Free Republic

As the Trump administration makes moves to change the H-1B visa program to benefit American-born workers, Skillstorm CEO Justin Vianello backed those efforts in an interview with Fox News Digital while offering his expertise on other issues that need to be addressed with work visas. Vianello told Fox News Digital that one of the "biggest challenges" with the current H1B system is the "impact" on college hiring, particularly with computer science and computer engineering graduates. Vianello explained that the unemployment rate for college graduates with those degrees is significantly higher than the average for all college graduates -snip- Vianello went...

US entrepreneur and former Dogecoin adviser James Fishback has called for a complete halt on hiring skilled workers from India and other countries, saying American companies should focus on local talent instead. Fishback, who leads the investment firm Azoria and has previously worked with Elon Musk, said in a post on X that major technology companies are giving jobs to people from India and China while qualified Americans struggle to find opportunities. US companies “not looking for Americans” “Here’s the ugly truth: they’re not even looking for Americans. They refuse to interview them. They hide job postings in obscure newspapers...

Like many Americans, James Fishback, the CEO of investment firm Azoria, appears to be highly critical of the H-1B visa because he feels that foreign workers are stealing American jobs. -snip- Fishback, the initial developer of the “DOGE checks” tool, has been publicly denouncing the H-1B program in interviews ever since US President Donald Trump slapped $100k fees on H-1B visas. He has lambasted businesses for employing Indians, especially when they claim they “can't find Americans for these jobs” and are forced to use H-1B visas. Targeting H1-B Visa, Fishback took to X and wrote: “The H-1B scam is hurting...

Hindu American Foundation has taken to social media to share online posts backing anti-Hindu narrative under the guise of H1-B visa criticism. The recent debate has begun after Diwali celebration, which many in the US opposed calling it a result of immigration base that the country maintains. Sharing a few such posts, the Foundation said that so-called H-1B criticism is turning into “online Hinduphobia”. “H1-B criticism morphed into online Hinduphobia and anti-Indian racism. Then city council members and political candidates began calling for mass deportations,” it said. The Foundation added that masked men are now “loitering on sidewalks calling Hindu...

NEW DELHI — India has a teeming population of able-bodied workers, tens of millions more than its employers can accommodate. Many other countries have the opposite problem: more jobs than workers. Today, across India’s government and business sectors, a movement is gaining steam to begin exporting more workers. The idea, which economists call labor mobility, is to connect young Indians to companies in places with shrinking populations where labor shortages are holding back growth. The challenge for India and its partners overseas is the growing opposition to immigration in many countries. Officials are trying to craft policies to make it...

Amid US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, the Indian government is currently working on a new scheme focused on bringing back Indian-origin “star faculty” and researchers currently based abroad, according to The Indian Express. The move will not only bring the top scholars back to India, but also offer them positions in top research institutions and thus promote long-term collaboration to improve the country’s science and technology ecosystem.

In what could be a big relief for existing US visa holders, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) clarified in a fresh guideline Monday that existing visa holders will not have to pay the newly announced $100,000 fee for a "change of status" to H-1B visa. The new USCIS guidelines said existing visa holders, which include international students on F-1 visas and professionals on L-1 visas, will not have to pay $100,000 when they apply for a change of status to H-1B. Existing H-1B visa holders are also exempted from this fee while renewing their H-1B status, the...

Major employers that historically have hired large numbers of H-1B employees have begun disqualifying job seekers who require H-1B visa sponsorship since President Donald Trump used his executive power to impose a new $100,000 fee on applications for the work visa. Silicon Valley and tech leaders have been split over the policy, with some arguing the fee would hurt innovation as many startups won’t be able to hire top talent and others saying they are willing to pay it to get the best workers. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the fee is meant to encourage companies to turn to American...

Donald Trump aide Harmeet Dhillon, the Indian-origin assistant attorney general for civil rights at the US Department of Justice, reacted to a viral post on an apparent H-1B scam and outrightly rejected it as "illegal". The post claimed that some tech positions are only being advertised in local newspapers so that no one can see them, and they can hire H-1Bs. "A reader from Connecticut shares job listings for tech positions from local newspapers that they intend to fill with Indian H-1Bs," the post said. "None of these jobs can be applied for online. If you want to become a...

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has signaled that the H-1B visa system will face key reforms before the $100,000 fee applies in 2026. He called the lottery “bizarre,” opposed low-cost hiring, and said visas must go to the most highly-skilled workers. -snip- Lutnick said the H-1B visa lottery system is flawed and needs reform. Referring to conversations with the heads of two leading global tech companies, he said they found the concept of allocating visas for skilled workers through a lottery “bizarre.” He argued that the US must ensure visas go only to the most highly skilled professionals. -snip- The...

