Vocabulary

 

 
 
 
 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

 

Trump Supporter: Thank you, Mr. President!”

Donald Trump, US-President Elect: “We need confident people. We need smart people coming into our country. We need a lot of people coming in. We’re going to have jobs like we’ve never had before. This is a wonderful day.”

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The MAGA camp is like siblings right now, fighting for their parents’ approval on what the H1B visa for skilled migrants should be. One side says it hurts American workers; the other side says it will preserve American excellence.

And yesterday, the parent weighed in. I’m talking about Donald Trump, the president-elect. He hosted a New Year’s party at his home in Florida. The reporters asked him about his position on the H1B visa. Listen to the reply:

Donald Trump, US-President Elect: “We have the most competent people in our country. We need competant people. We need spark people coming into our country. We need a lot of people coming in. We’re going to have jobs like we’ve never had before.”

This is the second time Trump is clarifying. He has said twice now that he supports the H1B visa program.

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So why is there still confusion? Because of two reasons:

Trump’s Far-Right supporters do not like H1B. They want the program to be scrapped.

They’ve also unleashed a racist campaign against Indian-Americans — because Indians are the biggest H1B beneficiaries. That is one reason.

Secondly, Trump himself was against H1B in his first term as president. He drastically reduced visa approvals. By 2018, the rejection rate had shot up to 24%. 24% of applications were rejected.

And this was no surprise because Trump campaigned on reducing foreign labor. Listen to his remarks from 2016. This is what Donald Trump said in 2016:

“I will end forever the use of the H1B as a cheap labor program and institute an absolute requirement to hire American workers first for every visa and immigration program. No exceptions.”

But now he says he’s always supported it. You can see why it’s confusing.

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But the question is, what brought about this change? Why has he shifted his position?

It’s because of the tech community.

Most H1B visas are used by big tech companies, and they supported Trump’s campaign this time.

Elon Musk, for example, loves the program. His companies are among the top users of H1B. So Donald Trump is leaning towards his new tech supporters and saying what they would like to hear.

For countries like India, this is a positive signal.

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But there are two factors to note:

The voter sentiment: Immigration and jobs were key issues in this election. Americans chose Donald Trump because he promised to create more jobs, not for migrants, but for Americans.

And the polls support this. Only 26% of Americans want to hire more foreign workers in high-skill jobs. 60% say make do with what we have, meaning hire Americans, not foreign workers.

How long will Trump ignore this sentiment? That is the first fact to note.

Secondly, Elon Musk has slightly backpedaled on his position. He recently said the H1B system is broken. He said it’s in need of urgent reform, like increasing the minimum salary requirement or asking employers to pay annual fees for using the program.

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Basically, make H1B visas more expensive. And what would that achieve?

It would discourage firms from using the visa liberally. Instead, they would only use it when absolutely necessary.

Let me explain this: Tech firms don’t use H1B out of the goodness of their heart. They use it because H1B labor is cheaper. Around 60% of these visa holders are paid less than the average wage. And let’s say the salary threshold is raised or the annual fee is hiked.

Then it would erase this wage gap — meaning it would not make sense to use the H1B anymore if you’re only doing it to save costs.

That’s not just bad news for Indians, but also bad news for these companies because they will have to pay more money.

Is this what Donald Trump is trying to do, or will he continue with the way things are? Well, that’s the question he’s not answered yet.

Basically, make H1B visas more expensive. And what would that achieve?

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If you think about it, this is a story of injustice all around. The far-right hates having too many Indians in America. For them, it’s not about skills or wages; it’s about race.

Meanwhile, tech firms love having H1B workers around, but for them, it’s all about paying less, about exploiting the non-American workers. Neither side is fighting the good fight here.

It’s just injustice of two different kinds.

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Questions

 

Web Developer. The Republicans, (Far) Right, Conservatives, Reds are all united and unanimous in their believes, ideals, values and agendas. True or false?

Business Intelligence Analyst. On New Year’s Day, did Donald Trump say he believed in meritocracy, loyalty, or race and nationality?

Ethical Hacker (Tester). Does the Far-Right support having highly educated and skilled immigrants come to the US? Why are they against the H-1B visa program?

Mobile App Developer. Trump is a very consistent, unwavering person. Is this correct or incorrect? What did Trump have to say about the H-1B visa program in 2016?

Game Developer. Why did Donald Trump change his mind? Did he decide to champion meritocracy?

Cybersecurity Analyst. How does the public (Americans) feel about allowing more skilled immigrants to the United States? Is there a divide in opinion?

Cloud Engineer. What is Elon Musk’s view of the H1B visa program? Has Elon Musk remained resolute and steadfast about the H1B program?

Security Architect. Have there been any modifications, changes or tweaks to the H1B visa program?

Blockchain Developer. What is the summary or explanation of this entire episode?
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Software Developer. Are there lots of immigrant or foreign workers in your city, region or country? If yes, who are they? Where do they come from? What do they do?

Data Engineer, Scientist. How do locals, governments and business feel about foreign workers?

Machine Learning Engineer. Do many people from your nation work abroad? Who are they and what do they do abroad?

AI Researcher. What might happen in the future?

Quantum Computing Scientist. What could or should people, businesses and governments do?