Epaper
US Senator Eric Schmitt reacted strongly to the latest official H-1B visa figures for FY 2025, highlighting that India topped the list with 283,772 approvals, far ahead of China, which recorded 49,161 approvals.
Sharing excerpts from the report, Schmitt criticised the H-1B system, alleging that American workers are being sidelined while companies increasingly rely on foreign hires.
“While Washington pats itself on the back, American workers are told to ‘upskill’ or get replaced by H-1B hires. The entire system is designed to let companies take advantage of the law, while American graduates and workers pay the price,” he wrote.
The senator also accused major tech firms of encouraging the practice even while laying off American employees.
Referring to earlier interviews by former US visa officer Mahvash Siddiqui, Schmitt claimed that many applicants manipulated the system using fake credentials.
He further alleged that foreign workers later help recruit more people from their own communities while American workers lose opportunities.
Schmitt also raised concerns over Chinese participation in sensitive science and technology sectors, alleging risks related to intellectual property theft and corporate espionage linked to the Chinese government.
However, immigration entrepreneur James Blunt pushed back against Schmitt’s claims, arguing that the numbers were relatively small for the size of the US economy.
He pointed out that nearly 70% of H-1B approvals were renewals for workers already in the country, and not entirely new entrants.
“We went from ‘millions flooding in’ to around 400,000 approvals, most of which are renewals. That is actually pretty low for a trillion-dollar economy,” Blunt said.
He also argued that the number of approved Indian H-1B workers was too small to dramatically impact the broader American job market, saying it was “not flooding the market.”
The debate once again highlights the growing divide in the United States over skilled immigration, especially at a time when layoffs in the tech industry and concerns about foreign hiring remain politically sensitive topics.
