Ingraham pressed Trump on whether prioritizing American workers and raising wages meant curtailing or deprioritizing H-1B visas, arguing that flooding the market with foreign labor depresses wages and displaces U.S. talent.
She stated: "We have plenty of talented people here" and suggested H-1B should not be a major focus for the administration.
Trump pushed back, defending the need for some H-1B visas to bring in skilled workers for advanced roles. He argued that the U.S. lacks "certain talents" in areas like high-tech manufacturing and that you can't simply take people "off the unemployment line" and train them quickly for complex jobs (e.g., building missiles or EV batteries).
He cited examples like foreign companies investing billions in U.S. factories but needing to bring in experts temporarily to set up operations and train Americans.
Trump acknowledged disagreeing with Ingraham on the issue but insisted skilled immigration is sometimes necessary for economic growth, while noting his administration had already imposed a steep $100,000 application fee on H-1B petitions in September 2025 to curb abuse and raise costs for employers.
#h1bvisa #lauraingraham #trump
