Who’s Up For $100K A Year H1-B Visas

Good idea? Bad idea? Good for some bad for others?

Trump imposes $100K fee on H-1B visas in new immigration action

President Donald Trump signed an executive action on Friday to impose a $100,000 application fee for H-1B visas — in an effort to curb what his administration says is overuse of the program.

“We need great workers, and this pretty much ensures that that’s what’s going to happen,” Trump said from the Oval Office, where officials detailed how the measure would incentivize companies to employ American workers while still providing a pathway to hire highly skilled foreign workers in specialized fields.

The proclamation will restrict entry under the program unless accompanied by the payment.

Now, this is not something that the visa holders pay, companies pay. There is also some confusion as to whether this is per employee or for a multitude. What it is meant to do is have American companies hire Americans, rather than bring them in. The question now is “does the Executive Branch have this authority?” Quite frankly, I’d rather see a lower fee, like, say, $20K per visa holder, and restrict the visas to 3 years with no renewals. Because now they get renewed over and over again, and the holders bring their families, their parents, their cousins.

The moves mark the latest in a series of efforts from the administration to crack down on immigration and place sharp new limits on the types of foreigners allowed into the country. They threaten to significantly impact industries that depend heavily on H-1B workers.

Maybe they should be focusing on hiring Americans.

Meanwhile

More than 400 arrests made so far in Chicago area enforcement operation, top ICE official says

Immigration enforcement officials have arrested more than 400 people as part of an operation in the Chicago area that launched a little less than two weeks ago, a top Immigration and Customs Enforcement official said Friday.

Marcos Charles, the acting head of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, gave the figures during an interview with The Associated Press. The figure, which has not been widely reported, offers an early gauge of what is shaping up as a major enforcement effort that comes after similar operations were launched in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

For all the caterwauling, protesting, agitating, none of it mattered in Sanctuary City Chicago. ICE knows who they are and where they are.