Work Visas

After years of criticizing the H-1B work visa program, benefitting highly skilled foreign talent, on Saturday the President-elect shocked the world when he pledged his support for the program.

In an interview with the New York Post, Trump said, “I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them,” referring to the H-1B program, which allows U.S. companies to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations.

The President elect went on to say, “I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program.”

These comments are a sudden change from Trump’s usual hardline stance on H-1B visas. During his first term in office, Trump passed an executive action known as “Buy American and Hire American,” which restricted access to H-1B visas.

His administration was also responsible for a dramatic increase in the issuance of Requests for Evidence, as well as denials of H-1B worker petitions—a record high when compared to previous administrations.

Since speaking with the media, Trump allies Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, both made posts on social media vehemently pledging their support for the H-1B visa program.

Their influence within the world of tech may have led Trump to have a change of heart. We hope it remains that way.

In a post on X, Elon Musk defended the H-1B visa program, highlighting the great need for U.S. companies to hire foreign talent stating, “the number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low.”

An immigrant himself, Elon Musk responded to critics on the platform stating, “The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla, and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B.”

Musk’s friendship with Donald Trump may very well lead him to embrace the H-1B work visa program. While acknowledging that the H-1B program has been abused by some employers, Elon Musk said that the government could easily combat such fraud and abuse by “raising the minimum salary significantly and adding a yearly cost for maintaining the H-1B, making it materially more expensive to hire from overseas than domestically.”

This is precisely what President Trump did during his first term in office. H-1B workers who were paid the level one prevailing wage received much greater scrutiny and were often denied.

Furthermore, the H-1B visa is already a costly visa for U.S. employers to bear.

Beginning April 1^st, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) increased the H-1B filing fee by 70% from $460 to $780.

In addition to increasing the base filing fee, most H-1B employers are now required to pay a new Asylum Program Fee of $600, with certain exemptions for nonprofits and small employers.

Employers wishing to pay for premium processing service to guarantee a decision within 15 business days, must shell out $2,805 thanks to a recent price hike introduced by USCIS on February 26, 2024.

Finally, the H-1B cap registration fee will increase from $10 to $215 per electronic registration starting with the FY 2026 cap season, which begins in March 2025.

What’s clear is that a rift is being revealed within Trump’s camp, with many defending the H-1B visa program. We can only hope that the President will soon come to understand that talented highly skilled foreign workers, especially those in the STEM fields, are critical to stimulating economic advancement and innovation across numerous industries including tech.

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