The White House has outlined the rationale behind the increase in H-1B visa fees following Donald Trump’s announcement. The administration points to a pattern of American companies replacing US tech workers with foreign labor. This action aligns with Trump’s consistent message of prioritizing American jobs and resources. The White House highlighted specific examples to support this claim.
One company that obtained 5,189 H-1B approvals laid off 16,000 American employees. Another with 1,698 approvals cut 2,400 jobs in Oregon. A third company with 25,075 H-1B visa permissions significantly reduced its American workforce by 27,000 since 2022. A company receiving 1,137 H-1B visa permissions for the 2025 fiscal year still cut 1,000 American jobs in February.
The ‘America First’ policy, a core tenet of Trump’s campaign, is believed to be furthered by the increase in H-1B fees. This policy aims to boost domestic employment by making it more expensive for companies to hire foreign professionals, incentivizing them to hire American workers instead. The fee hike will not affect applications filed before September 21.