Trump, who slapped an extra $100,000 on the H-1B visa, now says there aren't enough talented people in the U.S. to fill

jobs

President Donald Trump has appeared to change his tune on the stringency on one of his immigration policies, speaking about the importance of H-1B visas for specialized labor only a couple months after imposing steep hurdles meant to reduce the number of those visas doled out by U.S. companies.

Trump told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham in an interview released on Sunday that although he continues to believe the U.S. would not be able to increase wages for American employees if it brought in thousands of foreign workers, he also said the American workforce is lacking in key areas.

“You don’t have certain talents, and people have to learn,” he said. “You can’t just say a country is coming in, going to invest $10 billion to build a plant and take people off an unemployment line who haven’t worked in five years and they’re going to start making their missiles. It doesn’t work that way.”

In September, the White House imposed a $100,000 one-time fee on H1-B visas, meant for high-skilled workers, many of whom enter the tech sector. Experts, such as Y Combinator CEO Gary Tan, said the move would “kneecap” startups and other smaller businesses unable to brush off the steep fee. A 2020 National Bureau of Economic Research study found startups with higher H-1B visa rates were more likely to achieve an IPO or acquisition, as well as secure top funding and patents.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-slapped-extra-100-000-164739055.html