Public sentiment is sharply divided regarding Trump's visa policy changes. While many express optimism about the potential for India's growth and reduced brain drain, significant concerns are voiced over job losses for Indian professionals and the implications for the U.S. economy and competitiveness in technology. Many notable commentaries reflect a blend of hope for domestic improvement juxtaposed with fears of economic repercussions and the chaotic implementation of the policy.

Donald Trump

Indian Government

U.S. Workers

The problem is when shit hit the fan, are you gonna go by the proclamation or the one liner from X? 

They have to do a revised proclamation otherwise nobody is gonna risk it to stay outside of US

oldschoolsamurai

So they changed/contradicted what they said during the press conference on 9/19/2025? When Lutnick was asked about who this applied to and he said "[renewals, first times.... $100,000 a year payment to the government... it's annual, and it's for total, it can be a total of six years](https://youtu.be/0Aqi1GRAH-g?si=c07-ceA8Ds0X00nj&amp;t=12)" he didn't know the policy they were enacting?

Yazars

Translation: if you bribe me enough we’ll give your visa’s an exception. 

It’s all a mob now.

transcendental-ape

kungfoojesus

Consistency in enabling anyone to plan for anything is the name of the game. Oh, sorry, I said it is. I meant it’s actually the exact opposite of what this administration does in all areas. 

Whether or not this ends up happening in any form resembling the proclamation, no one is going to want to deal with H-1B in case it becomes impossible. Trump could probably do nothing and Visa-holders are going to be even more shut out of the applicant process.

J1 too, I expect. You can’t know what xenophobia will burst out of this administration at a moment’s notice and no one wants to get caught with unexpected unfilled slots or, maybe worse, sudden absences in upper years.

PokeTheVeil

Anyone care to defend this?

Also as I so frequently say:  if you voted for this, fuck you.

tturedditor

this administration is such a complete shitshow

colorsplahsh

As a Canadian looking down at this repeated incompetence on policy after policy… I just have to ask WTF USA???? Can you please get your house in order? Surely there are mechanisms in your constitution to remove unfit leaders? We have “No Confidence” votes in Parliament. Surely you have something similar. This guy and everyone associated with him are buffoons!

DiscoLew

Isn't this still a shit show for residencies and medicine as a whole?

HHMJanitor

And half the country was moronic enough to believe he knew how to boost the economy.  Idiots.

InCarbsWeTrust


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Answer: This is a multi-part response, because I wrote too much, lol. **(Part 1 of 2)**

First things first, read the primary source text: [https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/restriction-on-entry-of-certain-nonimmigrant-workers/](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/restriction-on-entry-of-certain-nonimmigrant-workers/)

Now, there's a few things to address...

**What is the H-1B visa program?**

The H-1B visa program is the visa program for

&gt;people who wish to perform services in a specialty occupation, services of exceptional merit and ability relating to a Department of Defense (DOD) cooperative research and development project, or services as a fashion model of distinguished merit or ability

([source](https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/h-1b-specialty-occupations))

Basically, it's a "skilled work" visa (and, for some reason, a fashion model visa), and it has certain eligibility requirements for people hired by it.

&gt;Is there a minimum salary for a job in H-1B status?

&gt;Yes, the employer hiring an H-1B worker, must have documentation to prove, and then must certify to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) that it will pay the H-1B employee the prevailing wage or the actual wage, whichever is higher. The prevailing wage is the salary paid to workers in similar occupations in the geographic area of the intended employment. The actual wage is the wage that the employer pays employees in similar occupations at the location of the intended employment. The employer must also certify that it is not displacing any U.S. workers to hire the H-1B applicant, and that there are no strikes or other work stoppages in the occupation in which the H-1B applicant will be employed. The employer makes these declarations, under penalty of perjury, by submitting to DOL for certification a form called a "Labor Condition Application" (LCA).

([source](https://internationaloffice.berkeley.edu/h-1b_faqs))

That is, filling a job with an H-1B visa holder should (a) cost the company *at least* market rate for the salary, and (b) require the hiring company to assert that it is not displacing US workers. (In other words, if a company *can* hire a US citizen for the job at market rate, it is illegal for the company to fill the position with an H-1B visa holder.)  Further, the company hiring an H-1B visa holder must pay fees to the government related to the visa process. (This becomes important later.)

apnorton

Answer: I've seen entire tech departments staffed by Indians while domestic computer science grads can't get work. This isn't high-level genius programming,just regular CS grunt work. H1Bs are just being abused to depress wages. 

I'm not sure how much credit to give Trump though, because he can personally make exemptions, which means it could just be a bribery grift or another way he can unilaterally dictate policy to companies--do what I say or I'll charge you for your visas.

rainbowcarpincho

Answer: The Indians took advantage of the H1B system by submitting multiple entries per person in the past decade or so. In the last 2 years, USCIS figured out this fraud and changed the system such that every person can only have one unique entry for one legitimate job offer. Anyway, due to the legacy effects, Indians make up about 70% of all approved H1Bs.

