E-Paper
Indians are 'new oil, coal, or gas', says immigration expert amid H-1B row; Laura Ingraham reacts
Trump's $100,000 fee hike for H-1B visas has ignited controversy, with industry experts claiming it could harm the US economy.
US President Donald Trump's $100,000 fees hike for specific H-1B visa hires has sparked debate among various industry representatives, with many expressing their views on its effects on the US economy.
Xavier Fernandes, the founder of the immigration agency Y-Axis, stated that the policy might be more detrimental to the US than beneficial.
In an interview with CBS News programme on India’s IT sector and H-1B visas, Fernandes said, "It’s definitely America’s loss. Many CEOs are from Hyderabad. It’s just a breeding ground of tech.”
According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, over 70% of H-1B visa holders in 2024 were from India.
“Indians are the new oil, coal, or gas, it’s brain power to run the modern day industries,” Fernandes stated.
When questioned about the availability of comparable talent within the United States, he responded, “That kind of talent you can’t manufacture. It’s not a thing that you can get it locally.”
His comments elicited criticism from Fox News host Laura Ingraham, who asserted that such hiring practices constituted “industrial-scale fraud” and led to job and wage reductions for American workers. The statement comes despite the fact that Trump himself admitted that “You also do have to bring in talent.”
In an interview with Trump, Ingraham contended that the US possesses “plenty of talented” people here," the President responded, "“No you don’t… You don’t have certain talents, and people have to learn.”
The immigration expert further mentioned that the new policy might impact innovation in the US, stating that “Many Indians will stay back and build in India."
H1-B visa fee pay criteria
The newly implemented fee is applicable in certain situations:
• Employers who recruit employees from abroad via consular processing are obligated to pay $100,000
• Organizations employing foreign nationals who are already present in the US on a different visa are exempt from this fee
Fall in H-1B visa applications
Meanwhile, H-1B applications have reduced following the implementation of the new fee.
Recent statistics from the US Department of Labor state a significant reduction in H-1B applications from major tech companies after the fee was enforced.
Firms like Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft, which are among the top sponsors of H-1B visas, experienced a decline in certified applications compared to the previous year.
At both Meta and Google, the number of filings dropped by approximately 50%.
In contrast, Nvidia was the only company to report an increase, with applications rising from 369 in the first quarter of 2025 to 434 in the first quarter of 2026.
Jensen Huang, the company's CEO, has stated that Nvidia will persist in hiring H-1B workers despite the increased expenses.
