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Trump Revamps Controversial H-1B Outsourcing Program, Scraps Lottery for Merit System
Breitbart ^ | Dec. 24, 2025 | Neil Munro

Posted on 12/24/2025 3:36:24 PM PST by chickenlips

President Donald Trump’s revamp of the H-1B white-collar outsourcing program has prompted cautious approval from advocates for American professionals and college graduates.

“It does not end H-1Bs, but it fundamentally reshapes who benefits from them,” said Hany Girgis, a tech-training CEO.

Employers and their lawyers are expected to file lawsuits against the new rules, which somewhat shift the distribution of new H-1B workers towards employers who offer higher wages.

That shift will modestly pressure companies to hire young American graduates — but will not restrict the huge inflow of foreign workers via other programs, including the “cap-exempt” H-1B, J-1, L-1, L-2, OPT, and CPT work-permit programs.

“The new rule replaces the random lottery for selecting visa recipients with a process that gives greater weight to those with higher skills,” says a press statement for the agency that awards the visas:

The existing random selection process of H-1B registrations was exploited and abused by U.S. employers who were primarily seeking to import foreign workers at lower wages than they would pay American workers,” said U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman Matthew Tragesser.

“The new weighted selection will better serve Congress’ intent for the H-1B program and strengthen America’s competitiveness by incentivizing American employers to petition for higher-paid, higher-skilled foreign workers. With these regulatory changes and others in the future, we will continue to update the H-1B program to help American businesses without allowing the abuse that was harming American workers.”

The “rule is effective Feb. 27, 2026, and will be in place for the FY 2027 H-1B cap registration season,” said the statement.

(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government
KEYWORDS: economy; h1b; stem; visas

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So the lump of coal in American STEM workers' stockings this will be polished, aye?

I'm sure it's comforting to know you were fired so your company can hire "higher-skilled foreign workers" at lower wages to replace you.

We all know the H-1B recruiters would never lie about qualifications or game the system. /s

1 posted on 12/24/2025 3:36:24 PM PST by chickenlips
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To: chickenlips

Having the government deciding an Indian is more skilled than an American is the biggest travesty you could possibly come up with.

This is what happens when you have monopolies.


2 posted on 12/24/2025 3:52:16 PM PST by jroehl (And how we burned in the camps later - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - The Gulag Archipelago)
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To: chickenlips

Still too little of the wrong stuff, catering to Big Tech, etc.


3 posted on 12/24/2025 3:53:28 PM PST by 9YearLurker
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To: chickenlips

Blackpill brigades continue on. The point is (like the $100k fee) to make the employer cost of an H1B higher so less or no advantage vs. an American.

I’d also prefer to end the whole thing; but if we want to see how much progress Trump can make under constant impeachment by a Demonrat congress, keep up the b—ching.


4 posted on 12/24/2025 3:59:15 PM PST by No.6 (if you )
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To: chickenlips

This does almost nothing.


5 posted on 12/24/2025 3:59:20 PM PST by montag813
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To: chickenlips

Earlier this summer talked to a co-worker whose brother and one other person were laid off from their EE jobs due to H1-B workers (who were already at the company) taking over their job duties. They were told that to qualify for severance they had to train the H-1B workers.

The brother and his friend had no non-compete contract to abide by and jumped to a competitor in 10 days. When they came in to work to quit, their boss was stunned and tried to get them to stay, but they said the trust in the company was gone. They turned in their keys and walked (had already cleaned out their offices) out.

I think their age (mid-50s) and length of time at the company (20-25 years so well penetrated into their salary range) were major factors for letting them go. But they ended up having the last laugh.


6 posted on 12/24/2025 4:07:10 PM PST by Fury
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To: chickenlips

This is BS and we all know it. Why aren’t the higher paid, higher skilled jobs going to Americans? We don’t need all these freaking Indians invading the country and displacing our own work force which is exactly what is happening. They must think we ate all morons.


7 posted on 12/24/2025 4:29:13 PM PST by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
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To: chickenlips

WTF is Trump’s effing problem with Americans? Friggen Indian trash are a cancer in the workplace. Not to mention their obsession with human feces making work bathrooms literal shitholes.


8 posted on 12/24/2025 4:42:30 PM PST by HYPOCRACY (Wake up, smell the cat food in your bank account. )
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To: chickenlips
Slouching towards Gomorrah.

