Trump signs executive order against hiring H1B visa holders for federal contracts

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order barring federal agencies from hiring H-1B visa holders and other foreign workers in place of US citizens or green card holders.

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Key-Points

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows USA companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China to keep costs in check.

The executive order has asked the federal agencies to stop replacing USA workers and green card holders with H-1B visa holders or other foreign workers.

The USA government under Trump leadership is moving towards a more conservative work visa regime under the America First policy. It has alleged Indian and Chinese IT companies of sending workers at very low cost, which hurt the prospects of skilled workers in the USA.

The immediate trigger was an announcement by the federally-owned Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) that it would outsource 20% of its technology jobs to foreign countries.

This action could result in loss of jobs for up to 200 highly-skilled American tech workers in Tennessee and could also lead to possible leaking of sensitive user data and theft of intellectual property, detrimental to national security.

The USA government has held that outsourcing of jobs should be avoided as far as possible because it is especially detrimental in the middle of a pandemic, which has already cost millions of Americans their jobs.