A study released by the US body called the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) indicated that employers pay H-1B workers about 16% less than US workers regardless of their same levels of education, occupation, age, gender and location.
Alluding to the “large wage gap” between the two parties, the report author George J Borjas suggested that it was a clear indication of why US employers’ hiring of H-1B workers may not particularly be hindered despite the imposition of the hefty $100,000 fee on new H-1B applications.
About the ‘Trump economist’ aka George J Borjas
George Borjas is a Cuba-born Harvard University economist, and is often described as “America’s leading immigration economist.” His research has laid the ground for US President Donald Trump’s sweeping policy changes, especially those surrounding H-1B work visas. However, not long, he stepped down from his post as a top economist on the Council of Economic Advisers.
While Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller has become the face of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, Borjas has played an equally important role in the swift changes while keeping a low profile.
One of his most prominent contributions the past year was his work on Trump’s overhaul of the H-1B visa system and the subsequent addition of the $100,000 fee, as per a Washington Post report released in January 2026.
‘Wage gap’ between H-1B and US workers: US study
In the study titled “The H-1B Wage Gap, Visa Fees, and Employer Demand,” Borjas outlined that payroll savings suggested that US firms may be willing to pay a one-time fee to obtain an H-1B visa.
“Depending on the level of excess demand, the unobserved productivity gains or costs from an H-1B hire, and the rate of job separations, the revenue-maximizing fee is between $118,000 and $264,000, has little or no impact on the number of H-1Bs hired, and generates between $6.2 and $22.4 billion in revenues,” he wrote.
As established in the study’s Abstract, Borjas’ in-depth analysis merged data from the Labor Condition Application where firms attest that H-1B hires do not adversely impact natives, the I-129 Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker where firms request to hire a specific person, and the American Community Surveys. Moreover, Borjas looked at more than 340,000 H-1B hires made by companies between 2021 and 2024.
Further sharing his views with Newsweek, Borjas expressed his shock over the number of firms using the H-1B program to hire skilled foreign workers. “I was stunned by how many firms use the program, and by how most of these firms hire only one, two, or three H-1Bs during the four-year sample period. And these firms also have large wage gaps,” he stated.
NBER believes that H-1B positions capped at 85,000 may still be filled each year, generating billions of dollars for the federal government, despite the imposition of the $100,000 fee. Additionally, Borjas claimed therein that even if the visa fee was to be imposed between $150,000 and $200,000, it may not significantly affect the number of H-1B hires.