Newly-elected US President Donald Trump said that while he does like both sides of the argument, he really wants the H-1B visa to bring in only the best in the business. He said it does not matter if they are allowing in engineers or maitre d’s but they have to only let “really good people” into the country through the H-1B visa.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said, “I like both sides of the argument but I also like very competent people coming into our country, even if that involves them training and helping other people that may not have the qualifications they do.”
“I am not just talking about engineers, I am talking about people at all levels. We want competent people coming into our country. And H-1B, I know the programme very well, I have used the programme. Maitre d’s, wine experts, even waiters, high-quality waiters…you gotta get the best people…you gotta have the quality people. But doing that we are expanding businesses and that takes care of everybody. So, I am sort of in both sides of the argument. What I really do feel is that we have to let really competent people, really great people come into our country and we do that through the H-1B programme,” he said.
Donald Trump’s remarks come after the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) revamped the H-1B programme to streamline its approval process and to retain skilled employees. The USCIS revised the definition of ‘specialty occupation’ to emphasise a logical connection between a degree and job duties. The USCIS also extended the F-1 visas till April 1 of the relevant year. To prevent the misuse of the H-1B programme, employers must also demonstrate the existence of a legitimate specialty occupation job for the visa beneficiary.
Separately, after his inauguration on Monday, Trump, ordered US agencies to refuse to recognise the citizenship of children born in the US if neither their mother or father is a US citizen or legal permanent resident. Trump signed an executive order to end birthright citizenship, a policy that has been in effect for over 150 years.