White House spokesperson explains directive was aimed at new applicants, not current visa holders
Tech companies encourage workers to return in visa fee uncertainty.
Trump’s order on visa fees sparks H-1B holder panic.
US lawmakers debate H-1B visa programme and its effects on US workforce.
NEW YORK: Panic, anger, and confusion prevailed as Indian and Chinese H-1B workers were left high and dry and had to cancel travel plans and return to the US as President Donald Trump introduced new visa charges, part of his sweeping immigration crackdown.
Technology companies and banks were swift to send urgent messages to staff, instructing them to come back within a deadline of 12:01am. Eastern Time Sunday (4:01 am GMT), and to refrain from traveling out of the country.
A White House official Saturday made it clear that the order was for new applicants only and not individuals holding current visas or those renewing their existing visas, which clarified some of the confusion surrounding who exactly would be hit by the order.
But Trump’s announcement one day earlier had already triggered alarm bells in Silicon Valley.
Rush back to US
In fear that they will be barred from reentry once the new policy goes into effect, some Indian nationals at San Francisco airport report shortening their vacations.
“It is a situation where we had to make the choice between family and remaining here,” said an engineer at a major technology firm whose wife had been on an Emirates flight from San Francisco to Dubai that was due to leave at 5:05pm local time (12:05am GMT) on Friday.
‘Fast and furious’: H-1B workers overseas scramble to US as Trump order causes consternation, confusion
The plane was delayed for over three hours after a number of Indian passengers who got word of the order or memos from their companies requested to be let off, said the anonymous source. At least five passengers were let off eventually, said the engineer.
A video of the incident was circulating online, and a few individuals were seen getting out of the plane. Reuters was unable to confirm whether the video was true.
The wife of the engineer, who is an H-1B visa holder like him, decided to travel to India to tend to her ailing mother. “It’s very sad. We have established a life here,” he said in an interview with Reuters.
On the popular Chinese social media platform Rednote, individuals on H-1B visas posted about their experience of having to scramble back to the US – in a few instances, just hours after arriving in China or another nation.
A few compared the panic they experienced to their experience during the COVID-19 outbreak, when they flew back to the US in a hurry before the travel ban had been implemented.
“My emotions are disappointment, sadness, and frustration,” wrote one woman in a post with a user name “Emily’s Life in NY.”
The woman explained that she had boarded a United Airlines flight from New York to Paris, which began taxing, but after some negotiation with the airline, the captain consented to turn the plane back toward the gate to allow her off the flight.
Not feeling what she told Reuters was “insignificant” and “shaken,” she cancelled the scheduled trip to France, leaving behind plans with friends, some of whom were flying in from China, after she was sent a letter by her company’s lawyers requesting employees working abroad to return to the US.
Firms such as Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Goldman Sachs were among those that sent out urgent emails to their employees with travel advisories.
Trump’s U-turn on H-1B
Since entering office in January, Trump has launched a broad immigration crackdown, including efforts to cut back on some legal immigration.
This move to overhaul the H-1B visa program is his administration’s most visible attempt yet to redo temporary work visas and illustrates what critics have described as a protectionist agenda.
It is a U-turn from Trump’s previous position when he took the side of one-time friend and Tesla chief Elon Musk in an open battle for control of the use of the H-1B visa, declaring that he wholeheartedly supported the program for foreign computer workers despite some of his base having been against it.
Trump administration officials explain that the visa permits firms to keep wages down, and limiting it creates more jobs for American tech employees. The program’s supporters contend that it brings in high-skilled workers critical to filling talent shortages and keeping companies competitive.
Within the hours after Trump’s declaration, social media erupted with discussion regarding the scope of the order and outrage at what many perceived as an action that diminished America’s appeal as a desirable place to work.
One Rednote user wrote anonymously that their existence was that of an “H-1B slave.” The individual ended a vacation in Tokyo to hurry back to the US, calling it “a real-life ‘Fast & Furious’ return to the US,” a Hollywood blockbuster franchise title referring to a movie series about street racing.
Trump’s H-1B proclamation stated: “Certain employers, employing practices now broadly accepted within industries, have exploited the H-1B statute and its implementing regulations to artificially drive down wages, creating an unfair labour market for citizens of the United States.”
The Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, had the discretion to exempt petitioners from the fee, the proclamation stated.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated on Friday that firms would be required to pay $100,000 annually for H-1B worker visas.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt issued a statement on the social media platform X on Saturday stating this was not an annual fee but a one-time fee for each petition.
A Nvidia engineer, who is a 10-year resident in the US, said at the San Francisco airport that he was vacationing in Japan with his wife and infant when he rushed to change his returning flight upon hearing the news.
“It feels surreal,” he said. “Everything is changing in an instant.”
