H-1B Visa Debate: Not Just Engineers, Trump Says He Wants Very Competent People Coming To US
While President Trump welcomed skilled immigrants, he also opposed birthright citizenship for children born in the US to parents with temporary visas, including H-1B holders.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he likes both sides of the argument on H-1B foreign guest worker visa debate, stating that he welcomes "very competent people" coming into the country.
However, signing an executive order on the first day of his second term, titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship”, President Trump took away birth right citizenship in the country.
Trump has declared that unless at least one parent of a new-born in the US is an American citizen or a green card holder, the child will not be an American citizen. As reported by Hindustan Times, this decision will affect all those with temporary visa status in the US — including those who have an H1-B visa. According to the reports, the decision will be applicable to all children born in the US from February 20.
During an event along with Oracle CTO Larry Ellison, Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, and Open AI CEO Sam Altman, US President Donald Trump said, "I like both sides of the argument, but I also like very competent people coming into our country, even if that involves them training and helping other people that may not have the qualifications they do", Trump said, and added "But I don't want to stop -- and I'm not just talking about engineers, I'm talking about people at all levels."
#WATCH | Washington DC | On H1B visas, US President Donald Trump says, "... I like both sides of the argument but I also like very competent people coming to our country, even if that involves them training and helping others that may not have the qualifications... About HB1, I… pic.twitter.com/ALFRoHUWgD
— ANI (@ANI) January 22, 2025
Trump was responding to a question on the ongoing debate on H-1B visa within his support base.
While some of his close allies like Elon Musk, the Tesla owner, supports H-1B visa as it brings in qualified tech professionals, many of his supporters oppose it arguing that it takes away jobs from American citizens.
"We want competent people coming into our country. And H-1B, I know the programme very well. I use the programme. Maître d', wine experts, even waiters, high-quality waiters -- you've got to get the best people. People like Larry, he needs engineers, Masa also needs... they need engineers like nobody's ever needed them," Trump said. "So, we have to have quality people coming in. Now by doing that, we're expanding businesses and that takes care of everybody. So I'm sort of on both sides of the argument, but what I really do feel is that we have to let really competent people, great people, come into our country. And we do that through the H-1B programme," Trump added, as reported by news agency PTI.
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