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Memes flood social media after Donald Trump imposes $100,000 fee on H-1B visas
Memes flooded X as Trump signed a proclamation imposing a $100,000 yearly fee on H-1B visa petitions.
United States President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation that imposes a steep $100,000 application fee per year on companies seeking to hire foreign workers under the H-1B visa programme. The decision has sparked widespread debate and a flurry of memes on social media platforms, particularly on X, where users reacted with disbelief and humour.
(Also read: Donald Trump’s $100,000 fee on H-1B visas sparks worries about ‘Indians in IT sector’)
Check out some hilarious memes here:
A White House statement explained, “The Proclamation restricts entry for aliens as nonimmigrants to perform services in specialty occupations in the H-1B programme unless their petition is accompanied by a $100,000 payment.”
Background of the H-1B programme
The H-1B visa programme was designed to allow United States companies to bring in temporary foreign workers with specialised skills. It has been especially important for the technology sector, enabling firms to recruit highly skilled professionals to meet industry demands.
However, the proclamation argued that the programme has strayed from its intended purpose. “The H-1B nonimmigrant visa programme was created to bring temporary workers into the United States to perform additive, high-skilled functions, but it has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labour,” read a section of the order.
Targeting IT firms
The proclamation placed particular emphasis on the technology industry, noting that information technology companies have been central to the alleged misuse of the system. It stated, “Information technology (IT) firms in particular have prominently manipulated the H-1B system, significantly harming American workers in computer-related fields. The share of IT workers in the H-1B programme grew from 32 percent in Fiscal Year (FY) 2003 to an average of over 65 percent in the last 5 fiscal years.”
Restriction with a price tag
The order makes it clear that entry into the United States under the H-1B category will not be permitted without the hefty payment. It concluded, “The entry into the United States of aliens as nonimmigrants to perform services in a specialty occupation is restricted… except for those aliens whose petitions are accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $100,000.”
