President Donald Trump told Fox News in an interview that aired Tuesday night the United States doesn’t have talented workers to fill jobs needed domestically, defending the H1-B skilled worker visa program.
Pressed by Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on whether his administration would reduce H1-B visas over concerns it would depress wages for American workers, Trump told Ingraham, “I agree — but you also do have to bring in talent.”
When the Fox host responded, “We have plenty of talented people here,” Trump replied, “No, you don’t, no you don’t … you don’t have certain talents, and people have to learn. You can’t take people off an unemployment line and say, ‘I’m going to put you into a factory where we’re going to make missiles.’”
The president pointed to the September ICE raid of a Georgia Hyundai facility, which saw authorities arrest and deport hundreds of South Korean contractors over their immigration status, as evidence of the country’s need for skilled foreign workers.
“In Georgia, they raided because they wanted illegal immigrants out — they had people from South Korea that made batteries all their life,” Trump said. “You know, making batteries is very complicated. It’s not an easy thing. Very dangerous, a lot of explosions, a lot of problems. They had like 500 or 600 people, early stages, to make batteries and to teach people how to do it. Well, they wanted them to get out of the country. You’re going to need that, Laura.”
The president’s comments come just two weeks after he told reporters traveling with him to South Korea that he was “very much opposed” to the raid carried out by federal officers as part of his administration’s immigration crackdown at US worksites.
Trump signed an executive action in September to impose a $100,000 application fee for H-1B visas. The move marked the latest in a series of efforts from the administration to crack down on immigration and place sharp new limits on the types of foreigners allowed into the country.
The H-1B visa is a work visa that’s valid for three years and can be renewed for another three years. Economists have argued the program allows US companies to maintain competitiveness and grow their business, creating more jobs in the US.
In the first part of the Fox News interview that aired Monday, Trump took a swipe at the nation of France while defending the enrollment of Chinese students at universities in the US.
“I actually think it’s good to have outside countries,” the president said when asked about enrolling Chinese nationals at American universities.
“They’re not the French. They’re the Chinese. They spy on us. They steal our intellectual property,” Ingraham responded.
“Do you think the French are better?” Trump said. Ingraham replied, “Yeah,” to which the president said, “I’m not so sure.”
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