New Delhi: US Vice President JD Vance has demanded that the H-1B visa programme be scrapped, noting its “completely broken” and employers’ “abuse.
Companies were making use of the system to substitute American with cheaper foreign labor, Vance said. In a video that was posted on X, he stated that the programme has been exploited by technology companies, accounting practices, and other industries.
Vice President JD Vance on H1-B visas:
“If you’re going to bring in an accountant making $45,000 a year to replace an accountant who is an American making $60,000 a year, that’s not you using the program to bring in a genius. That’s you destroying American jobs and defrauding the American people… my view is the H1-B program is completely broken.”
— Vice President JD Vance (@VP) October 1, 2026
He was able to divide the employment of outstanding foreign employees from reducing labour expenses. He cited as his example an accountant who was hired on for the wage of $45,000, replacing an American employee who earned $60,000, which “was not a case of hiring a genius, but of ‘destroying American jobs and defrauding the American people.
Vance again expressed his dismay in a livestream interview with Real America’s Voice, stating that he would be extremely supportive of just shutting down the programme. He also spoke on Air Force Two, HuffPost reported. He told reporters he knew that people were “outraged” about the visas, but had claimed that “more than any previous White House” had “narrowed the programme.
The administration last year had declared that it would charge a $100,000 fee on some applicants. The fee has been challenged in court and Vance had defended it. An H-1B application also includes a provision in a September 18 executive order that encourages the State, Labor and Homeland Security departments to consider whether the employer has terminated prior job offers from U.S. employers, or intends to reduce their U.S. workforce, when reviewing H-1B applications. It also requests the Labour Department to reconsider applications for labour conditions already submitted and make a determination as to whether the conditions were infringed.
The White House has not made a statement on abolition, so it remains to be seen if there is any overlap with Vance. The White House has also confirmed that it was not considering a complete end to the programme, after being asked if President Donald Trump would agree to stop the programme altogether.
H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that allows companies in the U.S. to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. Almost three-fifths of these visas are for Indian professionals and any decision to drop or further limit the programme would affect Indian IT professionals the most.
Vance’s position has been called into question previously. In his Senate race, Axios said there were “about 30” companies in which his money had flowed through that had also sought H-1B visas.
