The controversial U.S Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene courts controversy with a daring proposal after former President Donald Trump posted on social media his threat to increase tariffs on Indian goods and services. Instead of increasing tariffs, Greene had asked Trump to stop issuing H-1B work visas to Indian nationals, as the visa is replacing American jobs.
The H-1B non-immigrant visa program permits U.S. employers to host foreign workers in the form of temporary hiring of specialised foreign professionals in specialised fields like information technology, engineering, and medicine. The largest portion of H-1B recipients are Indians, who comprise 72 per cent of the allotted slots, followed by Chinese nationals, who take the second share of 12 per cent. Based on 2023 statistics, a considerable percentage of H-1B grantees are STEM professionals, with a little over 65 per cent in the computer sector, and their annual wages averaged around 118,000 dollars, that are almost twice the U.S. national average. Such highly skilled labour can be said to be important to the survival of the U.S. tech industry, particularly Silicon Valley.
Support for H-1B is a long-standing schism among Trump supporters. Whereas billionaire businessman Elon Musk has favoured the visa program but asserted, in the meantime, at least, that reforms are needed, former Trump strategist Steve Bannon recently proposed the abolition of the visa program and that devoted to students. Trump himself has alternately criticized and defended H-1B workers, and has in other cases done so based on larger immigration policy debates.
The above remarks by Greene also demonstrate her general disapproval of the present Republican Party course. Previously a high-profile representative of the MAGA movement, she has criticised the GOP as having forsaken its “America First” policies as well as paying insufficient attention to the average American worker. Her remarks arrive at a time of increased tension on U.S. foreign and economic policy, including wars on aid to Ukraine and trade to countries such as India, which are also major economies.
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