Washington: In a development that could adversely impact the prospects of Indian professionals, US vice president J D Vance has said he would support abolishing the H-1B visa programme altogether
American companies have used the system to replace domestic employees with lower-paid foreign workers, Vance argued.
Describing the programme as “completely broken” he said he would be “very supportive of just eliminating it”. His remarks come as the Trump administration pursues tighter restrictions on H-1B visas and faces legal challenges over a proposed USD 100,000 fee.
The US vice president used the example of an American accountant earning $60,000 a year who is replaced by a foreign worker willing to take the same job for $45,000.
Such an arrangement does not fit the original purpose of the H-1B system, which is intended to help US employers recruit highly skilled workers for specialised roles, Vance said, as reported by abp LIVE.
“If you’re going to bring in an accountant making $45,000 a year to replace an accountant who is an American making $60,000 a year, that’s not you using the programme to bring in a genius. That’s you destroying American jobs and defrauding the American people,” he said.
Under the programme, US employers can hire foreign nationals for specialised occupations, including jobs in technology, engineering and healthcare. New H-1B visas are generally limited by an annual cap of 85,000, although certain employers and categories are exempt from the limit.
The Trump administration has been making efforts to impose tighter controls on the programme.
The H-1B visas should primarily be used to recruit highly skilled professionals rather than as a means for companies to access lower-cost labour, the White House has argued.
An executive directive issued on September 18 requires the departments of state, labour and homeland security to assess whether companies sponsoring H-1B workers have recently conducted, or intend to conduct, layoffs involving comparable American employees.
It also calls for the labour department to review previously submitted labour-condition applications for potential regulatory violations.
The US government has also introduced a tiered selection system that gives greater priority to higher-paying positions.
Mere regulatory changes alone may not address what he considers fundamental problems with the programme, Vance said.
“My view is the H-1B programme is completely broken, and I’d be very supportive of just eliminating it,” he said. “But while we have it, what we have to do is protect American workers.”