The White House released a fact sheet defending President Donald Trump’s move to impose a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applications. The administration argued the measure was necessary to protect domestic jobs, claiming American workers were being replaced with “lower-paid foreign labor.”
Backing up its decision to overhaul the program, the White House pointed to a factsheet data showing how reliance on foreign tech talent has surged. It noted that the share of IT workers on H-1B visas has climbed from 32 percent in fiscal year 2003 to more than 65 percent in recent years.
“Unemployment among recent computer science graduates has reached 6.1 per cent and 7.5 per cent for computer engineering graduates — more than double the rates for biology or art history majors. The number of foreign STEM workers in the U.S. has more than doubled between 2000 and 2019, while overall STEM employment only increased 44.5 per cent during that time,” the White House said.
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The White House also highlighted instances where American companies have reportedly replaced domestic tech workers with H-1B visa holders. One firm received approval for 5,189 H-1B workers in fiscal year 2025 while laying off around 16,000 U.S. employees. Another was approved for 1,698 visas yet cut 2,400 American jobs in Oregon this July. A third company reduced its U.S. workforce by 27,000 since 2022 while securing 25,075 H-1B approvals. Even another firm reportedly let go of 1,000 domestic employees in February despite obtaining 1,137 H-1B visas for the year.
The White House also claimed that some American IT employees have been required to train their foreign replacements under nondisclosure agreements. Officials warned that the current H-1B system may discourage future U.S. workers from pursuing STEM careers, posing a potential risk to national security. The administration said the new, higher fees are intended to curb program abuse, prevent wage undercutting, and safeguard American interests, as per the factsheet.
The White House framed Trump’s decision to impose a $100,000 annual fee on H-1B visa applications as a move to prioritize American workers. Officials said the measure is aimed at returning jobs to domestic employees and addressing unemployment concerns.
“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 U.S.,” the White House said in the factsheet.
“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,” it added.
U.S. technology companies have increasingly turned to foreign talent to meet growing demands in areas like software engineering, data science, and artificial intelligence. The H-1B visa program has been a key tool in this effort, enabling firms to recruit highly skilled workers from abroad. In fiscal year 2025, Amazon topped the list of H-1B sponsors with 10,044 approvals, followed by Tata Consultancy Services with 5,505, Microsoft at 5,189, Meta with 5,123, and Apple at 4,202. These companies have leaned on the program to fill critical positions and maintain their competitive edge in innovation, as per U.S. Citizenship Immigration Services, cited by TOI.
This has led to Trump administration’s move to introduce a $100,000 annual fee on new H-1B visa applications to curb what it sees as taking advantage of the program by making it more expensive for companies to hire foreign workers. Supporters say the policy will push firms to prioritize American employees and reduce dependence on overseas talent. Critics, including many economists, caution that it could slow innovation and productivity, since H-1B workers play a crucial role in driving the U.S. tech economy.