In recent weeks, the H-1B visa program has faced an onslaught of criticism. Intended to encourage skilled immigration to the United States, H-1B visas allow companies to hire temporary foreign workers in specialized occupations. Today, most H1-B visa holders hail from India or China, and the biggest beneficiaries of the H-1B visa program are Big Tech companies like Amazon, Google and Microsoft.
The debate over the H-1B program was sparked last month when President-elect Donald Trump appointed Sriram Krishnan, an Indian-born entrepreneur who had expressed support for skilled immigration, as his senior policy advisor on artificial intelligence. Laura Loomer, a far-right activist who has described herself as “pro-white nationalism,” responded by denouncing the appointment — and skilled immigration — as directly in opposition to an “America First” agenda. This exchange started a debate on H1-Bs with other far-right figures like Steve Bannon denouncing H-1Bs and those in the tech industry, such as Elon Musk, defending it.
It is easy to understand why the far-right, who are strongly opposed to any immigration, would oppose programs like H-1B. However, self-described “democratic socialist” Bernie Sanders also chimed in with a statement and a Fox News op-ed criticizing the H1-B program, asserting that Musk was wrong to support it. Sanders made two core arguments. First, he argued that H-1Bs are exploitative, as H-1B visa holders can lose their visa if they lose their job, forcing H-1B visa holders to work in lower-paying jobs or unfair working conditions. Second, he argued tech companies use the H-1B visa program to replace American workers with cheaper foreign labor. His arguments seem compelling and are important to consider in full.
To support the idea that H-1B visa holders are exploited, Sanders mentioned three H-1B visa occupations that he claimed are paid as little as $58,000, $70,000 and $80,000 a year respectively. Though there certainly could be cases of exploitation, the median annual salary for H-1B applicants in 2022 was $118,000. This means most H-1B visa holders are paid well — in 2021, the median H-1B worker made more than 90% of Americans. Furthermore, before they are able to recruit these workers, H-1B employers must attest they will pay H-1B workers competitive wages typical for their role. Though reforms such as protecting the right of H-1B holders to join unions or making it easier for H-1B holders to switch jobs without being deported should certainly be considered, there simply isn’t sufficient evidence of widespread exploitation that would necessitate ending the program.
To aid his argument that the H-1B visa program hurts American workers, Sanders pointed out that in 2023, the top 30 corporations using H1-Bs laid off 85,000 American workers while hiring over 34,000 H-1B guest workers. However, this is not actually evidence that companies are using H-1B workers to replace Americans, as companies might lay off American workers in one role or department while hiring H-1B guest workers in another. In fact, a recent paper published by the Richmond Federal Reserve found the H-1B program did not lead to the displacement of American college-educated workers.
This finding is not an outlier. A National Bureau of Economic Research paper found that when the H-1B visas cap decreased from 195,000 to 65,000, employment of similar Americans did not rise, showing companies don’t typically replace Americans with H-1B guest workers. In fact, some research has even shown American employment rise as companies hire more H-1B workers. This is not to say there aren’t specific companies or subindustries where H-1B workers may be displacing native ones — however, this doesn’t appear to be the case overall.
Though this debate is about H-1B visas, it is part of a larger conversation around the impact of skilled immigration and the question of whether immigration creates jobs or takes them away from Americans. Therefore, it is important to note that the beneficial effects of immigration as a whole are even clearer than with H-1Bs. Immigrants do not take jobs from Americans or reduce wages at the national level. As I’ve written before in the Daily, immigrants have played an important role in founding some of the largest American companies and startups, made key scientific discoveries and supported millions of American jobs.
I’m not arguing that immigration is unambiguously good. The economics of immigration — in particular the winners and losers — are not yet settled and more research should be conducted to determine the distributional impacts of increasing immigration on different groups. Nevertheless, immigration makes America as a whole more prosperous. In the years to come, we should continue to support immigration, which makes our economy stronger, rather than demonize immigrants who work hard to make America a better place.
