Washington: The US on Saturday launched a White Home “factsheet” full of figures which have led to a debate throughout the tech business and immigrant communities. The doc defended President Donald Trump’s resolution to slap US$ 100,000 (over Rs 88 lakh) on new H-1B visa purposes, framing it as a measure to guard American employees from being changed by lower-paid international labour.
The factsheet outlined a dramatic shift within the IT workforce. “The share of IT employees with H-1B visas rose from 32 per cent in FY 2003 to over 65 per cent in recent times,” it mentioned.
Unemployment amongst current laptop science graduates hit 6.1 per cent, whereas laptop engineering graduates confronted 7.5 per cent, greater than double the charges for biology or artwork historical past majors. The White Home added that international Science, Expertise, Engineering and Arithmetic (STEM) employees in the USA greater than doubled between 2000 and 2019, whereas total STEM employment elevated solely 44.5 per cent.
Numbers That Shock
The factsheet highlighted startling company developments. One agency acquired 5,189 H-1B approvals in FY 2025 however laid off 16,000 US workers.
One other firm authorized for 1,698 H-1B employees in the identical interval reduce 2,400 US jobs in Oregon.
A 3rd reportedly diminished its US workforce by 27,000 since 2022 whereas securing 25,075 H-1B approvals. One other agency slashed 1,000 American jobs in February regardless of receiving 1,137 H-1B approvals for FY 2025.
The White Home emphasised that Trump’s new H-1B charge is supposed to “put American employees first and provides again jobs to them to sort out unemployment”.
“Voters gave President Trump a convincing mandate to place American employees first, and he has labored day by day to ship on that dedication. President Trump has aggressively and efficiently negotiated new commerce offers to deliver manufacturing jobs again residence and entice new investments to the USA,” it mentioned in a press release.
The factsheet additional claimed, “Since President Trump returned to workplace, all employment beneficial properties have gone to American-born employees, in contrast to final 12 months throughout the identical interval underneath President (Joe) Biden, when all employment beneficial properties went to foreign-born employees.”
Who Will get Hit, Who Escapes
Knowledge from the US Citizenship and Immigration Providers (USCIS) present that Indians acquired 72 per cent of practically 400,000 H-1B visas issued between October 2022 and September 2023.
Panic unfold amongst Indian professionals in the USA following the charge announcement. Many cancelled journey plans or rushed to return to the USA to keep away from being caught exterior when the charge took impact.
Immigration attorneys and corporations raised pressing alerts, warning H-1B visa holders and their households overseas to return earlier than the proclamation kicked in on Sunday.
The Trump administration clarified hours later: the $100,000 charge applies solely to new petitions, not renewals or present visa holders. The White Home added that H-1B petitions submitted earlier than September 21 are exempt from the brand new charge. These presently exterior the USA don’t must pay the charge for reentry.
The announcement introduced aid to hundreds of pros, together with Indians, who had feared being impacted by the sudden rule.
The Ministry of Exterior Affairs (MEA) mentioned on Saturday it’s monitoring the sweeping US H-1B adjustments, together with the hefty new annual charge, and cautioned that the transfer might disrupt households and create humanitarian considerations.