Rebel MAGA lawmaker proposes bill to end H-1B visas as jobs crisis rattles Americans
The TOI correspondent from Washington: Tapping into the MAGA base’s disaffection with the job market, rebellious Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene (MTG), who is already on a warpath with President Trump on various issues, announced on Thursday she will introduce legislation to aggressively phase out the H-1B visa program, which she brands a "corrupt" tool for "mass replacement" of American workers.
The proposal, unveiled in a viral X post viewed nearly 2 million times, targets Big Tech, AI firms, hospitals, and other industries accused of abusing the system to undercut US “talent” with “cheaper” foreign labor, mainly from India, whose nationals get around 70 percent of H-1B visas. Greene's bill would eliminate the program entirely, stripping its pathway to citizenship and forcing visa holders to return home upon expiration.
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A narrow exemption allows 10,000 annual visas for medical professionals like doctors and nurses—vital amid US healthcare shortages—but even this cap phases out over 10 years to foster a "domestic pipeline" of American physicians. The measure also bars non-citizen medical students from Medicare-funded residencies, citing last year's imbalance where over 9,000 US graduates went unmatched while 5,000 foreign-born doctors secured spots.
A staunch "America First" proponent, Greene argues the H-1B—intended for temporary, high-skill gaps—has devolved into a decades-long scam displacing innovative Americans in tech, engineering, manufacturing, and beyond, a sketchy allegation lacking factual basis despite stray cases of fraud. "Big Tech, AI giants, hospitals, and industries across the board have abused the H-1B system to cut out our own people," she declared in a video statement, emphasizing faith in US ingenuity: "Americans are the most talented people in the world... If we want the next generation to have the American Dream, we must stop replacing them and start investing in them." Several studies and surveys challenge such assertions, showing shortcoming in the US education system and a chronic shortage of American workers in specialty professions.
Support is coalescing among MAGA hardliners echoing Greene's nativist fervor. Far-right activist Laura Loomer, an MTG critic and Trump loyalist, has also long railed against H-1Bs as "indentured servitude" that depresses wages, aligning with Greene's narrative despite their mutual antagonism. Steve Bannon, the ex-Trump strategist, blasted the program on his War Room podcast, calling for it to be "zeroed-out" to halt "foreign worker replacements." Bipartisan reformers like Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley and Dick Durbin, Democrat from Illinois, have long called for H-1B/L-1 visa reform for fraud prevention, though not full elimination.
The Trump administration has been walking a tightrope on the issue, with the President appearing to defend the program earlier this week, insisting the US lacks "certain talents" for tech and defense roles, and later sending out his surrogates to finesse the issue after a MAGA uproar, with administration officials suggesting Trump wants foreign workers to train Americans and then return to their home country. The President has previously been all-in for H-1B visas.
But such is the MAGA fervor that officials and lawmakers who had previously supported the H-1B program are cautiously reeling back. In a notable pivot this week, Florida Congressman Byron Donald, mocked by MAGA as H1Byron, told a conservative host Benny Johnson he'd "love to see the program go away completely." Florida governor Ron Desantis recently directed the state's public universities to halt using H-1B hires for “non-elite roles” such as assistant athletic coaches, media relations specialists, public policy professors, psychologists, and graphic designers—positions he argued could and should be filled by qualified Americans or Florida residents
Despite such turnaround, chances of MTG’s proposal succeeding are considered slim given her track record of 70 dud bills in the House, leading critics to call her a "stunt legislator," who thrives on headlines. In recent weeks, she has gone on a rampage against Trump, challenging his claim that prices are dropping, demanding release of the Epstein files, and complaining the President is spending too much time on foreign affairs at the expense of domestic priorities.
The proposal, unveiled in a viral X post viewed nearly 2 million times, targets Big Tech, AI firms, hospitals, and other industries accused of abusing the system to undercut US “talent” with “cheaper” foreign labor, mainly from India, whose nationals get around 70 percent of H-1B visas. Greene's bill would eliminate the program entirely, stripping its pathway to citizenship and forcing visa holders to return home upon expiration.
A narrow exemption allows 10,000 annual visas for medical professionals like doctors and nurses—vital amid US healthcare shortages—but even this cap phases out over 10 years to foster a "domestic pipeline" of American physicians. The measure also bars non-citizen medical students from Medicare-funded residencies, citing last year's imbalance where over 9,000 US graduates went unmatched while 5,000 foreign-born doctors secured spots.
A staunch "America First" proponent, Greene argues the H-1B—intended for temporary, high-skill gaps—has devolved into a decades-long scam displacing innovative Americans in tech, engineering, manufacturing, and beyond, a sketchy allegation lacking factual basis despite stray cases of fraud. "Big Tech, AI giants, hospitals, and industries across the board have abused the H-1B system to cut out our own people," she declared in a video statement, emphasizing faith in US ingenuity: "Americans are the most talented people in the world... If we want the next generation to have the American Dream, we must stop replacing them and start investing in them." Several studies and surveys challenge such assertions, showing shortcoming in the US education system and a chronic shortage of American workers in specialty professions.
Support is coalescing among MAGA hardliners echoing Greene's nativist fervor. Far-right activist Laura Loomer, an MTG critic and Trump loyalist, has also long railed against H-1Bs as "indentured servitude" that depresses wages, aligning with Greene's narrative despite their mutual antagonism. Steve Bannon, the ex-Trump strategist, blasted the program on his War Room podcast, calling for it to be "zeroed-out" to halt "foreign worker replacements." Bipartisan reformers like Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley and Dick Durbin, Democrat from Illinois, have long called for H-1B/L-1 visa reform for fraud prevention, though not full elimination.
The Trump administration has been walking a tightrope on the issue, with the President appearing to defend the program earlier this week, insisting the US lacks "certain talents" for tech and defense roles, and later sending out his surrogates to finesse the issue after a MAGA uproar, with administration officials suggesting Trump wants foreign workers to train Americans and then return to their home country. The President has previously been all-in for H-1B visas.
But such is the MAGA fervor that officials and lawmakers who had previously supported the H-1B program are cautiously reeling back. In a notable pivot this week, Florida Congressman Byron Donald, mocked by MAGA as H1Byron, told a conservative host Benny Johnson he'd "love to see the program go away completely." Florida governor Ron Desantis recently directed the state's public universities to halt using H-1B hires for “non-elite roles” such as assistant athletic coaches, media relations specialists, public policy professors, psychologists, and graphic designers—positions he argued could and should be filled by qualified Americans or Florida residents
Despite such turnaround, chances of MTG’s proposal succeeding are considered slim given her track record of 70 dud bills in the House, leading critics to call her a "stunt legislator," who thrives on headlines. In recent weeks, she has gone on a rampage against Trump, challenging his claim that prices are dropping, demanding release of the Epstein files, and complaining the President is spending too much time on foreign affairs at the expense of domestic priorities.
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