US Vice President JD Vance raised concerns about fraud in the H-1B visa system while recognizing the contributions of immigrants.
US vice president JD Vance flagged fraud concerns in the H-1B visa system but also acknowledged contributions of immigrants, ‘who came in and enriched the country’. He further said the system works best when beneficiaries prioritise American identity and national interest.
Vance says, “… On one hand, there is a lot of fraud in the H1-B system and on the other hand, there are people who came in and enriched the country, like my in-laws… One of the obligations of such citizens is that they must think about the country and not the country or group they came from… The system works only when everyone thinks of themselves as Americans…”
H-1B visas are used by a large number of Indian professionals to live and work in the US. The Trump administration has intensified its crackdown on immigration, both legal and illegal, imposing new and stringent restrictions on visas such as H-1B.
Describing abuse of the H-1B program as a national security threat, Trump last year signed a proclamation imposing a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas, a move that caused widespread panic, confusion and concern among Indian professionals.
The statement said that more than 80% of recipients of H-1B visas are Indian or Chinese nationals, with priority given to younger workers.
Listing examples of how H-1Bs have “disadvantaged” American workers, it said the visa program has prevented more than 10,000 US physicians from accessing residency programs by facilitating the arrival of more than 5,000 foreign-born doctors.
It further said that more than 16,000 Microsoft employees were displaced following the approval of more than 9,000 H-1B visas in 2025. It added that FedEx’s utilisation of the H-1B resulted in the shuttering of more than 100 facilities across the United States.
Disney laid off 250 employees in 2015, only to replace them with foreign workers brought in via the H-1B visa.
In 2014, Southern California Edison fired 540 workers. Their replacements were brought in from two Indian outsourcing firms that utilised the H-1B visa program.
From December 15 last year, the State Department has also begun an enhanced screening and vetting of H-1B and its dependent H-4 visas, checking the social media profiles of the applicants.
(With inputs from agencies)
