A day after US President Donald Trump defended the H-1B visa programme, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent explained that the administration’s goal is to bring in skilled foreign workers to train Americans and then return home once the job is done. As surprising as the statement may sound, it has left many people confused about the US government’s actual intentions regarding work visas.
Just recently, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that the country will not stop bringing in H-1B visa holders. However, Bessent’s remarks seem to have added to the uncertainty.
‘Train Americans, then go home’
“The President’s vision is to bring in overseas workers who have the skills for jobs that have left the US. They will train American workers for three, five, or seven years, and then go back home. The US workers will then take over completely,” Bessent said in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday.
Bessent was responding to Trump’s latest comments on the H-1B visa programme, where the President said that America still needs to bring in talent from around the world because it lacks certain specialised skills.
Bessent added that for decades, the US had outsourced high-precision manufacturing jobs. “We can’t just snap our fingers and expect people to know how to build ships or make semiconductors overnight.“ He added, “We want to bring those industries back home.”
Calling the plan a “home run,” Bessent said that overseas experts could come to the US, teach American workers, and then return. “We haven’t built ships or semiconductors here for years, that’s why we need their help for now,” he added.
Trump’s U-turn on H-1B visa holders
Earlier in a Fox News interview, Trump took a sudden U-turn on his H-1B visa stance, saying that America needs to bring in global talent, especially for specialised industries. When host Laura Ingraham suggested that the US already has enough skilled workers, Trump disagreed. “No, you don’t. You can’t take people off an unemployment line and say, ‘I’m going to put you in a factory to make missiles.’ It doesn’t work that way,” he said.
Trump also gave an example of a case in Georgia, where skilled workers from South Korea were reportedly forced to leave despite being experts in battery manufacturing. “Making batteries is complicated and dangerous. You can’t just have anyone do it,” Trump said. “You can’t invest $10 billion in a new plant and expect people who haven’t worked in years to suddenly start making missiles or batteries.”
Homeland Security on speeding up visas
Following Trump’s comments, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also spoke about the administration’s approach to immigration and skilled visa programmes. She said that the government has sped up the visa and green card process, and that more people are becoming US citizens now than ever before. However, she added that only the right people should be allowed in.
“We’re going to keep using our visa programmes,” Noem said on Fox News. “We just want to make sure they have integrity — that the people coming here are doing it for the right reasons, not linked to terrorist groups or organisations that hate America.”
Crackdown on H-1B abuse continues
Despite the softer tone, Trump’s administration has been running a major crackdown on H-1B visa abuse, which allows US companies, especially tech firms, to employ skilled foreign workers. In September, Trump imposed $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applications. Last week, the US Department of Labour (DOL) said it had launched 175 investigations into potential visa misuse, including fake work sites, underpaid employees, and “benching” workers without pay.