Beating the odds and surprising most part opf the world, Donald Trump has finally landed in the White House as the 45th President of United States of America. If we have to rank the factors that worked in his favor, his strong views on immigration and H-1B visas can be arguably number one.
As the verbose businessman turned US President has time and again expressed his severe dissent over H-1B visas and outsourcing jobs, there is curiosity over what steps he would take. Interim, have a look at the rhetoric statements of Trump over H-1B visa issue during his election campaign.
1. Trump said that he will hike the minimum wage paid to H-1B visa holders, which may reduce the job opportunities for Indian IT professionals.
2. He also assured that he will impose 35% tax on the American firms that lay off local workers and outsource jobs to other countries including India.
3. Accusing the US companies of importing low-wage workers on H-1B visas instead of hiring young college-trained American students, Trump vowed to protect American jobs for the local skilled workforce.
4. Trump accused US tech giant IBM of laying off 500 workers and shifting their jobs to India and other countries. “Trump administration will stop the jobs from leaving America, and we will stop the jobs from leaving Minnesota,” Trump said during his speech in Minneapolis during his election campaign.
5. Trump is not leaving anyone when it comes to H1B Visa demands, like he came down on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for his demand to triple H1Bs.
6. ‘Raising the prevailing wage paid to H-1Bs will force companies to give these coveted entry-level jobs to the existing domestic pool of unemployed native and immigrant workers in the US, instead of flying in cheaper workers from overseas,’ Trump’s immigration policy paper said.
7. To appease the immigrants, he also has used his sugar coated tongue and said that he was in favor of people coming into the US legally, be it on visas or work permits. ‘We need skilled people in this country and if we can’t produce, we will have to get them in. H-1B visas enable our firms to recruit and retain offshore talent,’ he added.
8. Trump added that students from different countries come to the US for better education and that they desperately try to stay in this country after their studies.
9. On the whole, as per a policy paper on immigration, Trump made it clear that he was not completely against outsourcing but that his priority is to ensure that jobs are offered to Americans first before looking for outside talent.
