Trump Defends H-1B Visas Amid GOP Backlash: Why He's Taking the Heat

"You can't come in, open up a massive computer chip factory for billions and billions of dollars like it's being done in Arizona and think you're going to hire people from often unemployment line to run it. They're going to have to bring thousands of people with them. I am going to welcome those people," Trump said during a speech at the US-Saudi Investment Forum in Washington.

He added that the foreign workforce would "teach our people" to make "computer chips and other things."

"You are coming here, and you find that we don't have people who did that before. We are allowing you... If you have to bring people to get those plants open, we want you to do that. We want those people to teach our people - how to make computer chips and how to make other things," he noted.

Trump acknowledged that he may" take a little heat" from his conservative base about his position on bringing in foreign workers.

"I may take little heat. I always take a little heat from my people. The people that love me and the people that I love. They happen to be toward the right...sometimes they are way right...I love my conservative friends. I love MAGA. But this is MAGA, and those people are going to teach our people how to make computer chips," he asserted.

Trump on Monday had also backed the H-1B visas, saying overseas workers are needed to train American workers.

"If you are going to be making chips, we don't make chips too much here anymore...we have to train our people how to make chips. We used to do it, and foolishly we lost that business to Taiwan," Trump said while addressing reporters at the White House.

Last week, Trump, in an interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham, supported the H-1B visa programme.

When asked if his administration planned to deprioritise H-1B visas. He replied, "You do have to bring in talent."

When Ingraham countered, "We have plenty of talent," Trump responded, "No, you don't."

Trump's recent comments have sparked an intense debate with leading Republican and conservative leaders demanding the scrapping of the visa programme.

The White House on Friday clarified its position on the visa policy, telling IANS that the $100,000 application fee is a "significant first step to stop abuses of the system."

In an exclusive response to IANS, a White House spokesperson said that President Donald Trump has "done more than any president in modern history to tighten our immigration laws and put American workers first."

"The $100,000 payment required to supplement new H1-B visa applications is a significant first step to stop abuses of the system and ensure American workers are no longer replaced by lower-paid foreign labour," White House Spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told IANS.

On Friday, Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene posted on X, reiterating her plans to introduce a bill to "ban H1B visas in all sectors" except the medical profession.

Another Republican House member, Andy Ogles, also posted on X on Friday, "No more H1-Bs is a no-brainer. Let's get it done."

The administration's H-1B visa policy has faced broad opposition from lawmakers and legal challenges with two major lawsuits filed in courts, including the one by the US Chamber of Commerce, the country's biggest business organisation.

India-born workers received over 70% of the total approved H1-B visas in 2024, primarily due to a huge backlog in approvals and a high number of skilled immigrants from India.

- IANS