PTC Web Desk: Days after US President Donald Trump defended the H-1B visa programme, Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene announced that she is introducing a Bill to gradually end the system. The move could have major implications for Indian professionals, who make up more than 70% of H-1B visa holders and often use the programme as a route to US citizenship through the Green Card process.

Greene accused American companies, especially Big Tech, AI firms, hospitals and other industries, of misusing the H-1B programme to replace American workers. In a post on X on Thursday, she said the programme had been “abused” and harmed US citizens.

According to Greene, her proposed Bill aims to completely eliminate the H-1B programme and prioritise American workers in fields such as technology, healthcare, engineering and manufacturing. She stressed that Americans should come first and that the country must invest in its own workforce.

Greene said her Bill includes one temporary exemption: 10,000 visas per year for doctors and nurses. However, even this exemption will be phased out over the next 10 years to allow time for the US to train more medical professionals domestically. The Bill also removes the pathway to citizenship for H-1B holders, requiring them to leave the US once their visas expire.

The H-1B programme is widely used by American companies, especially in the tech sector, to bring in skilled foreign workers for roles that require specialised knowledge.

Trump’s stand on H-1B visas

This development comes shortly after Donald Trump publicly supported the need for H-1B visas during a Fox News interview. Trump argued that the US does not have enough skilled workers for certain jobs in technology and defence. When asked whether the programme could reduce wages for Americans, Trump said while the concern was understandable, certain specialised roles could not be filled by local workers without proper training.

He explained that some jobs, such as those involving advanced manufacturing and defence technology, require skills that cannot be learned quickly.