Dive Brief:
- President-elect Donald Trump says he is asking his transition team to direct the Department of Labor to "investigate all abuses of visa programs that undercut the American worker."
- Trump addressed visas, which include H-1B visas, and several other topics during a video message he delivered Monday night to update the American public on the White House transition and his plans for the first 100 days of his presidency.
- In addition to the visa program, Trump said he also plans to "ask the Department of Defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff to develop a comprehensive plan to protect America's vital infrastructure from cyberattacks and all other form of attacks."
Dive Insight:
Trump is a vocal opponent of the current H-1B visa program and wants to make it more difficult for tech companies to replace U.S. workers with foreign workers. Earlier this year Trump shared his contempt for the H-1B visa program.
"I remain totally committed to eliminating rampant, widespread H-1B abuse and ending outrageous practices such as those that occurred at Disney in Florida when Americans were forced to train their foreign replacements," he said in March. "I will end forever the use of the H-1B as a cheap labor program, and institute an absolute requirement to hire American workers first for every visa and immigration program. No exceptions."
Tech companies have pushed for an expansion of the H-1B program, claiming that a shortage of tech talent in the U.S. makes it necessary to recruit workers from overseas. But not everyone is in favor of the program.
Last summer, Southern California Edison workers complained that more than 500 of them were laid off so the company could bring in cheaper H-1B workers from other countries. Former Disney workers say the same thing happened to them when 250 employees were laid off in late 2014 and replaced by workers from an outsourcing company in India.
