US President Donald Trump's $100,000 fees hike for specific H-1B visa hires has sparked debate among various industry representatives, with many expressing their views on its effects on the US economy.
Xavier Fernandes, the founder of the immigration agency Y-Axis, stated that the policy might be more detrimental to the US than beneficial.
According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, over 70% of H-1B visa holders in 2024 were from India.
Indians are the new oil, coal, or gas, it’s brain power to run the modern day industries,” Fernandes stated.
However, his comments elicited criticism from Fox News host Laura Ingraham, who asserted that such hiring practices constituted “industrial-scale fraud” and led to job and wage reductions for American workers.
The newly implemented fee is applicable in certain situations: Employers who recruit employees from abroad via consular processing are obligated to pay $100,000, while organizations employing foreign nationals who are already present in the US on a different visa are exempt from this fee.
Recent statistics from the US Department of Labor state a significant reduction in H-1B applications from major tech companies after the fee was enforced.
