It is a U-turn from Trump’s earlier stance when he sided with one-time ally and Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a public dispute over the use of the H-1B visa, saying he fully backed the programme for foreign tech workers even though it was opposed by some of his supporters.
Trump administration officials say the visa allows companies to suppress wages, and curbing it opens more jobs for American tech workers. Supporters of the programme argue that it brings in highly skilled workers essential to filling talent gaps and keeping firms competitive.
In the hours following Trump’s proclamation, social media was flooded with debate on the scope of the order and dismay at what many saw as a move that dimmed America’s lure as an attractive destination to work in.
An anonymous user on Rednote said their life was like that of a “H-1B slave”. The person cut short a holiday in Tokyo to rush back to the United States, describing it as “a real-life ‘Fast & Furious’ return to the US,” a reference to the hit Hollywood series about street racing.
Trump’s H-1B proclamation read: “Some employers, using practices now widely adopted by entire sectors, have abused the H-1B statute and its regulations to artificially suppress wages, resulting in a disadvantageous labor market for American citizens.”
The Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, could exempt petitioners from the fee at her discretion, the proclamation said.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Friday said companies would have to pay US$100,000 per year for H-1B worker visas.
However, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X on Saturday that this was not an annual fee, only a one-time fee that applied to each new petition.
A Nvidia engineer, who has lived in the US for 10 years, told Reuters at the San Francisco airport that he had been vacationing in Japan with his wife and infant when he rushed to reschedule his return flight after hearing the news.
“It feels surreal,” he said. “Everything is changing in an instant.”
