The H-1B visa is one of the most sought-after visas by Indian IT professionals and the Donald Trump administration wants to select the "very best" among the applicants under the H-1B visas, Homeland Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers and technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from China and India.
"No qualified hardworking American should be forced to train their H-1B replacement, and then let go," Nielsen said. "The number of H-1B petitions routinely exceeds the statutory cap, and among that pool of petitions, we should endeavour to select the very best for the privilege of coming to the United States for work," she said.
Nielsen added that the Department of Homeland Security has taken measures to ensure seeks to ensure that American workers are not pushed aside due to the availability of cheap foreign labour. The department will also ensure foreign workers aren't exploited.
"All employers should be required to certify that they have made a good faith effort to recruit US workers before filing an H-1B petition, and have offered jobs to qualified and available American applicants," Nielsen said.
"We have to make sure the H-1B programme does not harm American workers who may be as qualified and willing to do jobs that foreign workers are imported to fill," she said.
