PROTECTING AMERICAN JOBS: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order and a Proclamation to continue to protect American national and economic security and American workers from abuses of the H-1B visa program. The Order enhances program integrity in the H-1B visa program by improving interagency coordination and directing enhanced scrutiny of H-1B visa applications where there is a heightened risk that American workers would be laid off.
The Order directs the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Homeland Security to consult with the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Education, and the Administrator of the Small Business Administration in order to receive additional data for the administration of the H-1B program, such as data on wages, industrial conditions, and employment specialization. The Order directs the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Homeland Security to consider petitioner employers’ recent or planned layoffs of similarly situated U. S. workers when considering H-1B visa applications.
The Proclamation renews the $100,000 fee requirement for certain alien H-1B visa applications first imposed on September 19, 2025 to curb abuses that displace U. S. workers and undermine national security. COMBATTING H-1B ABUSES : President Trump’s 2025 Proclamation effectively deterred abuses in the H-1B visa program, and further action will ensure American workers are not replaced with lower-paid foreign labor. Since the 2025 Proclamation took effect, H-1B registrations filed by the largest IT outsourcing firms have been reduced by 92%. Before the 2025 Proclamation, unemployment among recent computer science graduates reached 6.
1% and 7. 5% for computer engineering graduates – more than double the rates for biology or art history majors. The number of foreign STEM workers in the United States had more than doubled between 2000 and 2019, while overall STEM employment only increased 44. 5% during that…