Steve Cortes, former senior spokesman and strategist for the 2016 and 2020 Trump campaigns and current head of the League of American Workers, has offered a solution in the debate among conservatives on the H-1B visa program which he believes can “satisfy” those on both sides of the issue.
The H-1B program, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, is to “help employers who cannot otherwise obtain needed business skills and abilities from the U.S. workforce by authorizing the temporary employment of qualified individuals who are not otherwise authorized to work in the United States.”
Despite its intent, Cortes points out in a commentary piece published in RealClearPolitics that the program has been abused to instead “serve the interests of C-suite American executives and Asian foreign nationals, while undermining the pay and job stability of American citizens.”
While some conservatives have called for the program to be ended completely, others including billionaire Elon Musk and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy have defended the program if it were to be reformed.
On Tuesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Cortes offered a solution he believes will “satisfy” conservatives who find themselves on opposite sides of the argument surrounding H-1B visas.
Cortes said the program can still remain in place for its intent to import only the most capable candidates to serve in highly-needed jobs by changing the minimum fees and salaries businesses must pay to import workers to serve in such roles.
“Here is the solution that works for America and I hope can satisfy both camps…Rather than trying to micromanage this program that’s been so abused by big business, instead make sure that any business who wants to bring a foreign worker into the United States has to pay a significantly high fee and I mean that in two ways,” Cortes explained.
“Number one, they have to pay an actual fee, a tax of $50,000 at least per worker and I stipulate half of that should go to the national government while half of it should go to the state in which the business resides. In addition to that, and this is really key, businesses should pay a very high minimum salary, and that salary should be at least $250,000. That is more than three times the median household income of the United States, which right now, according to the Census Bureau, is $80,000 per household. It should be mandated by law that the number always has to be three times or greater higher than the median income,” Cortes added.
Cortes said the costly fees businesses would have to pay to import workers under the H-1B program would ensure that the visas are only being used to import necessary foreign workers and not “undercut American workers.”
“If we were to do that…then we would know that businesses are only bringing over that surgeon that is so badly needed in this country or a computer programmer who’s truly astounding in his or her capabilities and is going to do amazing things for the United States while they’re here. If we were to establish those kinds of minimums, then I believe that this program actually makes sense. It doesn’t undercut American workers. It’s not going to be by definition a massive program simply because there aren’t that many exceptional people in the world who are worth paying that kind of money for,” Cortes explained.
“This is the solution that I believe will satisfy both sides, the business wing as well as the populace nationals,” Cortes added.
Cortes said his plan would naturally cut down on the number of visas being issued while still “leaving the door open” for “truly exceptional people.”
“I am essentially saying get rid of the program, and I’m fine with that, obviously, because I think that we need to prioritize American workers and American businesses and protect them from predatory overseas practices, even when they are developed and when they unfold in concept with American executives. What I am also saying is to give a nod to the business community and a nod to the immigrants who truly are exceptional, who can truly add to this country. Let’s leave the door open to them to come,” Cortes said.
Cortes also noted the importance of vetting foreign workers on H-1B visas to ensure that they share the values of Americans.
“It’s not just that they bring the right skills…they have to love this country. As best we can determine, we need to use that filter as well because I would remind people, for example, the 9/11 hijackers were largely very credentialed. They had engineering degrees. Some of them had advanced degrees in Europe, so it’s not just a matter of your skills. It’s your skills plus a love of this country and if we enact those filters I’m confident that we can still welcome exceptional people while protecting American workers, which always has to be our first and foremost goal,” Cortes said.
Watch the full interview:
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Image “Steve Cortes” by Steve Cortes.