The new Trump's H1B policy (as per white house EO) basically said companies need to pay $100k/year for every H1B worker they need. Because the EO is so poorly worded, it literally means anyone who is currently outside the US will be subjected to that $100k/year fee. Basically if you're a valid legitimate honest-to-God H1B holder who leave and reenter US after 12:01am 9/21, you are technically subjected to that $100k fee. They did not clarify on whether it applies on existing H1B holders, H4 (H1B dependents), or recently approved H1Bs. So picture this, your spouse and kids can reenter, while you have to stay behind.

Now it looks like USCIS announced that the new changes do not apply to previously approved H1Bs, but the fact remains that it caused a huge panic for all H1Bs who are currently outside the country.

I'm a H1B visa holder and I have a PhD doing niche R&amp;D in one of America's key industries. I have many PhD friends who are currently working as researchers (just like myself) in non-profit places such as universities (research scientists, post docs, professors etc) and medical research institutes (lab researchers) etc. They make about $70-90k on average due to the nature of their non-profit industry. So what this policy does it requires universities/labs to fork out $100k just to hire a professor / researcher doing science, which makes no sense. I can somewhat agree if the $100k fee is targeted towards prestigious industries like AI Research Scientists but again there has to be more nuance and understanding of the current labor market.

EffectivePropaganda

Answer: I have no doubts many HB1s aren’t really that outstanding or that Americans can’t handle their job.

But I can see why many people don’t think they can’t take the job. There’s a reason why there’s an international stereotype of the average American being “confidently stupid”, I though that was just people being rude but learning than 20% of the US is illiterate was shocking to me (for reference, my country has just 2%), that should be embarrassing, 20% for a developed nation is unacceptable. Of course hanging with people in Uni is completely different, but once you talk to the regular people that don’t at least come from middle to upper middle class neighbourhoods, you notice the education level they receive should be worrisome.

There’s a bunch of things attached to this other than kicking out foreigners. A lot of the revenue universities receive comes from foreign students as they don’t usually get grants or scholarships. Many leave the country but many stay. There’s administration already started being hostile towards international students and this is doubling down on it.

It’s not about how valuable you are to your company, in many cases 100k is already your salary, so there’s no reason to double everyone’s salary just to keep them here. New people are probably not gonna get hired and that’s ok, but the ones that are already working on important stuff and lengthy projects are very valuable. So what happens if the essential people have to be sent home or pay a fee? It might make more sense to send them home along with their job. So now no one is getting the new spot and they no longer pay taxes. Plus the setback of having to train masses of people without much notice.

A necessary quota of American citizens vs HB1s would make a lot more sense vs increasing the fee to an extremely high amount and retiring rid of foreign workers.

I don’t know how true this part is, but allegedly, people who already hold HB1s are being denied entry. Imagine flying somewhere and 5 days later you learn that you’re no longer allowed back into your regular life. Imagine suddenly being told the doctor that has been treating your illness isn’t allowed back in. It’s a brilliant plan if the end goal is to remove every non citizen from the land, but removing visas one day to another also makes the country look hostile to the rest of the world, making relations even more strained.

People that are always say nasty stuff about illegal immigrants use the “they did it the right way” as an argument, but now you’re kicking out the people that “did it the right way”, HB1’s first, who’s next? Let’s say HB1’s change to O1 and EB’s,  are you gonna get rid of every single visa that allows you to be here legally?

polaroidink

[deleted]

Answer: Its just nother gift. Those loyal, wont have to pay.

MrWigggles


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Progressives wanted to make college free so that more Americans would be qualified to work those jobs, and companies wouldn’t need to hire as many foreigners. Republicans are just like, “let’s destroy the economy, that way nobody has any jobs!”

Independent-End-2443

Facebook and other big companies took it pretty seriously. This is a major hit to their ability to fill jobs when something like 70% of Silicon Vally tech workers are foreign born.

muchnycrunchny

A lot of health systems, particularly in rural areas where there already is a massive physician shortage rely on H1-B visas for staffing. So, this is just ….. great.

Musher1015

So dumb on so many levels.

The kids of the MAGA idiots who like this policy probably don't have degrees and can't fill those jobs.

10390

This article fails to point out that the president does not have the power to set the visa fees, nor does it point out that the visa fees can only cover the actual costs of processing the visa, and cannot be set punitively high as he proposes. It’s true that the lawsuits to stop this might not be immediate, but this visa fee is extremely unlikely to hold long term.

Austin_Peep_9396

Relax Satan, it's all in the 2025 demolition plan. Relax

beyond_da_sea

funfoam

When asked for how it was supposed to work and who was going to be effected, everyone shrugged....I am "sure" that DOGE knows how / s

Different_Glass5043

"High skill" should be put in quotes, since in my experience in tech, many (not all) H1-B holders aren't high skill - they're just cheaper than the alternative - and their roles could easily be filled by Americans college graduates.

Mindless_Listen7622

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Rude-Strawberry-6360

What?
Another half assed grifting plan gone sour?

motohaas

One of the few pro-labour things he's managed to seemingly accidently do. Of course he's watering it down.

I bet Elona is still seething though.

