H1B Visa Row: The Trump administration’s latest move to dramatically raise H-1B visa fees has sparked sharp criticism from immigration experts and scholars, who argue that the policy is not only misguided but also legally unsound. While the hike in visa fee is already impacting US firms, including tech giants like Apple, Google and Microsoft, the decision is likely to be challenged before the US courts.
Immigration lawyer Charles Kuck described the policy as a diversionary tactic rather than a serious reform. “America has 175 million people working right now. The H-1B visa allows just 65,000 foreigners with advanced degrees. This is nothing for us. The visa fee hike is an attempt to rile the masses up so we don’t look at what’s really going on,” Kuck said in an interview.
He went a step further, calling the measure illegal. “Trump’s H-1B visa hike is illegal. I can guarantee that it will be stopped by the courts. This $100,000 fee will never be implemented,” he added with certainty.
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Yale lecturer and scholar Gautam Mukunda also voiced strong criticism, highlighting the silence of American business leaders. “CEOs are really unhappy about Trump’s H-1B visa decision but no one is speaking out. That’s because they are all afraid the President will come after them,” Mukunda said in a podcast.
He argued that the policy makes little economic sense, especially in a global talent race. “Every country in the world would kill to get the best IIT graduates. But America is throwing this asset away for no reason. This H-1B visa decision makes no sense at all,” he said.
The H-1B program, long considered a bridge for highly skilled foreign workers—particularly in technology and engineering—has often been caught in the crossfire of US domestic politics. With the proposed hike, many fear it could deter top global talent from choosing the US, potentially hurting innovation and competitiveness in the long run.
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The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant work permit that allows US companies to employ foreign professionals in specialty occupations such as IT, engineering, finance, and healthcare. Each year, the program caps new visas at 65,000, with an additional 20,000 reserved for applicants holding advanced degrees from American universities. According to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Indian and Chinese nationals make up the bulk of H-1B recipients, with the technology sector being the largest beneficiary.