←back to thread

Trump to impose $100k fee for H-1B worker visas, White House says

(www.reuters.com)
1245 points mriguy | 1 comments | 19 Sep 25 19:59 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
Show context
roughly ◴[19 Sep 25 20:40 UTC] No.45306289[source]▶
I think there’s plenty of interesting debates to be had about immigration policy and its effects on the labor market, but one thing worth noting here is that the primary problem that damn near every other country on earth has isn’t immigration, it’s brain drain.

A core strategic strength of the US over the last century has been that everyone with any talent wants to come here to work, and by and large we’ve let them do so. You can argue how well that’s worked out for us - having worked with a great many extremely talented H1bs in an industry largely built by immigrants, I’d consider it pretty positive - but it damn sure hasn’t worked out well for the countries those talented folks came from.

replies(50): >>45306392 #>>45306449 #>>45306451 #>>45306457 #>>45306462 #>>45306472 #>>45306497 #>>45306499 #>>45306504 #>>45306532 #>>45306544 #>>45306577 #>>45306613 #>>45306652 #>>45306655 #>>45306707 #>>45306784 #>>45306794 #>>45306815 #>>45307051 #>>45307170 #>>45307207 #>>45307249 #>>45307273 #>>45307505 #>>45307522 #>>45307842 #>>45307910 #>>45307954 #>>45308178 #>>45308232 #>>45308290 #>>45308308 #>>45308580 #>>45309297 #>>45309977 #>>45310236 #>>45310640 #>>45310668 #>>45311024 #>>45311194 #>>45312042 #>>45312299 #>>45312339 #>>45312360 #>>45312401 #>>45312861 #>>45312907 #>>45313125 #>>45313178 #
jpadkins ◴[19 Sep 25 20:49 UTC] No.45306392[source]▶
The top end of H1B has been great for America. In the last few decades, there has been growth of abuse of the program to get mid level talent at below market rates which really hurts the middle class in America. People need to understand that most reformists don't want to get rid of the truly exceptional immigration to the US. We need to limit the volume, especially the immigrants that are directly competing with a hollowed out middle class in the US. Let me know if you want further reading on this topic.
replies(35): >>45306429 #>>45306435 #>>45306452 #>>45306463 #>>45306474 #>>45306548 #>>45306582 #>>45306752 #>>45306800 #>>45306892 #>>45306969 #>>45307193 #>>45307317 #>>45307655 #>>45308072 #>>45308087 #>>45308523 #>>45308562 #>>45308675 #>>45309429 #>>45310492 #>>45310518 #>>45310562 #>>45310643 #>>45310674 #>>45310927 #>>45311128 #>>45311281 #>>45311391 #>>45311977 #>>45311996 #>>45312059 #>>45312333 #>>45312341 #>>45312487 #
jb1991 ◴[19 Sep 25 20:54 UTC] No.45306452[source]▶
This is exactly correct. The H1B visa has not lived up to its original premise in quite some time. A very significant percentage of people who are now working on these visas are not offering anything beyond what is already available within the American workforce, except for lower compensation.
replies(2): >>45306541 #>>45306699 #
whatever1 ◴[19 Sep 25 21:14 UTC] No.45306699[source]▶
From the reuters table it seems that the biggest H1B beneficiaries are FAANG.

Do you suggest that they check the immigration status and offer to some people lower compensation because of their status?

replies(6): >>45306938 #>>45307412 #>>45307419 #>>45307534 #>>45310460 #>>45313474 #
mothballed ◴[19 Sep 25 21:35 UTC] No.45306938[source]▶
No need to check immigration status. If they're non-white and have an accent it's already a tell you can lowball them. You'd probably skip over some white europeans with solid English, but lets be real, those people can fake being a US citizen easy enough with some trivially obtained paperwork.
replies(3): >>45307076 #>>45307435 #>>45310230 #
conartist6 ◴[19 Sep 25 22:21 UTC] No.45307435{3}[source]▶
That would be highly illegal: it'd be discrimination on the basis of race (which is protected under the law) rather than on the basis of immigration status (which is not protected).
replies(2): >>45307456 #>>45308735 #
1. mothballed ◴[19 Sep 25 22:23 UTC] No.45307456{4}[source]▶
For it to be illegal you have to prove intent.

The incentives ensure that it will happen with zero intent, and probably without the people doing it even realize they're doing it. It's not illegal to see someone, think of them as a 'sucker' but not even realize why, then lowball them, which is far more likely than for a person to actually consciously confront themselves they may be a racist.

In any case, even if they know it's illegal, it's not so easy to enforce, the fact that people get successfully sued or jailed a small fraction of the time isn't going to be some solace.

The only way to actually solve it is to remove the incentive in place, namely either the market pressure to get the best developer at the cheapest price or the vulnerability of being an immigrant.