We're going to keep using our visa programmes: US Department of Homeland Security on H-1B visas

New York/Washington, Nov 13 (PTI) A day after US President Donald Trump defended H-1B visas, Secretary of Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said America is going to keep using the visa programmes and noted that more foreign-born people are becoming naturalised citizens under the Trump administration.

"We're going to keep using our visa programmes. We're just going to make sure that they have integrity, that we're actually doing the vetting of the individuals who come into this country, that they want to be here for the right reasons, that they're not supporters of terrorists and organisations that hate America,” Noem said in an interview with Fox News.

Noem was asked what the administration’s position is on the H-1B visas in the wake of Trump’s latest remarks that America has to bring in talent since it does not have "certain talents”.

“And that's what I think is so remarkable… under the Trump administration, we've sped up our process and added integrity to the visa programmes, to Green Cards, to all of that. But also, more people are becoming naturalised under this administration than ever before. More people are becoming citizens because we're not just streamlining and building some processes back into our immigration policies, we're also making sure that these individuals that are coming into our country and get that privilege, that they actually are here for the right reasons,” she said.

Noem added that the Joe Biden administration let “thousands of terrorists” into this country. “They opened the Southern border. They abused our asylum programmes, abused our protective programmes and visa programmes, and we fixed all of it.

  "It's remarkable what President Trump has done, and it's because he's a great leader, he’s a visionary, and this man is going to go down as a legend in history as our greatest president ever,” she said.

Trump defended the H-1B visa programme, saying America has to bring in talent from around the world.  “I agree but you also do have to bring in talent,” Trump had said in an interview to Laura Ingraham on Fox News.

Trump was responding to a question on whether the H-1B visa issue will not be a big priority for his administration, and if one wants to raise wages for American workers, the country cannot be flooded with hundreds of thousands of foreign workers.

When Ingraham noted that "we have plenty of talent”, Trump said, “No, you don’t, no you don’t. You don’t have certain talents. And people have to learn. You can't take people off an unemployment line, and say, ‘I'm going to put you into a factory, we're going to make missiles’,” Trump had said.

“In Georgia, they raided because they wanted illegal immigrants. They had people from South Korea that made batteries all their lives. You know, making batteries (is) very complicated. It's not an easy thing, and very dangerous. A lot of explosions, lot of problems. They had, like 500-600 people, early stages to make batteries and to teach people how to do it. Well, they wanted them to get out of the country. You're going to need that…I mean, I know you and I disagree on this. You can't just say a country is coming in, going to invest USD 10 billion to build a plant and going to take people off an unemployment line who haven't worked in five years, and they're going to start making missiles. It doesn't work that way.” The Trump administration has launched a massive crackdown to check abuse in the H-1B visa programme, which is used by companies, particularly technology companies, to employ foreign workers in the US. Indian professionals, including technology workers and physicians, are among the largest cohort of H-1B visa holders.

In September this year, Trump issued a Proclamation titled ‘Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers’ as an important initial step to reform the H-1B nonimmigrant visa programme.  Under the Proclamation, certain H-1B petitions filed after September 21, 2025, must be accompanied by an additional USD 100,000 payment as a condition of eligibility.  Last week, the Trump administration launched about 175 investigations into H-1B visa abuse, including lapses such as low wages, work sites that didn't exist and the practice of "benching" employees.

    “As part of our mission to protect American Jobs, we’ve launched 175 investigations into H-1B abuse,” the US Department of Labour had said in a post on X.

It added that under the leadership of President Donald Trump and Labour Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the agency will continue taking action to put American workers first.

Chavez-DeRemer said in a post on X that the Labour Department “is using every resource at our disposal to put a stop to H-1B abuse and protect American Jobs. Under the leadership of @POTUS, we’ll continue to invest in our workforce and ensure high-skilled job opportunities go to American Workers FIRST!” PTI  YAS RD RD RD