Donald Trump announced this weekend the establishment of a tax of $ 100,000 for any new H-1B work visa request. A spectacular measure, consistent with its line America Firstwhich sparked a wind of panic in Silicon Valley and Wall Street.
Amazon, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs or Jpmorgan Chase immediately advised their employees holding H-1B visas to stay on American territory and avoid any international trip, fearing administrative blockages. These internal instructions, revealed by the press, reflect the extent of the uncertainty generated by this announcement. For thousands of foreign engineers, programmers and financial analysts, but also for their families, the White House decision has made the fear of losing their legal status and their professional future in the United States resurface in a few hours.
Reading American political news cannot be reduced to announcement effects. This measure, as brutal as it is in its human, economic and diplomatic consequences, is part of a broader logic of migratory hardening and is not without foundation in the interior political debate.
The H-1B visa, created in 1990 to overcome the shortage of talent in the tech trades, is today presented as an indispensable innovation engine in the United States. But behind the window, the device reveals an unbalanced mechanics, where structural dependence and contradictory political interests weaken one of the key levers of American technological power.
In 2023, more than 450,000 applications were deposited for only 85,000 places available. Result: an absurd lottery system, where highly qualified engineers find themselves failed by chance, while companies of staffing multiply the records to maximize their chances.
A dependence that no one assumes
The reality is that the Silicon Valley lives under the infusion of the H-1B. Almost 60 % of doctoral students in artificial intelligence In the United States is foreign, and most emblematic CEOs of tech are immigrants or children of immigrants. But rather than assuming it as a clear strategic choice, Washington has a double discourse.
On the one hand, the tech giants alert on the upcoming shortage of several million engineers and developers. On the other, a populist base continues to wave the specter of the “immigrant who steals American employment”. Between these two forces, the H-1B remains trapped in political hypocrisy which undermines its credibility.
A program diverted from its vocation
Officially, the H-1B had to attract the best talents but in practice, a large part of the visas is captured by outsourcing companies, which use it as a tool ofwage arbitration.
Dependence on the employer, which “owns” the visa, also places the holders in a situation of extreme subordination : impossibility of easily changing employment, increased risk of abuse, and entrepreneurial blocking. The H-1B has created a skilled but captivated workforce, for the benefit of companies more than that of innovation.
Official communication: a clarification that masks the problem
Faced with the controversy triggered by the announcement of a new fresh scale, the White House tried to reassure. Karoline Leavitt, official spokesperson, said:
“To be clear:
- It is not an annual fee. This is a single payment applied only to the petition.
- Those who already have an H-1B visa and who are currently outside the country will not be billed $ 100,000 to return.
- This measure applies only to new visas, not to renewals or current holders. It will be implemented during the next lottery cycle. »»
A clarification which soothes the immediate controversy, but which does not settle anything on the bottom: quotas frozen for more than 30 years, dysfunctional lottery and embezzlement of the device by intermediaries.
The risk of American dropping
While the United States procrastinates, other countries are advancing. THE Canada Launched in 2023 a specific work permit for non-selected H-1B holders. L’Europe multiplies “talent visas” and in particular France and some countries offer much more favorable conditions for foreign founders.
The United States, it still has no Startup Visa. A paradox for the country that has built thanks to entrepreneurial immigration today deprives foreign creators of an adapted status, pushing some to found their business elsewhere.
An issue of sovereignty … instrumentalized
In terms of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and semiconductors, the United States knows that its advance is partly based on the contribution of foreign talents. But as long as the debate remains trapped between nationalist discourse and corporatist interests, the H-1B is neither reformed nor enlarged.
The alternative is clear:
- Rethink the system (Visa portability, quotas indexed to growth, creation of an entrepreneurial visa).
- Or continue to exploit a fixed system, which benefits large outsourcing companies and leaves workers in permanent precariousness.
The H-1B was to be a lever for innovation, it has become an instrument of salary arbitration and today with Donald Trump, a political battlefield.
