Conservative commentator Steven Crowder has sparked a major online debate after sharing claims about a sharp drop in H-1B visas under President Donald Trump’s latest immigration policy.
Crowder, who hosts the popular conservative show “Louder with Crowder,” posted a clip on X discussing the impact of a reported $100,000 fee on some H-1B visa applications filed from outside the United States. According to Crowder, the policy has already led to a major decline in applications and approvals.
“Since Trump imposed a $100K fee on H-1B applicants from outside the US:
-OUTSIDE APPLICATIONS are down 87%.
-TOTAL issuances are down 25%.
That’s up to 50,000 fewer H-1Bs in America this year,” Crowder wrote in the post.
The fee being discussed is tied to an executive order that reportedly requires companies to pay an extra $100,000 charge for certain new H-1B workers applying from outside the country. Supporters of the policy say it is meant to push companies to hire more American workers instead of depending on overseas talent. Critics, however, say the massive fee could hurt industries that rely on highly skilled foreign professionals, especially tech and engineering companies.
READ: After $100K H-1B shock, time for U.S.-India to push E-2 visa access (September 26, 2025)
Crowder’s post referenced a report from the Cato Institute, which analyzed the impact of the policy on H-1B visa numbers. The report claimed that H-1B visa issuances “have likely fallen by about 25 percent.”
According to the analysis, visa approvals in 2025 were already lower than 2024 levels before the executive order was introduced in September. But the report suggested the new fee made the decline much steeper.
The analysis said there were 65,000 H-1B approvals for workers outside the United States in fiscal year 2024. During the same period, the State Department issued 219,659 H-1B visas abroad. Based on those figures, researchers estimated that about 30 percent of visa issuances could be affected by the new rule.
The report also claimed that the State Department has not fully explained the impact of the policy. However, it cited a court filing that allegedly showed an 87 percent decline in petitions for workers outside the United States after the fee was introduced.
Researchers also noted that the full effect of the policy may not be visible yet because the fee only applies to new petitions approved after September 2025. That means the decline in H-1B entries could become even larger in the coming months.
The report went beyond H-1B visas and made a broader argument about immigration under the Trump administration. According to the analysis, legal immigration pathways have been reduced more sharply than illegal immigration.
“When we put together the full picture of legal and illegal immigration, we see that President Trump has indeed cut legal entries far more than illegal entries in absolute terms,” the report stated.
It added, “The available information suggests that about 2.5 times as many legal entries are being stopped as illegal entries: 132,000 versus 50,000. Among the cuts to immigration, 72 percent were from legal entries, not illegal entries.”
The report also said its estimates may still not show the full impact because they do not include every visa category or people already living in the United States who may now face restrictions on changing their immigration status.
Crowder’s post quickly drew thousands of reactions online, with users divided over whether cutting H-1B visas helps or hurts the U.S. economy.
READ: Only 70 employers paid Trump’s $100K H-1B fee, government tells court (February 27, 2026)
One user supported stronger immigration action and commented, “So what? There’s MILLIONS here and MILLIONS more that got their green card…then MILLIONS who have citizenship, then MILLIONS of family members brought over, then MILLIONS of anchor babies. MASS DEPORTATIONS!!!”
The comment reflected the frustration of some users who believe the government should go beyond visa restrictions and focus on wider immigration enforcement.
Others defended the H-1B system and argued that the United States benefits from bringing in skilled workers from around the world.
“You want H1Bs, not illegal immigration. If China wants the smartest engineer, they’d would get the smartest Chinese engineer. If the US wants the smartest engineer, the US should get the best in the world, not just US. We already do it in sports,” another user wrote.
Supporters of the H-1B program often argue that companies need access to global talent, especially in fields like software engineering, artificial intelligence, and scientific research.
Another commenter argued that the issue goes beyond visas and pointed to outsourcing by major corporations.
“Doesn’t help anyway. Lots of H1bs are already here. And unsmart big companies are now also outsourcing more and more,” the user wrote.
The commenter continued by criticizing corporations and their hiring practices. “Big business presents itself as job creators but for who? The USA or? What it’s all doing is bringing in an anti-capitalism climate which will destroy our system unless they get smarter.”
The debate around H-1B visas remains highly political in the United States. Supporters of tighter rules say the policies protect American jobs and wages, while critics argue that limiting skilled immigration could hurt innovation and make it harder for U.S. companies to compete globally.