Trump Acknowledges US Needs Foreign Talent Despite H-1B Visa Crackdown

President Donald Trump has seemingly moderated his position on his administration's strict immigration reforms, stating that America needs to import foreign talent for specific sectors.

During an interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham, Trump acknowledged that unemployed Americans cannot be immediately placed in complex roles within sensitive industries like defense without substantial training, emphasizing that the United States requires skilled foreign nationals for such positions.

When asked if his administration intended to deprioritize H-1B visas, Trump responded, "You do have to bring in talent."

After the host countered with "We have plenty of talent," Trump firmly disagreed, stating, "No, you don't."

He elaborated, "You don't have certain talents... And people have to learn, you can't take people off an unemployment line and say, I'm going to put you into a factory. We're going to make missiles."

Statistics show that Indian workers received over 70 percent of all approved H-1B visas in 2024, primarily due to significant approval backlogs and the high number of skilled immigrants from India.

Trump's comments come amid his administration's ongoing critique of the H-1B visa program as part of a comprehensive immigration crackdown. In September, Trump imposed a substantial $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applications through a presidential proclamation.

Recently, the US Department of Labor initiated at least 175 investigations into potential abuses within the H-1B visa program. This initiative, called 'Project Firewall,' targets companies allegedly exploiting the visa system, which permits US businesses to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations including information technology, engineering, and healthcare.

In October, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis directed the state's Board of Governors to terminate the use of H-1B visas across state universities, arguing that positions currently held by visa holders should be filled by Florida residents.

DeSantis questioned, "Why are we bringing people in to assess our accreditation on an H-1B visa? We can't do that with our own people?" He characterized the practice as "cheap labour" and urged university leaders to reevaluate their hiring practices.

Shortly thereafter, the White House reaffirmed that President Trump's priority in reforming the H-1B visa program is to put "American workers first" and promised to contest lawsuits filed against the administration's crackdown.