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From Fox News: Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., says H1-B visas are being “abused” in the U.S. and argues that many American workers are being forced to “train their replacements.”
Schmitt made the comments on Fox News Sunday with host Shannon Bream, cutting against a push for more migrant workers from Elon Musk.
“I think there’s an important, thoughtful debate that’s happening. But the context that we need to, I think, keep in mind here is that American workers have been left behind by this economy. Many factory jobs have been sent overseas,” Schmittt said.
“I think the abuses of the H-1B program have been evident, where you have sort of the sons and daughters of those factory workers who lost their jobs, got white collar jobs as accountants, and they’re, you know, training their replacements, the foreign workers who are undercutting their wages,” he continued.
“So I think the solution here President Trump has actually articulated in 2020 is to reform that system and, you know, get rid of the abuses, make it merit-based and make sure that we’re not undercutting wages and having, you know, Americans train their foreign replacements,” he added.
The interview comes after a week of bitter feuding over the H-1B visa program, in which Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy clashed heavily with many staunch Trump supporters.
During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump had accused American companies of using H-1B visas “for the explicit purpose of substituting for American workers at lower pay.”
However, in a phone call with the New York Post on Saturday, Trump called the H-1B visas a “great program,” and said, “I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them.”
Trump had also placed restrictions on the foreign worker visa program during his first term in office, but Joe Biden soon lifted those restrictions.
WATCH the interview with Schmitt below:
During his first presidential campaign, on March 3, 2016, Trump released the following statement:
“Megyn Kelly asked about highly-skilled immigration. The H-1B program is neither high-skilled nor immigration: these are temporary foreign workers, imported from abroad, for the explicit purpose of substituting for American workers at lower pay. I remain totally committed to eliminating rampant, widespread H-1B abuse and ending outrageous practices such as those that occurred at Disney in Florida when Americans were forced to train their foreign replacements. I will end forever the use of the H-1B as a cheap labor program, and institute an absolute requirement to hire American workers first for every visa and immigration program. No exceptions.”
During his first presidential campaign, Trump released the following statement with his position on the H-1B visa program: pic.twitter.com/47hajfFmA0
— DMLNewsApp (@DMLNewsApp) December 30, 2024
Eric Schmitt blasts ‘abuse’ of H-1B visa program, says Americans ‘shouldn’t train their foreign replacements’ https://t.co/jyBUdfKFaW
— Fox News (@FoxNews) December 29, 2024
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