US President Donald Trump appeared to defend the H-1B visa programme, saying America has to bring in talent from around the world as it does not have “certain talents” in the country.
“I agree but you also do have to bring in talent,” Trump said, responding to a question in an interview with Laura Ingraham on Fox News on whether the H-1B visa issue will not be a big priority for his administration and if one wants to raise wages for American workers, the country cannot be flooded with hundreds of thousands of foreign workers.
When Ingraham noted that “we have plenty of talent”, Trump said, “No, you don’t, no you don’t. You don’t have certain talents. And people have to learn.”
“You don’t have certain talents. People have to learn. You can’t take people off an unemployment line and say, ‘I’m going to put you into a factory where we’re going to make missiles’,” he added.
The President’s rare endorsement of the H-1B came less than two months after his administration hiked the annual fee for the visa programme to a whopping USD 100,000, sending shockwaves among the country’s entire expat workforce, including Indians.
The move was the latest in a series of efforts to crackdown on immigration and place strict restrictions on the types of people allowed into the country.
In the proclamation issued by Trump on September 19, H-1B employees, including current visa holders, would be denied entry to the US unless their employer has paid the amount for the employee.
Amid panic, the White House, however, clarified that the new fee applied only to fresh applicants and not current holders.
Further in the interview, Trump also pointed to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid at a Hyundai facility in Georgia in September.
“They raided because they wanted illegal immigrants out. There were people from South Korea (at the facility) who made batteries all their lives. Making batteries is very complicated. It’s not an easy thing. Very dangerous, a lot of explosions, a lot of problems. They had like 500 or 600 people, early stages, to make batteries and to teach people how to do it. Well, they wanted them to get out of the country. You’re going to need that,” he added.
During the ICE raid, more than 300 South Korean workers were detained, prompting the government in Seoul to launch a probe into human rights violations. Officials said that they did not receive prior notice of the raid.
When Trump visited South Korea last month, the President said that he was “very much opposed” to the raid.
--Agencies
