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

(www.reuters.com)
1233 points mriguy | 1 comments | 19 Sep 25 19:59 UTC | HN request time: 0.203s | source
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bhouston ◴[20 Sep 25 01:12 UTC] No.45308820[source]▶
This is actually smart. Many H1B visas are used to undermine fair labor wages for already local talent. We should ensure that H1B visas are for actual unique talent and not just to undercut local wages.

H1B is ripe with abuse - this article by Bloomberg says that half of all H1-B visas are used by Indian staffing firms that pay significantly lower than the US laborers they are replacing:

- https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2025-h1b-visa-middlemen-c...

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mikeryan ◴[20 Sep 25 01:25 UTC] No.45308961[source]▶
This is idiotic. We’re already pushing China and India into a partnership with Russia. The sheer volume of people in those countries mean “on average” more brilliant people than we do.

The US competitive advantage is built on us being a destination for the best and brightest. Between this and the crackdown foreign students at US Universities why would the anyone want to come here?

The misuse of H1Bs is a small problem compared to the value it provides.

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rxyz ◴[20 Sep 25 01:27 UTC] No.45308995[source]▶
The best and brightest are worth the extra $100k tax, no?
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hdjrudni ◴[20 Sep 25 01:46 UTC] No.45309253[source]▶
Doubtful. Not sure I'd be hired. I was hired at like $160k/yr. Would my employer have paid over half my wages to import me? I'm not so sure. Am I not bright enough? Do ya'all not want me here? It's possible. I'm no genius but I think I'm pretty good at my job and I dare say above average, and I don't think my employer could fill all the positions they have with equal or greater talent with only American citizens.
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1. nwienert ◴[20 Sep 25 02:44 UTC] No.45309780[source]▶
The question is more are you irreplaceable - is there no way an American could do your job even if they may need more training?

We pay taxes, we compete for limited schools and jobs, yet far more people want to come here than leave. Americans have become a lot less wealthy the last 40 years relatively thanks to stagnant wages and skyrocketing prices.

The last thing we need is an unlimited supply of competition that only moves in one direction. Average H1B salary is like 60k, rich companies like MS are employing thousands of IT workers. These are jobs that anyone here could do with a 1-2 year online technical degree.