US President Donald Trump’s recent comments on what many thought could be a softened stance on the H-1B visa may have another layer to them, according to treasury secretary Scott Bessent. He said that the policy aims to allow skilled foreign experts to come to the US and train American workers instead of replacing them.
This comes after Trump defended skilled immigrant workers during an interview with Fox News, where he said that America needs to bring in more skilled people from across the world. During the same interview, the US president said that Americans do not have “certain talents” and added that “people have to learn”.
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Scott Bessent’s clarification
Trump’s comments were being viewed as a softening of his administration’s hardline approach to immigration in the US. However, Bessent has now clarified America’s position.
In an interview with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade, Bessent said the US president’s new stance on H-1B visas has more to do with “knowledge transfer”, suggesting that they want skilled foreign workers to come in, train Americans and then return to their home countries rather than directly replacing residents who lack the required skills.
He said, “I think the president's vision here is to bring in overseas workers who have the skills for three, five, seven years to train the US workers. Then they can go home, and the US workers will fully take over.”
{{/usCountry}}He said, “I think the president's vision here is to bring in overseas workers who have the skills for three, five, seven years to train the US workers. Then they can go home, and the US workers will fully take over.”
{{/usCountry}}Responding to concerns about the need for foreign workers to have some jobs when Americans can, he said, “An American can't have that job, not yet. Because we haven't built ships in the US for years, we haven't built semiconductors, so you know that this idea of overseas partners coming in, teaching American workers, then returning home, that's a home run”.
What did Trump say?
Earlier, the US president said America cannot place people who have been unemployed for a long time into technical jobs in manufacturing and defence without proper training.
When asked whether H-1B visa restrictions would not be a major priority for his administration, Trump said the US needs skilled workers from other countries. “We also do have to bring talent into the country,” Trump said.
When asked if America already has enough talent, Trump replied: "No, you don't. No, you don't... No, you don't have... You don't have certain talents and you have to... People have to learn."