The United States needs to bring in talent from around the world as it does not have “certain talents” within the country, said President Donald Trump on Tuesday, in comments that appeared to defend the H-1B visa programme.

During an interview to Fox News, Trump was asked whether the H-1B visa would be a priority for his administration, considering the need to raise wages for American workers. The host said that if the government wanted to increase wages for American citizens, it could not “flood the country with tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands [of foreign workers]”.

To this, Trump said: “I agree, but you also do have to bring in talent.”

When the host responded that the country has “plenty of talent”, the US president said: “No, you don’t, no you don’t. You don’t have certain talents. And people have to learn.”

Trump continued: “You can’t take people off an unemployment line, and say, ‘I’m going to put you into a factory, we are going to make missiles’.”

H-1B visas allow US companies to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. Over the past few years, Indians have constituted the majority of H-1B visa holders. Indians comprised 72.3% of all H-1B visas issued by the US in the financial year 2022-’23.

Washington has repeatedly said that it was planning changes to the H-1B visa programme, saying that it was “terrible”.

During his first term, Trump had tightened rules on H-1B visas, citing “abuse” and “economic strain”.

On September 19, Trump signed an order requiring companies to pay $100,000 for each H-1B worker visa. However, two days after the rule came into effect, his administration clarified that the fee applies only to new applicants and does not affect current holders.

Also read: How H-1B visas are caught in the political divide over US immigration

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