Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Trump to impose $100k fee for H-1B worker visas, White House says

reuters.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

431–440 of 1001 posts

Re: Trump to impose $100k fee for H-1B worker visas, White House says

#431

Post by anigbrowl »

bamboozled wrote: post #291

Why is it “Trump” specifically ? Is there no government anymore ?

Because he's exerting autocratic control over the entire executive branch. How many times does he have to tell you he's doing so before you can recognize it? He talks about it in interviews and on his social media, and not in vague or nuanced terms, but with clear declarative statements like "I have the right to do anything I want to do. I'm the President." (this example from about 3 weeks ago - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOxw6Pc_KXw)

Re: Trump to impose $100k fee for H-1B worker visas, White House says

#432

Post by speff »

afavour wrote: post #423

Putting all else aside: if you’re an H1B holder currently outside the US you must return within 24 hours or you’re on the hook for $100k: https://bsky.app/profile/reichlinmelnick.bsky.social/post/3l... Unfathomably cruel.

I've been hearing that H1B holders are currently trying to stay within the US in fear of not being let back in or because of shenanigans like this[0]. Wonder how many people are currently looking for a flight.

[0]: Oh, it looks like the bsky link has an article with companies advising as such - https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/03/31/immigra...

Re: Trump to impose $100k fee for H-1B worker visas, White House says

#433

Post by l___l »

mbesto wrote: post #251
roughly wrote: post #85

I think there’s plenty of interesting debates to be had about immigration policy and its effects on the labor market, but one thing worth noting here is that the primary problem that damn near every other country on earth has isn’t immigration, it’s brain drain. A core strategic strength of the US over the last century has been that everyone with any talent wants to come here to work, and by and large we’ve let them…

> You can argue how well that’s worked out for us And its an easy argument: The Manhattan Project engaged thousands of scientists, but over 16 notable principal scientists (with major published credits) were foreign-born and either retained their citizenship or became naturalized U.S. citizens only after escaping persecution or war in Europe. As of 2025, about 10-12 CEOs of the top 50 Fortune 500 (F50) companies were…

I don't know if that's easy. If this was flipped around, 100% of the top Fortune 500 would be born inside the United States if no immigrants were allowed in.

A better test may be comparing company performance worldwide instead of only in the F500. That's a different list, the Global 500.

Re: Trump to impose $100k fee for H-1B worker visas, White House says

#434

Post by ajross »

jpadkins wrote: post #123
roughly wrote: post #85

I think there’s plenty of interesting debates to be had about immigration policy and its effects on the labor market, but one thing worth noting here is that the primary problem that damn near every other country on earth has isn’t immigration, it’s brain drain. A core strategic strength of the US over the last century has been that everyone with any talent wants to come here to work, and by and large we’ve let them…

The top end of H1B has been great for America. In the last few decades, there has been growth of abuse of the program to get mid level talent at below market rates which really hurts the middle class in America. People need to understand that most reformists don't want to get rid of the truly exceptional immigration to the US. We need to limit the volume, especially the immigrants that are directly competing with a h…

> In the last few decades, there has been growth of abuse of the program to get mid level talent at below market rates which really hurts the middle class in America.

That's a weird definition for "middle class", there are only 65k H1b visas issued every year. If you really are talking about the middle 60% or whatever of all workers, immigrants on H1b's are irrelevant noise. At most, these visas might be seen to impact specific professions (tech in particular, lots of doctors too) that most people don't consider representative of the "middle class".

Re: Trump to impose $100k fee for H-1B worker visas, White House says

#435

Post by Aurornis »

frogblast wrote: post #80

IMO the problem is that H1B employees are stuck at the employer for the duration of their green card process, and so end up both paid lower and unable to escape abuse. I think a very high application fee is actually part of a good solution, but is useless by itself. A flawed proposal: * Dispense with the 'need to search for a qualified American' which just complicates the process without achieving the stated goal, an…

> * The worker gets to leave their sponsoring employer on the day of their arrival, if they choose to. The employment contract may not include any clawbacks of anything.

