Trump 00K H1B Visa Plan and Its Impact on Tech

By Sack Head Shaun | SHR Media Staff

When President Trump announced a $100,000 “skin in the game” fee for companies bringing in foreign workers on H-1B visas, Big Tech melted down. The political class split right down the middle. Some called it bold. Others called it bad for business.

Before anyone starts yelling about it, we should ask a simple question. Are these workers even needed in the first place?

What the H-1B Really Is

The H-1B visa is designed for specialty jobs that require a college degree or higher. That means software engineers, scientists, architects, and other high skill professions. It does not cover blue collar jobs like truck driving, construction, or farming. Those are handled under separate visa programs called H-2A and H-2B.

The United States allows 85,000 new H-1B visas every year. In 2024, immigration officials approved about 399,000 total petitions, but most were renewals, not new hires. Nearly two thirds of those jobs were in computer and tech fields.

The $100K “Skin in the Game” Rule

Trump’s 2025 plan adds a $100,000 one time fee to each new H-1B visa. The goal is to make companies think before importing talent. The message is simple. If you want to bring in foreign labor, you better believe they are worth it.

The White House called it common sense. Big business called it dangerous. The lawsuits started almost immediately. Still, the idea stuck because it forces companies to make a choice they have been avoiding for years.

Are We Really Short on Talent?

Let’s look at the numbers.

In October 2025, there were about 474,000 open tech jobs across the country. At the same time, there were 213,000 unemployed Americans with computer or math degrees. That is roughly two openings for every person who could fill one.

That sounds like a shortage, but most companies do not want to train new workers or take a chance on anyone without experience. They want plug and play employees who are already trained, already cheap, and already dependent on the company for their visa.

The American Supply Line

We are not running out of smart people. U.S. colleges award about 2 million bachelor’s degrees a year, and about 800,000 of those are in science and engineering. On top of that, most H-1B visa holders already have advanced degrees, meaning businesses are skipping over new graduates in favor of foreign workers who already have more credentials.

We are not short on talent. We are short on companies willing to train it.

What Companies Pay Now vs Under Trump’s Plan

Before Trump’s proposal, bringing in an H-1B worker cost a company around $10,000 to $20,000 including paperwork, fees, and legal work.

With the $100,000 addition, that cost jumps to about $110,000 up front.

Here is how the math shakes out:

Hiring Option	Upfront Cost	Average Annual Pay	3 Year Total	Flexibility*
Hire an American Grad	$0	$132,000	$396,000	High
Train a Worker	$15,000	$132,000	$411,000	High
H-1B (old rules)	$10,000	$100,000	$310,000	Medium
H-1B (Trump plan)	$110,000	$100,000	$410,000	Low

*Flexibility refers to how freely the company or worker can end or change employment.
American workers can leave or move jobs easily. H-1B visa holders are tied to their sponsoring employer and risk losing legal status if they quit.

Under this setup, training an American becomes cheaper than importing one. The old math that made foreign labor more attractive disappears.

Why Companies Loved H-1B Before

Companies leaned on the H-1B system for three reasons.

Wages: H-1B workers are often paid 15 to 40 percent less than Americans in the same job.
Control: Their visa depends on their employer, so they cannot easily quit or negotiate.
Volume: Outsourcing giants like Infosys, TCS, and Cognizant flood the system with visa applications to stockpile cheap labor.

That is how it became a discount workforce program disguised as “innovation.”

What the $100K Fee Changes

The new fee turns that system upside down. Now it costs about the same, or even less, to hire and train an American than to bring in a foreign worker.

The big tech giants will still pay the fee for specialized roles like AI and research. Smaller companies and outsourcers will not. That is the point. The program stops being a shortcut and starts being a serious decision.

For once, putting America first is not just patriotic, it is good business.

The “Needed” Argument

The U.S. economy will need about 317,000 new IT workers each year for the next decade. We already produce hundreds of thousands of graduates who can fill those jobs. So why do companies still claim there is a shortage?

Because it is easier to say there is a shortage than to admit they do not want to train people.

Trump’s $100,000 toll forces the truth into the open. If these workers are truly essential, companies will pay the fee. If not, they will hire Americans, finally.

The Bottom Line

This is not about hating immigrants. It is about common sense.

For decades, the H-1B program has been a quiet subsidy for corporations that did not want to invest in American workers. The new rule does not end that system, but it puts a price on it, and that is enough to change behavior.

If companies really believe in free markets and fair competition, then it is time to prove it. Stop outsourcing opportunity and start building it here.