US Vice President JD Vance has defended the Trump administration’s changes to the H-1B visa programme, arguing that the system should be used to attract highly skilled workers rather than replace American employees with cheaper foreign labour.
Vance made the remarks while appearing on the business and technology programme All-In Podcast, where he explained why the administration pursued changes through executive and administrative measures instead of seeking new legislation from Congress.
According to the Vice President, the administration believed there was insufficient political support in Congress to overhaul the programme through legislation.
“Look, man, we looked at the fraud in the system and we said, you know, one, Congress is not going to pass a law changing this. There just isn’t the political will to do it. So what are the things that we can do administratively to ensure that if a tech company is going to try to get an H-1B visa, it’s an actual genius,” Vance said.
He said the programme should prioritise foreign workers capable of making significant contributions to the technology industry and the broader US economy.
“It’s a person that is going to significantly enrich the tech ecosystem or the American economy. You know, you’re not just replacing one accountant who makes $60,000 with a lower-wage foreign accountant who makes $45,000 a year. That is not what the programme exists for,” he added.
Vance also pointed to a $100,000 fee introduced by the administration as part of its efforts to reform the H-1B system.
He said officials were additionally considering measures aimed at preventing companies from using H-1B workers to fill positions after laying off American employees.
“And so we came up with this idea to impose this $100,000 fee. We’re also looking at various ways of preventing companies that use H-1B visas from laying off a bunch of American workers. So you know, one of the things that I find just shocking about this is you’ll have a company that applies for an H-1B and they’ll say, oh, we’re desperate for workers.”
Vance questioned the rationale of companies claiming they could not find qualified workers after recently conducting major layoffs.
“We can’t find the workers. And then you go and look at their history and they’ve laid off 5,000 people. Well, that’s ridiculous.”
He argued that companies should not seek foreign workers for positions similar to those held by American employees they have recently dismissed.
“If you’re laying off American workers, you shouldn’t be going to the market searching for foreign workers to replace them. So we’re doing a lot within the confines, of course, of what we’re allowed to do legally. We’ve gotten sued on some of this stuff, but I think fundamentally we’re on the right on both the law and the policy,” he added.
Vance restated what he described as the administration’s central objective for the H-1B programme, saying it should contribute to the US economy rather than be used primarily to obtain lower-cost labour.
“The H-1B should not exist to replace American workers with low-wage foreigners. It should exist to enrich the American economy.
And that’s exactly what we’re trying to make sure it does.”
Vance was raised in Middletown, Ohio, and spent summers with extended family in Jackson, Kentucky. His upbringing in Ohio and Appalachia has featured prominently in accounts of his political background.
The Vice President is married to Usha Chilukuri Vance, an Indian-origin lawyer and former litigator. They met while studying at Yale Law School and married in 2014. The couple has four children.
