Amid H-1B Visa Debate, Team Trump's Call To "Prioritize Qualified Americans"

In yet another crackdown on immigration, the Donald Trump administration in the United States has pledged to ensure employers follow H-1B visa rules and "prioritise qualified Americans" over foreign workers. Under an initiative dubbed "Project Firewall", the US Department of Labor (DOL) has launched a probe into federal oversight in the allocation of H-1B visas to safeguard the "rights, wages, and job opportunities of highly skilled American workers".

DOL's project is a collaborative effort with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and other agencies to ensure that "qualified Americans" are given priority in hiring and that employers are held accountable if they misuse H-1B visas. 

The move comes amid deepening debates over the integration of highly skilled immigrants in the US workforce through H-1B visas as President Trump's renewed stance on visas collides with factions of his own political base. 

What Team Trump Said

In a statement, the Trump administration said that the project aims to "safeguard the rights, wages, and job opportunities of highly skilled American workers."

"The ongoing project ensures employers prioritise qualified Americans when hiring and includes enforcement actions to hold employers accountable if they abuse the H-1B visa program," the DOL statement said. 

The initiative includes proactive information-sharing and law enforcement actions among the relevant government agencies, including DOL, EEOC, the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, "as permitted by law, to proactively combat unlawful discrimination against American workers and properly enforce the law by leveraging the full strength of the federal government."

"Under President Trump's leadership, we will continue working with our federal partners to put an end to bad practices and safeguard opportunities for American workers," said US Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer. 

Project Firewall is expected to intensify scrutiny of American employers' compliance with anti-discrimination and labour laws, possibly resulting in increased federal oversight in hiring practices.

White House On H-1B Visa

The White House recently said Trump has a "very nuanced and commonsense opinion" on the issue of H-1B visas and does not support American workers being replaced.

"The President does not support American workers being replaced,"  White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday.

Amid backlash over the H-1B visas by Trump's MAGA (Make America Great Again) supporters, the President has said that he would "welcome" skilled immigrants into the country who will then "teach" American workers to develop complex products like chips and missiles, acknowledging that he may take a "little heat" over this from his base which supports restrictions on immigration.

To a question on American workers being replaced with H-1B visa holders and Trump's position on it, Leavitt said the President's stance on the issue has been mischaracterised.

On the H-1B visa issue, Leavitt said Trump "has a very nuanced and commonsense opinion on this issue. He wants to see if foreign companies are investing trillions of dollars in the United States of America, and they're bringing foreign workers with them to create very niche things like batteries. He wants to see that at the beginning to get those manufacturing facilities and those factories up and running." 

She said that ultimately, Trump always wants to see American workers in those jobs, and he's told foreign companies investing in the country that they "better be hiring my people if you're going to be doing business in the United States. So there's been a lot of misunderstanding of the President's position."

Leavitt added that the President wants to see the American manufacturing industry revitalised better than ever before.  "That's part of what he's doing with his effective use of tariffs and cutting good trade deals around the world. That's why he's recruited trillions and trillions of dollars in investments into our country. Those are creating good-paying American jobs right here at home," she said.