WASHINGTON, Aug. 28– U.S. President Donald Trump is proposing a fee of over 100,000 U.S. dollars per employee for American companies that employ foreign workers, in a bid to ramp up support from his political base months before the midterm elections.
The move comes on the heels of a U.S. federal judge’s decision earlier this summer to strike down the White House’s previously proposed fee for H-1B visa applications.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant U.S. work visa that lets American companies hire foreign workers for specialized jobs.
TO APPEAL TO MAGA BASE
Indeed, most MAGA (“Make America Great Again,” a campaign slogan used by Trump in the 2016 presidential election) voters see the H-1B visa program with strong skepticism or outright hostility, regarding it as a corporate loophole that undercuts American workers and suppresses local tech-sector wages.
While traditional Republicans often view highly skilled legal immigration favorably, the MAGA base heavily favors an “America First” restriction on both legal and illegal immigration.
Experts said Trump’s move is intended to grab the attention of the MAGA base.
Christopher Galdieri, a political science professor at Saint Anselm College in the northeastern state of New Hampshire, told Xinhua the fee is a nod to “the portion of (Trump’s) base that’s most opposed to immigration in all forms, legal included.”
“It’s clearly meant to come across to MAGA faithful as Trump fulfilling his campaign promises. I just don’t know if it will resonate at all beyond the hardest core of his base,” Galdieri said.
Other experts echoed those thoughts.
Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua: “Trump thinks immigration still is his best issue, so he returns to it whenever his poll numbers go down.”
“Talking tough about the border reinforces support with his base and helps with voter turnout. His whole strategy for 2026 is turning out his base and to hope opponents don’t vote,” West said.
MIXED FEELINGS OF ORDINARY AMERICANS
Aside from MAGA supporters, some ordinary Americans also oppose H-1B visas.
John Kessler, 45, an office worker who lives outside Washington D.C., told Xinhua that his neighborhood has seen an influx of thousands of foreign nationals who he said entered the U.S. workforce on H-1B visas or were sponsored by the program after attending U.S. colleges.
He complained that many do not respect local standards of safe driving, property upkeep and consideration for neighbors.
Other average Americans, however, support the H-1B visa program.
Rose Glendale, 40, a bank manager outside Washington D.C., told Xinhua that her company needs more H-1B visa holders, as there are no local applicants with the skills to fill empty positions.
She also argued that H-1B visa holders are hungry for success and will work extra hours. She said many, not all, American employees feel “entitled” and think they deserve a promotion for doing nothing.
POTENTIAL IMPACT
U.S. media reported that the proposed six-figure H-1B fee could significantly affect tech giants such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google, which rely on the H-1B program to recruit highly skilled foreign workers, including software engineers.
Some experts noted that such a hefty fee could also deter highly skilled foreign workers from pursuing employment in the United States, thus potentially impeding U.S. innovation.
Dean Baker, a macroeconomist and co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, told Xinhua: “It will be a modest hit to the tech industry. If there is concern — there should be — about foreign workers undercutting U.S. pay, the better route is to raise the minimum salaries for H-1B workers.”
Experts noted that Trump opposes traditional Republicans on the issue of H-1B visas.
Clay Ramsay, a researcher at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland, told Xinhua that Trump’s H-1B fee is “an attack on what’s left of the old business-friendly Republican wing.”
“Trump and his rebuilt Republican party are hostile to the H-1B visa as such. They want to abolish it by an act of Congress, but can’t see how to get there yet,” Ramsay said.
The Trump administration believes “tech and other professional jobs should be reserved to U.S. citizens,” and that “the H-1B visa creates a second-tier workforce that is paid less,” Ramsay said. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
