Donald Trump signs executive order against hiring H1B visa holders

In a huge blow to Indian IT professionals eyeing the US job market President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order preventing federal agencies from contracting or subcontracting foreign workers mainly those on H1B visa from hiringThe move came over a month after the Trump administration in June 23 suspended the H1B visas along with other types of foreign work visas until the end of 2020 to protect American workers in a crucial election year The new restrictions took effect from June 24The H1B visa most soughtafter among Indian IT professionals is a nonimmigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertiseThe technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and ChinaToday I am signing an executive order to ensure that the federal government lives by a very simple rule higher American Trump told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House before signing the order against hiring H1B visa holders for federal contractsTrump told reporters that his administration will not tolerate firing of hardworking Americans in the pursuit of cheap foreign labourAs we speak were finalising the H1B regulation so that no American workers be replaced ever again H1B should be used for top highly paid talent to create American jobs not as inexpensive labour programmes and destroy American job said the president who was surrounded across the Cabinet Room table with individuals campaigning against job outsourcingProminent among them were Sara Blackwell founder and president of Floridabased Protect US Workers organisation Jonathan Hicks a software engineer in the Tennessee Valley Authority and Kevin Lynn founder of Pennsylvaniabased US Tech WorkersThe executive order requires all federal agencies to complete an internal audit and assess whether they are in compliance with the requirement that only US citizens and nationals are appointed to the competitive service As a result the Department of Labour will also finalise guidelines to prevent H1B employers from moving H1B workers to other employers job sites to displace Americans workersTrumps order follows the federallyowned Tennessee Valley Authoritys TVA announcement that it will outsource 20 per cent of its technology jobs to companies based in foreign countriesTVAs action could cause more than 200 highlyskilled American tech workers in Tennessee to lose their jobs to lowwage foreign workers hired on temporary work visas the president saidOutsourcing hundreds of workers is especially detrimental in the middle of a pandemic which has already cost millions of Americans their jobs the White House said in a statementGiven the current climate of rampant intellectual property theft outsourcing IT jobs that involve sensitive information could pose a national security risk it saidAccording to the White House Trumps actions will help combat employers misuse of H1B visas which were never intended to replace qualified American workers with lowcost foreign labourOne of the participants present during the signing of the order told the president that as many as 70 per cent of the H1B visa goes to people from IndiaTrump said he favours a meritbased immigration system that brings in highskilled people that creates jobs inside the US and not take jobs of AmericansWe are going to be discussing very shortly an immigration bill which covers this and many other things It will be a very very comprehensive bill Its a word that some people love and some people hate But itd be very comprehensive only in the sense that it covered just about everything It will be based on merit It will cover territory that nobody would have thought could have ever been agreed to Trump saidThe bill he said will be signed after the conventionImmigration will be very meritbased but itll be itll be great for the worker And itll be great for people coming into our country but coming into our country legally and loving the country and wanting to help our country as opposed to people coming in And they dont like our country Trump saidKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever