Trump’s $100,000 H-1B fee row: Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi warns US could lose top tech talent

United States Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi warned that the higher cost of hiring foreign skilled workers could prompt companies to relocate certain operations outside the US. File/REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque(REUTERS)Indian American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi has warned that the proposed $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas could hurt US competitiveness by encouraging companies to move specialised work overseas instead of bringing skilled professionals into the country.Speaking during an episode of the Spill the Tea interview series, the Illinois Democrat said businesses would ultimately have to choose between bringing talent into the US and shifting jobs abroad.‘You can either onshore the talent or offshore the work’“You can either onshore the talent or offshore the work,” Krishnamoorthi said.“These companies are not going to just sit by and not do the work,” he added, warning that the higher cost of hiring foreign skilled workers could prompt companies to relocate certain operations outside the US.Krishnamoorthi said the policy could damage America's ability to attract highly skilled professionals from around the world.“Our competitiveness depends on attracting the very best talent on earth. Whether it's people from India or China or Sweden. It doesn't matter,” he said.‘$100,000 tax’ on specialised workersThe congressman described the fee as effectively a tax on highly skilled workers who fill specialised technical positions across the US economy.“And so when you put this, what I, I call it a tax, $100,000 tax on this group of people who, by the way, fill some of the most kind of exquisite technical roles in our economy,” Krishnamoorthi said.He argued that many H-1B workers have gone on to create companies and jobs in the US, making it counterproductive to discourage them from coming or remaining in the country.“You're basically pushing these people away in the first instance, and then probably getting people here to rethink whether they should stay,” he said.Warning of more jobs moving overseasKrishnamoorthi said the impact could extend beyond immigration, potentially affecting where US companies choose to perform their work.“And now, you know, that kind of attitude means that I fear that increasingly companies here are gonna offshore the work,” he said.He called for reforms to the legal immigration system and urged policymakers to avoid measures that could weaken the US economy.“We've got to fix our legal immigration system and we've got to stop, you know, these own goals, so to speak, on H1B and, you know, other legal pathways that people have used to enrich our economy,” he said.Indian professionals could be heavily affectedThe discussion also focused on the potential impact on Indian Americans. The interviewer noted that Indian nationals received 71% of all H-1B visas in fiscal year 2024 and asked Krishnamoorthi how the proposed fee could affect the community and US competitiveness.The congressman's comments come amid broader debate over the H-1B programme and the role of skilled foreign workers in the US technology sector. Krishnamoorthi argued that policies making it more difficult or expensive for companies to recruit such workers could ultimately benefit competing economies.Krishnamoorthi accuses Trump of ‘normalization of hate’Krishnamoorthi also criticised President Donald Trump over what he described as a growing hostility toward minority communities.Asked what was driving increased anti-Asian and anti-Indian sentiment, he replied: “It rhymes with Donald Trump.”He accused Trump of playing on fears surrounding people perceived as being outside the mainstream and blaming them for economic problems.“And I think that that has now metastasized over 10 years into almost like a normalization of hate,” Krishnamoorthi said.Stay