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Washington: The United States on Saturday released a White House “factsheet” packed with figures that have led to a debate across the tech industry and immigrant communities. The document defended President Donald Trump’s decision to slap US$ 100,000 (over Rs 88 lakh) on new H-1B visa applications, framing it as a measure to protect American workers from being replaced by lower-paid foreign labour.
The factsheet outlined a dramatic shift in the IT workforce. “The share of IT workers with H-1B visas rose from 32 per cent in FY 2003 to over 65 per cent in recent years,” it said.
Unemployment among recent computer science graduates hit 6.1 per cent, while computer engineering graduates faced 7.5 per cent, more than double the rates for biology or art history majors. The White House added that foreign Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) workers in the United States more than doubled between 2000 and 2019, while overall STEM employment increased only 44.5 per cent.
Numbers That Shock
The factsheet highlighted startling corporate trends. One firm received 5,189 H-1B approvals in FY 2025 but laid off 16,000 US employees.
Another company approved for 1,698 H-1B workers in the same period cut 2,400 US jobs in Oregon.
A third reportedly reduced its US workforce by 27,000 since 2022 while securing 25,075 H-1B approvals. Another firm slashed 1,000 American jobs in February despite receiving 1,137 H-1B approvals for FY 2025.
The White House emphasised that Trump’s new H-1B fee is meant to “put American workers first and give back jobs to them to tackle unemployment”.
“Voters gave President Trump a resounding mandate to put American workers first, and he has worked every day to deliver on that commitment. President Trump has aggressively and successfully negotiated new trade deals to bring manufacturing jobs back home and attract new investments to the United States,” it said in a statement.
The factsheet further claimed, “Since President Trump returned to office, all employment gains have gone to American-born workers, unlike last year during the same period under President (Joe) Biden, when all employment gains went to foreign-born workers.”
Who Gets Hit, Who Escapes
Data from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) show that Indians received 72 per cent of nearly 400,000 H-1B visas issued between October 2022 and September 2023.
Panic spread among Indian professionals in the United States following the fee announcement. Many cancelled travel plans or rushed to return to the United States to avoid being caught outside when the fee took effect.
Immigration attorneys and companies raised urgent alerts, warning H-1B visa holders and their families abroad to return before the proclamation kicked in on Sunday.
The Trump administration clarified hours later: the $100,000 fee applies only to new petitions, not renewals or existing visa holders. The White House added that H-1B petitions submitted before September 21 are exempt from the new fee. Those currently outside the United States do not need to pay the fee for reentry.
The announcement brought relief to thousands of professionals, including Indians, who had feared being impacted by the sudden rule.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Saturday it is monitoring the sweeping US H-1B changes, including the hefty new annual fee, and cautioned that the move could disrupt families and create humanitarian concerns.