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President Trump’s recent proclamation to remake the H-1B system was the kind of bold, country-first move his voters elected him to make. By imposing a $100,000 annual fee on new H-1B petitions and rolling out an expensive “gold card” pathway, the administration clearly signaled it will stop subsidizing cheap foreign labor at the expense of American paychecks. This is how you put American workers first — not by empty rhetoric but by forcing corporations to face the true cost of importing labor.
Unsurprisingly, the tech establishment erupted, calling the fee a “slap in the face” to an industry that’s grown accustomed to outsourcing wages and importing talent on the cheap. Big media and public radio outlets dutifully amplified Silicon Valley’s whining, but their outrage reflects whose side they really take — not the blue-collar factory worker, not the laid-off software tester, and certainly not the small-town American who wants a fair shot.
Make no mistake: giant firms like Amazon, Microsoft and Google have been the biggest beneficiaries of the old H-1B lottery system, sponsoring thousands of visas and using that pool to drive down labor costs. For decades those companies have profited from a system that undercuts American wages and funnels jobs offshore when it suits their bottom line, so their complaints ring hollow when workers bear the consequences.
Even some sensible critics admit the H-1B program had been exploited and needed repair, yet their preferred solution was never to keep the loopholes that let body shops and outsourcing firms treat migrants as replaceable, low-cost cogs. Conservatives who care about workers should welcome policies that force employers to choose Americans first or pay dearly for hiring foreign workers — that’s accountability, not weakness.
Of course the predictable legal challenges and howls about “market disruption” have already begun, with former immigration and policy officials warning the move could face court fights and complex fallout. That’s to be expected when you challenge a system rigged by corporate interests and defended by lawyers who profit from the status quo, but fear of litigation is not a reason to stand down from protecting American labor.
So to those on the right who are reflexively slamming Trump for upsetting Silicon Valley: remember who you’re supposed to be fighting for. If we let CEOs and foreign contractors wage a quiet war on wages and opportunity, we betray every factory floor, diner, and family paycheck in this country. Stand with the worker, demand enforcement of American-first hiring, and stop letting globalists dress up corporate greed as “innovation.”
The path forward is simple and patriotic — incentivize apprenticeships, stop rewarding offshoring with sweetheart contracts, and force companies to invest in American talent instead of importing cheaper alternatives. President Trump’s action is an invitation to rebuild an economy that serves citizens first, and conservatives who still care about work and dignity should rally to that cause rather than comforting the very elites who hollowed out our towns.
