Immigration lawyers brace for impact of 2nd Trump admin on H-1B visa approvals

Immigration lawyers as well as foreign workers who are in the US on the H-1B visa program are facing uncertainty in the upcoming second term of President-elect Doanld Trump. Immigration policy, one of the primary issues that launched Trump into power, has been a hotly debate topic between on X as tech industry billionaires have clashed with the MAGA base over the usefulness of that visa program. 

According to Voice of America, during 2024, around 97 percent of H-1B visas were approved by federal authorities, the highest number of approvals in a decade. But that may change under Trump who is anticipated to undertake an overhaul of immigration policies, immigration lawyers have said. The senior director of government relations for the American Immigration Lawyers Association Sharvari Dalal-Dheini said, "I think it's going to get harder, and it's going to be more complicated to approve things." 

Critics of the policies have said that the H-1B system is exploited by companies, which will sometimes be able to pay those visa holders less than American workers. A minimum rate of pay is set by the Department of Labor. Each year, 85,000 H-1B visas are issued by lottery and over 70 percent have been given to workers from India in recent years. Chinese workers have had the second highest percent of the visas awarded to them, per the outlet.  

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) has slammed the program, with spokesman Ira Mehlman saying that it enables companies to exploit foreign labor at the expense of American workers, "There are plenty of tech workers available here in the United States, and that should be the first resort for these companies to go out there and hire people who are American citizens." 

"This should be a program that says you're going to come here for a specified amount of time, the duration of your visa, and then you're going to return home," Mehlman added. Many congressional Republicans have been critical of the program and Trump, who called the policy a "cheap labor program" during his 2016 campaign.  

According to NBC News, some immigrants on H-1B visas are panicking about what will come during the second Trump administration. "People are in a state of panic … they are expecting the worst," said executive director of the nonprofit South Asian Network Shakeel Syed. "Is my application going to be accepted? During the course of my approval process, where do I stand? Can I be deported?"