Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., says H1-B visas are being “abused” within the U.S. and argues that many American staff are being pressured to “train their replacements.”
“I think there’s an important, thoughtful debate that’s happening. But the context that we need to, I think, keep in mind here is that American workers have been left behind by this economy. Many factory jobs have been sent overseas,” Schmittt stated.
“I think the abuses of the H-1B program have been evident, where you have sort of the sons and daughters of those factory workers who lost their jobs, got white collar jobs as accountants, and they’re, you know, training their replacements, the foreign workers who are undercutting their wages,” he continued.
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Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., is skeptical of the H-1B visa program.
“So I think the solution here President Trump has actually articulated in 2020 is to reform that system and, you know, get rid of the abuses, make it merit-based and make sure that we’re not undercutting wages and having, you know, Americans train their foreign replacements,” he added.
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Schmitt went on to argue that the U.S. must “invest” extra in Individuals staff, in addition to defend President Trump’s plans for deportations.
Elon Musk defended the H-1B visa program that enables “skilled” international staff to be employed for jobs within the U.S. (Nathan Laine/Bloomberg through Getty Pictures)
“The idea of deporting people who are here illegally is not a new concept. In fact, the policy in the law of the United States of America, since, you know, for 200 years, is if you come here illegally, you are detained. If you don’t have a valid reason, like asylum. And by the way, nine out of ten asylum claims are bogus. Then you are deported,” Schmitt stated.
He said that it has “only been in the last four years” that Democrats answerable for the federal authorities have refused to implement current legal guidelines.
Musk and DOGE counterpart Vivek Ramaswamy ignited an intra-MAGA battle with their proposals to extend immigration visas for high-skill staff final week.
Ramaswamy argued on social media that American tradition has glorified “mediocrity” for many years and that importing expert labor from different international locations is the answer.
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Trump restricted entry to international employee visas throughout his first administration and has critiqued the H-1B visas program, which permits U.S. corporations to rent international staff in specialty occupations.
