H-1B Visas were created to get high-skilled workers but not take jobs away from American workers.
Via WBTV:
President-elect Donald Trump is vowing to crack down on federal visa programs that let companies fill U.S. jobs with foreign workers, a move that could affect Charlotte-area employers ranging from banks to healthcare providers to information technology firms.
In a Facebook video outlining policy plans for his first 100 days, Trump said he would direct the U.S. Department of Labor “to investigate all abuses of visa programs that undercut the American worker.” Trump’s latest comments are creating concerns in Charlotte and elsewhere about companies’ future access to H-1B visas, a 26-year-old program designed to help companies fill highly skilled jobs with foreign workers.
“I personally am terrified for what the Trump administration could mean for H-1B visas and access to them,” said Charlotte-based immigration attorney Onyema Ezeh. He said some local CEOs of small companies have already contacted him fretting over what might happen to the visas.
“They’re really worried,” Ezeh said. “The threat of the H-1B visas … being limited is a real one, and one that would hurt companies. And that’s why they’re having sleepless nights at this point.”
Nationwide, the H-1B program has become a political flashpoint. In Charlotte, U.S. workers, especially in technology roles, have blasted the program as a vehicle for companies to fire Americans – and replace them with cheap foreign workers sometimes supplied by large outsourcing firms. Bank of America and Wells Fargo are among companies that have relied on visa workers to fill roles in Charlotte.
Yet Trump has sent mixed signals about the visas – making it hard to predict the changes he might pursue. His Facebook video didn’t mention H-1B visas specifically, though in a March debate he called it “very, very bad.” In other debates, though, he cited a need for skilled workers in the U.S. His campaign website earlier this year included specific mentions of H-1B, but those mentions have since disappeared.
Hope Hicks, a spokeswoman for Trump, could not be immediately reached for comment.
H-1B supporters, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have argued the temporary visas help employers fill highly-skilled jobs that draw too few qualified applicants. In particular, visa supporters often cite a large and growing scarcity of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, workers in the U.S.
In Charlotte, employers’ reliance on visa workers, many of whom come from India, has put some American employees on edge about their own job security. In some cases, fired Americans have told the Observer they had to train their foreign replacements during their final days of employment as a condition for receiving severance.
Demand for H-1B workers is growing especially fast in Charlotte. Last year alone, hundreds of local employers filed initial applications for more than 16,500 of the visa workers, according to an Observer analysis earlier this year.
That’s a 39 percent increase from the year before – surpassing the roughly 25 percent increase nationwide.