Why the Employers Need to Bring Into the Country So Many ”High Skilled” Foreigners: H-1B Visa Program Is ‘Kneecapping White Collar Workers’ Across America

 

The claim that the H-1B visa program is "kneecapping white-collar workers" reflects a long-running debate about its impact on the U.S. labor market. Employers often argue the program is necessary to fill talent shortages, while critics contend it is used to suppress wages and displace American workers. Studies on the program's economic impact have produced conflicting results, and it remains a key issue in policy discussions.

Arguments supporting the H-1B program for employers

 

    Access to global talent: Employers and proponents argue that the program allows them to access a wider, global talent pool for specialized, highly skilled roles, particularly in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).

    Filling critical skills gaps: Proponents state that H-1B visas help fill labor shortages, especially for jobs requiring a bachelor's degree or higher where U.S. talent is insufficient. If these roles cannot be filled, some companies may offshore jobs to other countries.

    Driving innovation and economic growth: H-1B workers are credited with boosting productivity, innovation, and patent applications. Many high-tech startups have immigrant founders who initially came to the U.S. on H-1B visas.

    Contributing to the economy: H-1B visa holders and their families pay billions of dollars in federal and local taxes each year. If they return back to their countries they lose all their Social Security payments in America. Research also indicates that they may create new job opportunities for U.S.-born workers through economic expansion.

 

Arguments against the H-1B program from critics

 

    Suppressed wages: Opponents argue that the H-1B program can put downward pressure on wages for U.S. workers in the same fields. They allege that companies may prioritize hiring foreign workers at lower prevailing wage levels, and that the limited mobility of H-1B workers (especially those awaiting green cards) can keep them tied to a single employer for a lower salary.

    Displacing American workers: While the law prohibits direct displacement of U.S. workers, critics point to past instances where American employees were laid off and instructed to train their H-1B replacements. Some studies have also found that H-1B workers can crowd out other workers, particularly at smaller and medium-sized firms.

    Program loopholes: Critics highlight loopholes in the system, arguing that the program's original intent to hire "the best and the brightest" has been abused by outsourcing firms that use it to legally hire foreign workers for a lower cost than their American counterparts.

    Lack of enforcement: Some argue that regulations intended to protect U.S. workers, such as prevailing wage rules, have been ineffective or poorly enforced in some cases.

 

Recent program changes and context

 

    Ongoing regulatory updates: The Biden administration has made recent updates to the H-1B program. A new rule published in early 2025 aims to prevent abuse by foreign-based outsourcing companies and includes measures to ensure higher integrity within the system.

    High demand and limited supply: The annual cap for new H-1B visas has remained largely unchanged since 1990, even as demand from employers has surged. The resulting lottery system, where selection is random rather than based on skills, has led to calls for reform.

    Policy debate: With a second Trump term underway, there is renewed debate over the program. Proposed changes have included shifting to a wage- or merit-based selection system to prioritize the highest-paid jobs.

 

“Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) says the H-1B visa program, which allows hundreds of thousands of mid-level foreign workers primarily from India to take professional jobs in the United States every year, is “kneecapping white collar workers” across the country who are often laid off and forced to train their foreign replacements.

 

During a speech at the National Conservative Conference, Schmitt seemingly blasted old-guard Republicans who support legal immigration at all costs, including the H-1B visa program, which he called a mere tool for businesses to hire cheap, compliant foreign labor over college-educated Americans.

 

“The old conservative establishment may have opposed something like illegal immigration on procedural grounds — simply because it was illegal. But they took no issue with it in substance, and if the same thing was achieved through ‘legal’ avenues, many of them would celebrate and support it,” Schmitt said:

 

    At this point, it should be clear that the fact that something is sanctioned by our government does not mean it’s good for our country. That much is obvious with various forms of legal immigration today.

 

    For decades, we heard that so-called high-skilled immigration was an urgent necessity. The H-1B visa, for example, was sold as a way to keep America “globally competitive.” Of course, we do have an interest in attracting the truly exceptional few, the very best and brightest in the world.

 

But that’s not how programs like the H-1B have actually functioned. Instead, they’ve imported a vast new labor force from abroad — not to fill jobs Americans can’t or won’t do, but to undercut American wages, replace American workers, and transfer entire industries into the hands of foreign lobbies.

 

Indeed, as Schmitt notes, the H-1B visa program is used by companies to outsource entire industries — mainly in Information Technology (IT) — to lower-wage foreign workers who primarily arrive in the U.S. from one region in India.

 

“We have funneled in millions of foreign nationals to take the jobs, salaries, and futures that should belong to our own children — not because the foreign workers are smarter or more talented, but merely because they are cheaper and more compliant, and therefore preferable in the eyes of too many business elites who often see their own countrymen as an inconvenience,” he said.

 

Schmitt continued:

 

    While our trade agreements kneecapped blue-collar workers—a slow-moving disaster, decades in the making—abuse of the H-1B is kneecapping white-collar workers right before our eyes. For the tens of thousands of Americans who were forced to train their foreign H-1B replacements just to get their severance package, the fact that it was “legal” is little comfort.

 

For years, Breitbart News has chronicled the abuses against white-collar American professionals as a result of the H-1B visa program. Americans are often laid off from their jobs and forced to train their foreign H-1B replacements.

 

At any given time, there are about 650,000 foreign H-1B visa workers in the U.S.

 

Research published in 2024 in the Journal of Business Ethics reviewed wage data comparing starting wages for foreign H-1B visa workers with those of their American counterparts. The data showed that foreign H-1B visa workers were paid 10 percent less than Americans doing the same work.”