Washington: In a move that is seen as a blow to Indian software professionals, US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order preventing federal agencies from contracting or subcontracting foreign workers — mainly those on H-1B visa — from hiring.
‘Today I am signing an executive order to ensure that the federal government lives by a very simple rule, higher American,’ Trump told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House before signing the order against hiring H1B visa holders for federal contracts.
He added: ‘As we speak, we’re finalising the H-1B regulation so that no American workers be replaced ever again. H-1B should be used for top highly paid talent to create American jobs, not as inexpensive labour programmes and destroy American job’.
The move came over a month after the Trump administration on 23 June suspended the H-1B visas along with other types of foreign work visas until the end of 2020 to protect American workers in a crucial election year. The new restrictions took effect from 24 June.
The H1B visa, most sought-after among Indian IT professionals, is a non-immigrant visa that allows US 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.