This would be workable if it also results in the person losing their visa. There must be some downside for the employee, otherwise it's an invitation for abuse.

If the worker gets to keep their visa then it's just a backdoor way to get a company to pay for their visa and relocation so they can immediately quit and then go do some other job they actually want (at no expense to the next employer).

Re: Trump to impose $100k fee for H-1B worker visas, White House says

#436

Post by charliea0 »

jpadkins wrote: post #123
roughly wrote: post #85

I think there’s plenty of interesting debates to be had about immigration policy and its effects on the labor market, but one thing worth noting here is that the primary problem that damn near every other country on earth has isn’t immigration, it’s brain drain. A core strategic strength of the US over the last century has been that everyone with any talent wants to come here to work, and by and large we’ve let them…

The top end of H1B has been great for America. In the last few decades, there has been growth of abuse of the program to get mid level talent at below market rates which really hurts the middle class in America. People need to understand that most reformists don't want to get rid of the truly exceptional immigration to the US. We need to limit the volume, especially the immigrants that are directly competing with a h…

We should just set a number of H1Bs and auction them off.

Re: Trump to impose $100k fee for H-1B worker visas, White House says

#437

Post by Aurornis »

kelnos wrote: post #345
guyzero wrote: post #248

Everyone in these threads always points out all sorts of issues with the H1B system, which are mostly true, but it's not like there's a suggestion for a replacement here. This is a de facto shutdown of the program, not a reform. I'd be happy to see a reformed skilled immigration program for the US, but this isn't it. The US makes up about 4.5% of the global population and it seems silly to think that the FAANG compan…

> This is a de facto shutdown of the program Is it? $100k per hire isn't much of a cost to pay for large companies. Smaller companies may -- may -- end up having some trouble with this, but consider that $100k often amounts to less than a yearly base salary (and will pretty much always be less than a year of total comp/total employee cost), not to mention the costs of legal staff that they're already paying to deal w…

$100K per hire per year.

That's almost as much as the media H1B salary. It's a huge cost overhead. I don't understand how you can be dismissive of a number almost as high as hiring another engineer.

Re: Trump to impose $100k fee for H-1B worker visas, White House says

#439

Post by jwblock »

tw04 wrote: post #340
jpadkins wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The top end of H1B has been great for America. In the last few decades, there has been growth of abuse of the program to get mid level talent at below market rates which really hurts the middle class in America. People need to understand that most reformists don't want to get rid of the truly exceptional immigration to the US. We need to limit the volume, especially the immigrants that are directly competing with a h…

> People need to understand that most reformists don't want to get rid of the truly exceptional immigration to the US. And how are “they” planning on determining who is “truly exceptional”? And what makes you think the “truly exceptional” ones are still going to have any interest in coming here when they see what happens to the people who the current regime deems “not exceptional”? I sure as hell wouldn’t come to the…

I don't think you need to define 'truly exceptional.' You just need to put in a limit and the scarcity will force the slots to go to the best and rarest talent. I'm all for bringing the truly best and brightest to the US. I'm not for replacing large swaths of the domestic labor force with an imported lower price equivalent.

Re: Trump to impose $100k fee for H-1B worker visas, White House says

#440

Post by callc »

guyzero wrote: post #248

Everyone in these threads always points out all sorts of issues with the H1B system, which are mostly true, but it's not like there's a suggestion for a replacement here. This is a de facto shutdown of the program, not a reform. I'd be happy to see a reformed skilled immigration program for the US, but this isn't it. The US makes up about 4.5% of the global population and it seems silly to think that the FAANG compan…

> The only effect this is going to have is accelerating the offshoring of jobs through more hiring in India, Europe and Canada, which is a net loss for the US.

I’m honestly tired of hearing the argument “if we do X then business will move to another state or out of US”.

Good riddance to the companies that flee from jurisdictions enforcing workers rights, don’t allow exploitation, etc.

The most important thing is protecting people, not fearing the cries of money-making machines.

Post reply on HN