Trump’s Changes Lock Some Employers Out of H-1B Visa Program
Since imposing a $100,000 fee on new visas in September, the Trump administration has upended the skilled worker program.
The Wayside Youth & Family Support Network has long struggled to recruit local teachers for its private special education school, relying on a skilled visa program to hire workers from countries like Brazil, Mexico and Germany.
Sara McCabe, the president of the Massachusetts-based nonprofit, said the school has five open teaching positions that it would usually try to fill through the H-1B program. But after the Trump administration attached a steep $100,000 fee to new H-1B visas last fall, Ms. McCabe said the nonprofit could no longer afford to use the program. As a result, the school has turned away a dozen students who have tried to enroll because it cannot hire enough special education teachers to offer more classes.
“The $100,000 fee has closed the door for us,” Ms. McCabe said.
Since imposing the fee in September, the Trump administration has upended the H-1B program, a critical pipeline for a broad swath of employers ranging from big tech companies and consulting firms to hospitals and schools. The result has been a fundamental shift in who gets to benefit from the visa program, which was put in place three decades ago.
