On September 19, local time, U.S. President Trump signed an executive order to substantially reform the H-1B visa program, requiring applicants to pay an annual fee of $100,000, otherwise they will not be allowed to enter.
The new rules will raise the cost of enterprises paying for H-1B applicants to $100,000 a year, ensuring that the introduced foreign workers are “truly highly skilled and irreplaceable.”
H-1B visa allows American companies to hire foreign professional and technical personnel to fill professional job vacancies in China where it is difficult to find suitable talents. It is mainly used by American technology companies to attract highly educated and skilled immigrants. H-1B visas have long been controversial in the United States. Supporters believe that it is crucial for the United States to "pinch the top" to attract outstanding talents from all over the world, maintain the vitality of the U.S. economy, and ensure that U.S. scientific and technological innovation leads the world, especially in the era of artificial intelligence, which is even more related to U.S. defense and national security. Opponents criticize American technology companies for abusing H-1B visas for a long time, introducing cheap foreign labor, and hindering the employment and promotion of native American talents including ethnic minorities. (CCTV reporter Xu Tao)