‘I don’t want to stop – and I’m not just talking about engineers, I’m talking about people at all levels’: Trump reiterates backing for H-1B visa programme

“We want competent people coming into our country. And H-1B, I know the programme very well. I use the programme. Maitre d’, wine experts, even waiters, high-quality waiters — you’ve got to get the best people. People like Larry, he needs engineers, Masa also needs… they need engineers like nobody’s ever needed them,” he said in his first remarks on the issue since taking oath on Monday.

“So, we have to have quality people coming in. Now, by doing that, we’re expanding businesses and that takes care of everybody. So I’m sort of on both sides of the argument, but what I really do feel is that we have to let really competent people, great people, come into our country. And we do that through the H-1B programme,” the US President said.

Since his election, this is the second time that Trump has supported the H-1B programme that allows businesses in the US to employ skilled foreign nationals.

This is being read in Delhi with some sense of relief, as there have been concerns about possible curbs on the H-1B visa programme as well. While much of the focus of the crackdown is against illegal immigration, there is some apprehension here that the far-right MAGA Republican voices may force a tightening of the legal immigration channels as well. Since Indian professionals and students go to the US in large numbers to live, work or study there, along with Indian tourists, there has been some concern about how those visa categories may be affected.

However, some have been sceptical about these positive statements by Trump, since he is unpredictable and can reverse his position — to appease his far-right base. But, the fact that he was surrounded by tech CEOs in the US conveys that he has sought to allay their concerns as they depend on skilled professionals and talent from overseas, including India.

In the last week of December, amid the public row among his supporters over the H-1B visa programme, then US President-elect Trump called himself a “believer in H-1B”, saying he has “always been in favour of the visas”.

“I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favour of the visas. That’s why we have them,” Trump had said in a telephone interview with the New York Post. “I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great programme,” he had said.

Indians are the biggest beneficiaries of the H-1B visas. Between October 2022 and September 2023, 72 per cent of the nearly 4 lakh visas issued under the H-1B programme went to Indian nationals. During the same period, top four Indian IT majors with a presence in the US — Infosys, TCS, HCL, and Wipro — obtained approval for around 20,000 employees to work on H-1B visas, as per the latest US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data.