Panda_hat

In the age of AI, this may have little real consequences.  The very top programmers in AI have salaries in the millions and 10s of millions, so an extra 100k for 3 years is nothing .  Everything else is being automated or augmented, thus needing far fewer workers overall.  We are see the first signs of a glut of unemployed programmers and it will only get worse from here more quickly.

Edit: Getting voted down. Not commenting on whether this is good policy or not or fair, just that its economic impact will/would be less than if we didn’t have AI taking over knowledge jobs.  Don’t shoot the messenger.

KidKilobyte

I heard stories of people who went to visit their families in India scrambling to come back or get off their flights after this was announced.

As usual with this administration, competency is not the goal, unabashed cruelty is.

myusernameistakennow

Koszulium

It is truly impressive how much more incompetent Trump’s administration gets the more experience they have

No_Analysis_2185

&gt; granted anonymity to speak about the policy.

that's insane for a policy that takes into effect today! like basically risk ur shot based on an anonymous us official

FlatMilk

Does the executive even have legal authority to unilaterally alter visa requirements like this? If so that was a mistake.

senator_fivey

So I guess we're just taking for granted that the word of random anonymous White House officials apparently have more credibility than the direct words of the President, the Secretary of Commerce and the text of the executive order which offers no such distinction.

Auriono

XHS is blowing up with tons of stories about people canceling trips and booking last minute tickets to get back to the US. Utter chaos.

qlube

MAGA is a coalition of White and Christian nationalists. 

It's not White OR Christian. 

It's White AND Christian. 

If you don't tick both requirements, you're a second-class citizen who actually is a rapist and an illegal all wrapped into one and is waiting deportation.

Tokidoki_Haru

ILikeTuwtles1991

upthetruth1

This is the kind of yes-man incompetence that you can expect. Such a policy would normally go through weeks or months of planning, jumping between multiple agencies and stakeholders to consider the various implications. Even the emergency orders would get better consideration. This was straight up written by a hand full of people who probably did want the chaos it brought, but then once announced, the other half of people who were caught off guard had to scramble to get Trump to allow them to issue a correction but hide it as a "clarification".

I wonder how many people close to Trump had their phones blowing up by tech CEOs to fix this.

avatoin

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H-1B in its current form is a way for America to exploit cheap labor, it violates socialism. But make no doubt Trump is asking for another bribe, he doesn't actually care about H-1B and how companies abuse it.

TentacleHockey

I came here through an H1B from Europe about 12 years ago. I worked my way through a H1B, Green Card and then finally citizenship. 

I was hired at a tech company making roughly the same salary as my American colleagues at the time.

I understand it can be misused but it’s also one of the only way to come here legally if you don’t have a bunch of money to invest and you’re not an executive. 

In my view this could have been solved by simply preventing a single company to use more than 50 H1B per year or something. This way companies that rely solely on h1b as part of their business plan couldn’t exist anymore and it wouldn’t impact smaller companies that are using this legitimately.

CacheInvalidation

Another way for the wealthy to cut the line.

BThriillzz

1isOneshot1

This is a dumb question, I object to any and all Trump policies. There’s nothing to discuss

Danjour

Honestly, I like the sentiment behind the law.
It aggravates me, that in this country, we don't invest in education, we hide the middle class lifestyle behind a giant paywall, we bury the few people with aptitude to do science with mountains of debt, and then we bus in migrants from Asia and Africa, whose educations are subsidized by their respective government, to do those highly specialized jobs. They then turn around and team up with the bourgeoisie to tell the world that Americans are stupid.
Why not educate the people you have? Why not invest with the hard working population that's right at home?
So part of me is totally cool with them squashing the HIB visas, at the same time, I am not at all with the exploitation of workers who are here on visas.
Right idea, wrong people to execute said idea 

Tenacious_Depot

The visa should belong to the person, not the employer. Then the person can shop around when the employer sucks.

Sir-Kyle-Of-Reddit

It's basically going to just encourage offshoring. The solution to the h1b issue is to make worker visas not tied to a single employer

DYMAXIONman

This will make a lot of technological jobs go overseas. 

It is designed to harm the American economy and American businesses. 

It does not accomplish anything else.

feastoffun

Sliding scale. We really have a need for certain skills that we don’t have here. Developing it in the USA doesn’t happen overnight.

ExpressEB

I think it's a great idea! (I for one also have a tendency to embrace our tyrannical overlords, no matter their form, soooo....)

Monarc73

Leftists aren’t required to react to this, it’s inconsequential in priority compared to everything else.

jetstobrazil

So many self-styled progressive, liberals, etc have become openly xenophobic and anti-immigrant since this announcement, accusing H1Bs of stealing American jobs, etc. 

I've seen so many comments from people who claim to hate Trump that could easily have come from r/conservative.

readySponge07

Most countries should focus of keep their own citizens happy with great quality life so that they donot look for jobs outside . Donot rely on USA

hellomouse1234

The Trump administration's significant changes to the U.S. visa system, including new fees for H-1B visas, are generating concern.

Trump Visa Policy Changes

Why This Matters

Public Sentiment Summary

Highlighted Comments

Parties Involved

What the people want