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President Trump will sign an executive order on Tuesday that aims to overhaul the H1-B visa program used by tech companies to bring high-skilled workers to the U.S.
Trump will travel to a manufacturing plant in Kenosha, Wis., to sign the order, which the administration says will make it more difficult for U.S. companies to look overseas for workers to fill middle-income jobs.
At a background briefing with reporters, senior administration officials described the current H1-B visa program as a lottery system that indiscriminately hands out work visas to contracting firms that recruit low-skilled, low-wage workers to replace working-class domestic laborers.
They say a new system is needed to ensure that the program returns to its original purpose of bringing in high-skilled, high-paid workers to fill more specialized or technical roles.
The Trump administration says it believes the order will be supported by labor unions, although it will likely be met with opposition from the tech sector, which has used the H1-B program to boost its workforce.
Tech leaders and advocacy groups have long called for expanding the program, saying its necessary for hard-to-fill and highly specialized software and engineering positions.
The administration argued Monday that the program has become an end-around to flood the market with cheaper, unspecialized foreign laborers willing to work for below-market wages.
The current system awards visas randomly with no regard to skill or wage, the official said. This will make it tougher to undercut American workers because they will no longer be replaced by workers making beneath the market wage.
http://thehill.com/homenews/adminis...verhaul-visa-program-for-high-skilled-workers
There was previous threads on H1-B visas, but since changes to the program is now a reality, I guess it's time for a new thread.