9 posted on 12/24/2025 4:43:30 PM PST by Governor Dinwiddie ( O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is gracious, and his mercy endures forever. — Psalm 106)
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To: HYPOCRACY

“WTF is Trump’s effing problem with Americans?”

Don’t know, but if I had to guess, it’s that he wants to stay competitive with Asia (and yes, including Russia), but also has to deal with the fact that 85% of American kids are subjected to these monsters.

https://www.nea.org/


10 posted on 12/24/2025 4:51:17 PM PST by BobL (Trusting one's doctor is the #1 health mistake one can make.)
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To: chickenlips

End H-1B NOW. ENOUGH already.


11 posted on 12/24/2025 4:53:37 PM PST by BigJimSportCamper
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To: All

They need to sunset the entire program . It’s not even about keeping salaries low but they companies can’t treat employees like garbage since they can’t leave without losing their visa . It’s the complete opposite of the free market


12 posted on 12/24/2025 5:05:41 PM PST by escapefromboston (Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.)
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To: chickenlips

“Employers and their lawyers are expected to file lawsuits against the new rules, which somewhat shift the distribution of new H-1B workers towards employers who offer higher wages.”

The wages offered these workers need to be high enough where companies aren’t paying depressed wages in order to avoid hiring skilled U.S. workers.


13 posted on 12/24/2025 5:12:12 PM PST by lastchance (Cognovit Dominus qui sunt eius.)
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To: chickenlips; All

Elon Musk has a significant number of engineers working for him from other countries. He only takes the best of the best.

His wages are good, but not extreme. As someone on freerepublic says, “He pays them in glory.”

They also get significant stock options which may make them rich.


14 posted on 12/24/2025 5:29:30 PM PST by marktwain (----------------------)
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To: chickenlips
Horrible politics on Trump's part.

I believe it's past time to start a "secret society" of "legacy Americans".

15 posted on 12/24/2025 5:30:56 PM PST by The Duke (Not without incident)
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To: BobL

The NEA thing is a BS excuse. Every American kid can out-compete 99.99% of the Indian H-1Bs.


16 posted on 12/24/2025 5:31:30 PM PST by nwrep
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To: No.6

Since I have never worked in a tech industry of any kind, I haven’t paid a great deal of attention to the H-1B issues. Which president(s) before Trump attempted to get rid of the lottery system and back to a merit one, and a reduction of these visas? If it is such a deterrent to employers hiring qualified American workers, surely at least one president must have?

But if no CIC did that in all the time this visa lottery system has been in existence, taking jobs from American workers, as everyone here is saying it does-and pres trump is actually trying to start putting the brakes on it-in a way that will not immediately trigger an order to stop any changes by some activist democrat judge-why is everyone stamping their feet and bitching for an immediate end to all H-1B visas-and sending those foreign visa holders out of the country right now, now, now? Seems like that demand for instant gratification is only going to encourage those judges to start filing against the merit system because they love to piss off pres Trump and conservatives. Maybe we should hide and watch for a few good changes as a beginning instead?


17 posted on 12/24/2025 5:49:14 PM PST by Texan5 ("You've got to saddle up your boys, you've got to draw a hard line"...)
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To: Texan5

Yes. I have been surprised by all the: I want everything right now! comments on freerepublic.

So much seems like the tantrum of spoiled children who have no idea about how actual, limited, presidential executive power works in a Republic.

I wonder. How many are closet Leftists trying to rain on President Trump’s fantastic achievements?


18 posted on 12/24/2025 5:54:06 PM PST by marktwain (----------------------)
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To: Georgia Girl 2


"They must think we ate all morons."


That might work, but I wonder how they taste...
19 posted on 12/24/2025 5:57:32 PM PST by Bikkuri
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To: nwrep

You need to look up the scores of graduating American public HS students-they are abysmal-and they don’t improve in college, either-this has gone on for at least 10 years. A large percentage of college freshmen can’t spell their chosen major, and barely read at a 7th-8th grade level, never mind having any written grammar or spelling skills or being able to do middle school level math. My co worker and I only hire home-schooled or private school grads for the few big contract jobs we get...


20 posted on 12/24/2025 6:01:05 PM PST by Texan5 ("You've got to saddle up your boys, you've got to draw a hard line"...)
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