The Trump Administration's efforts to crack down on illegal immigration at the border have gotten plenty of attention in recent months, but a quieter crackdown is taking place in the labor force. According to a new report from Reuters, there was a 45 percent increase in federal challenges to H-1B visa applications for foreign workers during the first eight months after President Trump took office. The H-1B program is designed to allow American companies to import foreign workers from other countries to fill specific skill sets that are in need.
More than 100,000 workers are brought to the U.S. each year under the H-1B program, and they are allowed to stay for up to six years. But critics point out that the program has been increasingly abused in recent years, as companies use it as a way to save money on labor, often hiring foreigners to replace American workers. President Trump pledged to crack down on abuses of the H-1B program during his campaign last year, and now appears to be following through.
Anti-illegal immigration advocates are encouraged by the President's action on H-1B visas. David North with the Center for Immigration Studies says this kind of enforcement is long overdue. "This goes back to the Immigration Reform Act of 1986...we were going to give amnesty to a whole bunch of people, which we did, and we were also going to make it illegal for illegal aliens to work...and we did part of that deal, but we didn't do the rest," he tells KTRH.
Still, North believes this is only the first step to further necessary action. "I want to see the government start to do what are called factory raids---visiting with agents, and visiting factories where illegal aliens are employed," he says.