A growing push in the United States to restrict post-study work rights and increase taxes on international graduates is creating serious concern among Indian students. At the heart of the issue is Optional Practical Training (OPT), a popular programme that allows international students to work in the US after finishing their degrees. For many, OPT is a critical stepping stone to securing an H-1B work visa and building a long-term career in the country. What is OPT — and why does it matter? OPT lets students on F-1 visas work in the US for up to 12 months after graduation,...

The number of new FHA mortgages granted to non-permanent residents has dropped to near-zero following the Trump administration’s recent executive orders targeting immigrants, according to new data. In a March 26 letter, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that non-permanent residents in the United States, including H-1B visa holders, would no longer be eligible for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), effective May 25. The move, the letter said, was in line with President Donald Trump’s “commitment to safeguarding economic opportunities for U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents,” while also ensuring that “federal benefits, including access...

The blanket $100,000 fee and Project Firewall are nothing but various elements being employed by the Trump government to turn the existing H-1B visa program upside-down. The focus has now shifted to hiring American workers. -snip- US Labor Department issues reminder to ‘hire American’ Merely hours ago, the US government department reiterated the sentiment in yet another official social media warning addressed to companies relying on the H-1B visa. “Under our Project Firewall plan, we’re eliminating fraud and abuse in the H-1B program and ensuring AMERICANS are prioritised in the hiring process,” the new tweet stated. The post also highlighted...

The US Department of Labor (DOL) has launched ‘Project Firewall’, a sweeping enforcement initiative aimed at curbing misuse of the H-1B visa program and protecting American jobs, particularly in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. The objective is to ensure employers prioritize qualified Americans when hiring workers and to hold violators accountable. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said the measure would ensure “highly skilled jobs go to Americans first.” For the first time in history, the Secretary of Labor will personally certify investigations into suspected H-1B violations, which officials described as a “historic action.” Employers found guilty could face...

Many Indian-Americans have chosen to remain silent on H-1B changes and immigration struggles. This piece tries to decipher the reason, the pressures facing diaspora communities, and why success should come with responsibility. -snip- Created in 1990 under President George H. W. Bush, the H-1B program was designed to allow U.S. employers to hire foreign professionals to fill critical skill gaps. What is, in reality, a randomized lottery where every applicant has an equal chance of selection, regardless of nationality, is often mischaracterized as a program favouring Indians, simply because they make up the largest share of participants. Counting visa renewals...

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to take up a challenge to a rule adopted during Democratic former President Barack Obama's administration allowing the spouses of people with H-1B visas for highly-skilled jobs to work in the United States. The justices denied a petition, opens new tab by Save Jobs USA, which represents American tech workers who it says were displaced by foreign labor, to review a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that said the Department of Homeland Security had the power to adopt the rule in 2015. Following its usual practice, the...

America’s largest business lobby, the US Chamber of Commerce, is exploring legal action against the Trump administration’s decision to impose a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applications, Bloomberg reported. The move has reignited debate on the role of Indian professionals in the US economy and the political calculations behind Washington’s tightening visa rules. Chamber officials this week consulted member companies in a series of calls and virtual meetings to test support for a lawsuit. The consultations reflect widespread unease among large corporations, particularly technology firms, which are the heaviest users of the H-1B programme. The Chamber had previously challenged...

Somebody told me there was a H-1B application for a head pickleball professional, so I had to look it up. Sure enough. (Jumbo's pickleball) https://guestworkervisas.com/gwv/h1bjunkiesviewtest.php?jobtitle=pickleball

T-Mobile, the US telecom giant, announced on Monday that it has appointed its current Chief Operating Officer, India-born Srini Gopalan, as the company’s next Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective November 1, 2025. With this elevation, Gopalan joins the distinguished club of India-born CEOs heading some of the world’s most influential companies in the US, a group that includes Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Sundar Pichai of Alphabet and Google, Vimal Kapur of Honeywell, Raj Subramaniam of FedEx, Arvind Krishna of IBM, and Shantanu Narayen of Adobe.

Among issues Charlie Kirk took a strong stand against was immigration, even legal immigration stemming from H1B visas that many Indian students and professionals use. “America does not need more visas for people from India. Perhaps no form of legal immigration has so displaced American workers as those from India. Enough already. We’re full. Let’s finally put our own people first,” he said in a post on X on September 1 He was responding to a Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham’s post suggesting that a US-India trade deal might involve more visas for Indian professionals. In a subsequent post on...