Washington DC [US], November 12 (HBTV): US President Donald Trump appeared to soften his stance on his administration’s push for H-1B visa reforms, acknowledging the need to import specialised foreign talent to fill critical roles in the American workforce.
During an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Tuesday (local time), Trump defended the value of skilled immigrant workers, arguing that the United States cannot simply repurpose long-term unemployed citizens for complex roles in manufacturing and defence without extensive training.
The President noted that while he supports raising wages for American workers, the country must still ‘bring this talent’ to maintain its industrial and technological edge.
‘I agree, but you also have to bring this talent,’ Trump said when asked whether H-1B visa reform would be a major priority for his administration.
Earlier in September, Trump signed a proclamation introducing a major overhaul of the H-1B visa petition process. Under the new regulation, there will now be a fee of USD 100,000 for new H-1B visa applications, a sharp increase from the previous level of about USD 1,500.
The US State Department later clarified that the new fee applies only to individuals or companies filing new H-1B petitions or entering the H-1B lottery after September 21. Current visa holders and petitions submitted before that date remain unaffected. The proclamation requires that every new H-1B visa petition filed after the deadline, including those submitted for entries in the 2026 lottery, be accompanied by the USD 100,000 payment.
When told during the interview that the US has ‘plenty of talented people,’ Trump replied, ‘No, you don’t. There are certain skills you don’t have, and people have to learn them. You can’t take people off the unemployment line and say, “I’m going to put you into a factory where we’re going to make missiles.”’
He cited an example from Georgia, where the removal of skilled foreign workers created difficulties in manufacturing complex products.
‘They had people from South Korea that had made batteries all their life. Making batteries is very complicated and very dangerous — a lot of explosions, a lot of problems. They had like 500 or 600 people in the early stages to make batteries and to teach people how to do it,’ Trump said.
He was referring to the raids conducted by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials at an under-construction Hyundai plant in Georgia in September, during which hundreds of South Korean workers were arrested and deported.
Trump emphasised that such industries require specialised expertise that cannot be immediately filled by untrained or long-term unemployed workers.
‘You can’t just say a country is coming in, going to invest USD 10 billion to build a plant, and take people off the unemployment line who haven’t worked in five years and they’re going to start making missiles. It doesn’t work that way,’ he added.
Trump’s remarks mark a notable shift from his earlier hardline stance on foreign worker visas, particularly the H-1B programme, which has long been a central topic in US debates over immigration and employment.
(ANI)