FIIDS backs tighter H-1B scrutiny, warns against hurting US innovation

FIIDS welcomed stricter US scrutiny of H-1B visa applications after Donald Trump's latest orders. It said enforcement must target abuse without shutting out specialised talent needed for American innovation.The Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS) has welcomed tighter scrutiny of H-1B visa applications in the United States, but said the process should not come at the cost of American innovation. The advocacy group said jobs that need highly specialised skills cannot always be filled immediately from the available domestic labour pool.The statement came hours after US President Donald Trump tightened oversight of the H-1B visa programme, saying it had been widely misused by some employers, including IT outsourcing firms. The White House said the move is aimed at improving the programme's integrity and stopping employers from using H-1B visas to undercut or displace US workers.In a statement on Friday, FIIDS Chief of Policy and Strategy Khanderao Kand said, "FIIDS appreciates and understands the Administration's intent to protect America's national and economic interests, safeguard American workers, and address abuse of the H-1B program. Those are legitimate objectives." He said the US had become the world's leading innovation economy because of its ability to attract exceptional talent.Kand said that in areas such as artificial intelligence, cyber security, advanced semiconductors, cloud infrastructure and specialised data engineering, employers can face "real and highly specific skills gaps" that cannot always be filled at once from the domestic workforce. He said the US would be strongest when it protects workers from exploitation and discrimination, rewards employers that follow the law, invests seriously in American talent, and remains able to attract people whose ideas, enterprises and expertise create the next generation of American jobs. He added, "The answer is not to pit American workers against high-skilled immigrants. The answer is a transparent, enforceable, merit-based system: rigorous anti-fraud enforcement; meaningful consequences for bad actors; strong wage and recruitment safeguards; substantial investment in domestic education, training, and reskilling; and a lawful, predictable avenue for employers to hire global talent when a documented specialized need remains." Kand also said FIIDS wanted an evidence-based and workable implementation focused on demonstrable misconduct rather than broad assumptions based only on a company's total headcount or visa usage.Separately, the White House said Trump had extended by a year the requirement of a USD 100,000 payment for certain H-1B visa petitions. In a presidential proclamation issued on Friday, Trump said the 2025 measure had led to a 92 per cent fall in H-1B registrations by large IT outsourcing firms. In another order, he directed US agencies to consider recent or planned lay-offs of similarly placed American workers when reviewing H-1B applications. Indians remain the largest group of beneficiaries under the US H-1B visa programme, as the debate over tighter checks and access to global talent continues. With PTI Inputs- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Sep 19, 2026 10:50 IST