Conservative outlet National Review has weighed in on the H-1B debate, saying that President Donald Trump was “right the first time” about H-1B visas. Trump has softened his stance against the visas, acknowledging in a Fox News interview that the United States needs highly skilled professionals in key sectors. This stance has been divisive among the MAGA base with hardline supporters, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene have openly criticized Trump, accusing him of retreating from his long-standing “America First” stance.
The Trump administration has since clarified that while it supports attracting international students and skilled workers for education and training, the broader expectation is that they eventually contribute to their own countries after gaining experience in the U.S.
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The National Review has — unsurprisingly considering its political leanings — criticized Trump’s new stance. Earlier, the Trump administration had announced sweeping changes to the H-1B visa program, with employers being charged $100,000 for each new H-1B visa recipient. The news outlet had some criticism of this move, claiming that it is easy for employers to evade the fee and that most H-1B petitioners would already be exempt from the fee since they’re already in the U.S.
The publication quoted Trump, who reportedly said that there aren’t enough people in the U.S. with certain talents, and said that he might be “repeating what tech and agriculture company executives have been saying to him,” or that perhaps he is “spooked by reports of China’s new K-Visa” which was announced in time to take advantage of news about America tightening its restrictions. It then said that there is no evidence that “H-1B visas meaningfully contribute to American competence or competitiveness.”
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“They are most often used and abused for semi-skilled workers doing the most menial forms of desk work, data entry, or occasionally hard-coding data. Already there are signs that AI programming tools are making the very junior-most programming jobs obsolete. Defenders of the program point to the degree requirements. Critics and anyone with eyes to see will notice the proliferation of online diploma mills built to help migrants clear this hurdle,” the National Review said, in an article written by its editors.
It went on to add that there are “plenty of ways” America recruits top-level talent, including the O-1 visa program, which, “while not impossible to game, does have higher standards.”
The National Review is an American conservative editorial magazine, which focuses on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. It was founded by William F. Buckley in 1955. While it is generally supportive of Republican politicians and policies, the publication has been critical of Donald Trump since 2016.