Is US President Donald Trump softening his stance on an aggressive push for H-1B visa reforms? The Republican leader, in a recent interview, appeared to do so as he recognised the need to import foreign talent to America. In a conversation with Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Tuesday (local time), he defended the value of skilled immigrant workers. He asserted that US cannot repurpose long-term unemployed Americans for complex roles like manufacturing and defence without training.
Trump added that he supports raising wages for American workers, but the US must still “bring this talent” to maintain its industrial and technological edge.When asked whether H-1B visa reform is a major priority for the US government, Trump responded, “I agree, but you also have to bring this talent.” Ingraham countered him, saying that US has “plenty of talented people.” Trump in response said, “No, you don’t. There are certain skills you don’t have, and people have to learn them. You can’t take people off the unemployment line and say, ‘I’m going to put you into a factory where we’re going to make missiles.'” He then cited US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials’ raid on under-construction Hyundai plant in Georgia as an example, explaining that the removal of skilled foreign workers created difficulties in manufacturing complex products.”They had people from South Korea that had made batteries all their life. Making batteries is very complicated and very dangerous — a lot of explosions, a lot of problems. They had like 500 or 600 people in the early stages to make batteries and to teach people how to do it,” he said.During the ICE raid on the facility, hundreds of South Korean workers were arrested and deported.Also read: USCIS issues requests for evidence demanding $100,000 H-1B fee; here’s what it means for IndiansThe US president further said that several industries need specialised expertise and that cannot be filled by untrained or long-term unemployed workers.”You can’t just say a country is coming in, going to invest USD 10 billion to build a plant, and take people off the unemployment line who haven’t worked in five years, and they’re going to start making missiles. It doesn’t work that way,” he added.In September this year, the Trump administration triggered a major overhaul after the president signed a proclamation that there will now be a USD 100,000 fee for new H-1B visa applications.