Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday night urged college students to question Republican Senate candidates about their stance on the H-1B visa program. He argued that the system hurts job opportunities for American graduates and should be scrapped.
Speaking to students at the University of Georgia during an event hosted by Turning Point USA, Vance pointed to ongoing Senate primaries and encouraged direct engagement with candidates.
“You have a Senate primary going on right now,” Vance told the audience.
He went on to say, “Every single one of you should ask those Senate candidates, What do you think about the H-1B visa? Would you co-sponsor the vice president’s and former senator’s legislation to eliminate that program because it’s basically just something that big tech companies take advantage of?”
Making the issue as a key concern for students’ economic future, JD Vance said he does not want graduates entering a job market where they have to compete with lower-paid foreign workers.
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“When you guys graduate from this university, I don’t want you competing against a low-wage foreigner for your first job. I want a company to have to pay you a fair wage for a fair day’s work.”
Vance, who had earlier introduced legislation targeting the visa program during his time in the Senate, said the push for reform is still unfinished.
“One of the first pieces of legislation I sponsored was effectively to get rid of the H-1B visa because I cared so much about this,” he said.
He added that while support for such measures has grown compared to a decade ago, it is still not enough to pass the legislation.
“Far more people” back the effort now, he noted, but “it’s not nearly enough to get it through.”
He added that while some steps can be taken through executive authority, lasting changes would need lawmakers to act.
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“There are all of these things that you can do [in the White House] purely through administrative action,” he said, but added that real, long-term reform would require Congress “to codify this stuff.”
Vance’s comments highlight an ongoing divide within the administration of Donald Trump and the broader Republican coalition over high-skilled immigration.
Business groups and many in the tech industry argue that the H-1B program is essential to fill specialized roles. At the same time, MAGA supporters have increasingly described it as a system that allows companies to push down wages and overlook American workers.
This debate comes as recent college graduates are entering a tougher job market, especially in white-collar sectors like technology, where hiring has slowed after years of rapid expansion.
Critics of the program say it increases competition for entry-level roles, while supporters argue it helps address talent shortages and ensures companies and jobs remain in the United States.