Overview
- U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent outlined a temporary, skills‑transfer model, saying foreign specialists would spend three to seven years training Americans before returning home.
- Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the U.S. will keep using visa programs, including H‑1B, with stricter vetting to protect system integrity.
- The Labor Department’s Project Firewall has opened roughly 175 H‑1B investigations, with preliminary findings of underpayment, fake worksites, termination‑notice failures, and more than $15 million in potential back wages.
- A proclamation effective for certain petitions filed after September 21 imposes a $100,000 surcharge on new H‑1B applications, a move drawing industry and academic pushback.
- Reporting highlights political tension over high‑skilled immigration, with President Trump defending targeted talent imports and Vice President J.D. Vance warning about broader immigration levels.