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The Heritage Foundation has weighed in on the H-1B visa row and recommended measures the Donald Trump administration must take to make the American Dream attainable again, as the program in its current form can’t go on, the Conservative think-tank concluded. Heritage, the brain behind the controversial Project 2025, speaking out on the row makes H-1B a bigger issue than it appears for the administration. President Kevin Roberts said the H-1B visa program is affected by fraud, nepotism and corruption at every stage. “Fraud, nepotism, and corruption affect every stage of the H-1B visa process. The program cannot go on in its current form. Putting American workers first is necessary to make the American Dream attainable again,” Kevin noted.
H-1B is the visa program that allows US companies to hire foreign workers, but it has become a threat to American workers, as over the years, companies are leaning more towards foreign workers so that they have to pay them lower wages. Though the Trump administration imposed a hefty $100,000 fee on H-1B sponsors for now on, Donald Trump asserted that H-1B will not be abolished as the country needs certain talents from outside. This led to an unprecedented civil war inside MAGA and as the White House firefights, Heritage swoops in and asserts that this can’t go on. Simon Hankinson, a senior research fellow for the Border and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation, wrote a report on the policy, calling on Congress to eliminate the exemptions for research and nonprofits, replace the H-1B lottery with a wage-based ranking system and expressly state that H-4 visa holders, the spouses of the H-1B visa holders, are not authorized to work, Daily Caller reported.
Limit number of H-1B applicants companies can take annually
The report said that the Department of Homeland Security should “limit the number of H1-B applicants each company can petition for annually” while also permanently barring “any company, individual or entity from petitioning or participating in the H1-B process if it knowingly violates immigration law.”
Revise and scale back
The program must go back to its original form and intent. “To prioritize American students and workers first, the program should be scaled back to its original intent and scope but revised to account for increased salaries, a changed job market, and AI labor disruption,” the report said.
Publish clear statistics
The Department of Labor, the report said, should publish clear, searchable monthly statistics on H-1B petitions, company layoffs, complaints and investigations. The Department of Justice, on the other hand, should investigate all credible allegations of fraud and abuse of the H-1B program and the harm they are doing to US workers, it said.
