Trump Wants H-1B Workers Hired Initially, Replaced By “My People” Later

WASHINGTON, DC- The White House defended US President Donald Trump’s views on the H-1B visas, saying that he has a “nuanced and common-sense opinion on this issue.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump would allow the importing of foreign workers “just at the beginning,” but these workers would ultimately be replaced by American workers.

She added, “He wants to see if foreign companies are investing trillions of dollars in the United States of America, and they’re bringing foreign workers with them to create very niche things like batteries. He wants to see that at the beginning, to get those manufacturing facilities and those factories up and running, but ultimately, the President always wants to see American workers in those jobs.”

Leavitt noted that there has been “a lot of misunderstanding of the President’s position” on the issue. She said Trump has conveyed to foreign companies that if they’re investing in the US, they “better be hiring my people.”

“You can’t come in, open up a massive computer chip factory for billions and billions of dollars like it’s being done in Arizona and think you’re going to hire people often from unemployment line to run it. They’re going to have to bring thousands of people with them. I am going to welcome those people,” Trump said during a speech at the US-Saudi Investment Forum in Washington.

He further noted, “You are coming here, and you find that we don’t have people that did that before. We are allowing you… if you have to bring people to get those plants open, we want you to do that. We want those people to teach our people – how to make computer chips and how to make other things.” Trump acknowledged that he may “take a little heat” from his conservative base about his position on bringing in foreign workers.

The US President’s recent comments have sparked an intense debate, in MAGA circles. (IANS)