Washington | US President Donald Trump has said he likes both sides of the argument on the H-1B foreign guest workers' visa, noting that the country needs "very competent" and "great" people which is possible through this visa programme.
Trump also said that he has also used the H-1B visa programme.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
"I like both sides of the argument, but I also like very competent people coming into our country, even if that involves them training and helping other people who may not have the qualifications they do. But I don't want to stop -- and I'm not just talking about engineers, I'm talking about people at all levels," Trump said on Tuesday.
He made these remarks while talking to reporters at the White House during a joint news conference with Oracle CTO Larry Ellison, Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, and Open AI CEO Sam Altman.
The president was responding to a question on the ongoing debate on H-1B visas within his support base.
Indians are the main beneficiaries of the H-1B visas, which bring in the best of the talent and brains from across the world. Highly skilled professionals from India walk away with the overwhelming number of H-1B visas - which is Congressional mandated 65,0000 every year and another 20,000 for those who received higher education from the US.
While his close confidants like Elon Musk, the Tesla owner, support H-1B visas as they bring in qualified tech professionals, many of his supporters oppose it arguing that it takes away jobs from Americans.
"We want competent people coming into our country. And H-1B, I know the programme very well. I use the programme. Maitre d', wine experts, even waiters, high-quality waiters -- you've got to get the best people. People like Larry, he needs engineers, Masa also needs... they need engineers like nobody's ever needed them," Trump said.
"So, we have to have quality people coming in. Now by doing that, we're expanding businesses and that takes care of everybody. So I'm sort of on both sides of the argument, but what I really do feel is that we have to let really competent people, great people, come into our country. And we do that through the H-1B programme," Trump said.
Since December, the debate on foreign guest workers visas for highly skilled professionals, the H-1B, has intensified which has literally created divisions in both the Democratic and the Republican parties.
Such a backlash initially came from the supporters of Trump who argued that this is eating away at the jobs of Americans. Both Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy immediately weighed in and supported the H-1B visas.
However, influential Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders asserted that the two close confidants of Trump are wrong.
The debate appeared to originate from a suggestion last month from Sriram Krishnan, Trump's pick for White House policy adviser on artificial intelligence, that Musk examines removing caps on green cards for skilled immigrants.
San Francisco | As President Donald Trump cracks down on immigrants in the US illegally, some families are wondering if it is safe to send their children to school.
In many districts, educators have sought to reassure immigrant parents that schools are safe places for their kids, despite the president's campaign pledge to carry out mass deportations.
But fears intensified for some when the Trump administration announced Tuesday it would allow federal immigration agencies to make arrests at schools, churches and hospitals, ending a decades-old policy.
“Oh, dear God! I can't imagine why they would do that,” said Carmen, an immigrant from Mexico, after hearing that the Trump administration had rescinded the policy against arrests in “sensitive locations.”
She plans to take her two grandchildren, ages 6 and 4, to their school Wednesday in the San Francisco Bay Area unless she hears from school officials it is not safe.
“What has helped calm my nerves is knowing that the school stands with us and promised to inform us if it's not safe at school,” said Carmen, who spoke on condition that only her first name be used, out of fear she could be targeted by immigration officials.
Immigrants across the country have been anxious about Trump's pledge to deport millions of people. While fears of raids did not come to pass on the administration's first day, rapid changes on immigration policy have left many confused and uncertain about their future.
At a time when many migrant families — even those in the country legally — are assessing whether and how to go about in public, many school systems are watching for effects on student attendance. Several schools said they were fielding calls from worried parents about rumours that immigration agents would try to enter schools, but it was too early to tell whether large numbers of families are keeping their children home.
Missing school can deprive students of more than learning. For students from low-income families, including many immigrants, schools are a primary way to access food, mental health services and other support.
Tuesday's move to clear the way for arrests at schools reverses guidance that restricted two federal agencies — Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — from carrying out enforcement in sensitive locations. In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said: "Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America's schools and churches to avoid arrest.”
Daniela Anello, who heads D.C. Bilingual Public Charter School in the nation's capital, said she was shocked by the announcement.
“It's horrific,” Anello said. “There's no such thing as hiding anyone. It doesn't happen, hasn't happened. ... It's ridiculous.”
An estimated 733,000 school-aged children are in the U.S. illegally, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Many more have U.S. citizenship but have parents who are in the country illegally.
Schools work to reassure parents
Education officials in some states and districts have vowed to stand up for immigrant students, including their right to a public education. In California, for one, officials have offered guidance to schools on state law limiting local participation in immigration enforcement.
A resolution passed by Chicago Public Schools' Board of Education in November said schools would not assist ICE in enforcing immigration law. Agents would not be allowed into schools without a criminal warrant, it said. And New York City principals last month were reminded by the district of policies including one against collecting information on a student's immigration status.
That's not the case everywhere. Many districts have not offered any reassurances for immigrant families.
Educators at Georgia Fugees Academy Charter School have learned even students and families in the country legally are intimidated by Trump's wide-ranging proposals to deport millions of immigrants and roll back non-citizens' rights.
“They're not even at risk of deportation and they're still scared,” Chief Operating Officer Luma Mufleh said. Officials at the small Atlanta charter school focused on serving refugees and immigrants expected so many students to miss school the day after Trump took office that educators accelerated the school's exam schedule so students wouldn't miss important tests.
Asked on Tuesday for attendance data, school officials did not feel comfortable sharing it. “We don't want our school to be targeted,“ Mufleh said.
The new policy on immigration enforcement at schools likely will prompt some immigrant parents who fear deportation to keep their children home, even if they face little risk, said Michael Lukens, executive director for the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights. He said he believes it's part of the administration's goal to make life so untenable that immigrants eventually leave the United States on their own.
Some parents see school as one of the last safe places
For Iris Gonzalez in Boston, schools seem like just about the only safe place for her to go as someone in the country illegally. She's had children in Boston schools for nearly a decade and she doesn't expect anyone there to bother her or her daughters for proof they're here legally. So her children will keep going to school. “Education is important,” she said in Spanish.
Gonzalez, who came to the US from Guatemala illegally 14 years ago, does worry about entering a courthouse or driving, even though she has a license. “What if they stop me?” she wonders.
“I don't sleep,” she said. “There's a lot of uncertainty about how to look for work, whether to keep driving and what's going to change."
Carmen, the Mexican grandmother who now lives in California, said returning home is not an option for her family, which faced threats after her son-in-law was kidnapped two years from their home in Michoacan state, an area overrun with drug trafficking gangs.
Her family arrived two years ago under former President Joe Biden's program allowing asylum-seekers to enter the US and then apply for permission to stay. Following his inauguration Monday, Trump promptly shut down the CBP One app that processed these and other arrivals and has promised to “end asylum” during his presidency.
Carmen has had several hearings on her asylum request, which has not yet been granted.
“My biggest fear is that we don't have anywhere to go back to," she said. "It's about saving our lives. And protecting our children.”
