Trouble for Indian techies? Trump’s latest White House pick may target H-1B regime

United States President-elect Donald Trump earlier this week appointed Stephen Miller as homeland security advisor to his incoming administration. Vice President-elect JD Vance confirmed his new role at the White House Monday (Nov 11), who will serve as the deputy chief of policy in the new government, inaugurating on January 20.

Described by Vance as a “fantastic pick”, Miller earlier served as a senior advisor during Trump’s first term and played a central role in policies restricting immigration, including the controversial family separation policy of 2018 and the Muslim travel ban.

Miller’s comeback has now sparked concerns among Indian techies, who majorly rely on the H-1B visa programme to land a job in the US. During the previous term, Miller introduced several measures that complicated the H-1B process, including additional documentation and more hurdles for US employers.

Thanks to Miller’s policies, visa approvals for high-skilled foreign workers faced unprecedented delays during that time, allegedly stemming from security and fraud concerns.

Miller and like-minded American conservatives oppose the H-1B programme due to concerns that this scheme leads to US worker displacement and wage suppression as foreign workers are often hired at cheaper rates. For the first time, Miller even tweaked the definition of “specialty occupation,” which led to a reduced number of jobs eligible for H-1B workers. In one viral clip, Miller can be heard saying that those hired through the programme are not even “high-skilled.”

If such restrictions are introduced again, US companies may see lesser profit in hiring talent from India or other nations.

More conservatives like Vivek Ramaswamy and Indian-origin podcaster Rahul Menon have called for reforms in the immigration system. Menon recently said, “Reduce PERM processing time, recapture unused Green Cards, EADs for approved I-140 petitions, stop counting derivative family members, age-out protection, and auto-renew H-1B if no change to the original petition.”

(With inputs from agencies)