Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today's Q and a, do we still need H one
B Visas? This is brought to you by Melissa and
Ashes check Mark Collections. Each day I feature a listener
question that is sent by one of these methods. You
may email me Brian Mudd at iHeartMedia dot com, hend
me up on social at Brian mud Radio. You may
also use the iHeartRadio talk back feature. Just go to
w J and O or via Patriot inside of the
(00:22):
iHeartRadio app follow us once you get there. When you do,
look for the little microphone button. See it, tap it.
You may lay down the message right there, maybe for
a future Q and A. Today's note is this at
Brian mud Radio. What's your take on the H one
B visas? I wasn't happy to see Trump sell out
to Musk on the issue. Do we really still need them?
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (00:42):
There aren't many issues where we've seen much distance between
the newly forged political alliance of President elect Donald Trump,
incoming DOGE leader Elon Musk, and the incoming president's political base,
but this appears to potentially be one of them. The
H one B VISA program. It's long had its critics
as it essentially provides special work status within the US
(01:05):
two skilled foreign workers. The argument among those who are
not in favor of the program is that it's contradictory
to suggest that we shouldn't force undocumented workers into the
shadows without legal status for what are considered unskilled positions
like picking crops, for example, while legitimizing workers in what
are considered skilled positions like software development. So let's start
(01:27):
by breaking down the program. The origins of the current
H one B VISA program dates back to the Immigration
and Nationality Act of nineteen fifty two. The current incarnation
of the program established in nineteen ninety under the Immigration
Act of nineteen ninety which you still have hair in
(01:52):
nineteen ninety two. I know you weren't thinking your prints anymore.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
But yes, it was the following year when my first
child was born. When I trace it back to look
at out of coincidence. I'm not saying you know it
is or it isn't, but that's that's when I trace
it back, and that would have been in ninety one.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
So yeah, all right, So the Immigration Act in nineteen ninety,
when Joel was still with lots of hair. The legislation
was bipartisan at the time, with Senator Ted Kennedy having
introduced the legislation and President George H. W. Bush signing
it into law. And the Act was then expanded in
two thousand and four to allow for additional considerations for students.
(02:30):
So you hear about the student visas that's been in
place for the past twenty years, all right, So these
are the details about the H one B visas. Under law,
up to sixty five thousand visas are available for foreign
workers annually. Up to twenty thousand visas are available for
foreign students annually. Eligible participants must study and or work
(02:54):
in what is called a specialty occupation field, and the
defined specialty i ocupatients and fields include biotechnology, chemistry, computing, architecture, engineering, statistics,
physical sciences, journalism, medicine and health, economics, education, research, law, accounting,
(03:18):
business specialties, technical writing, theology, and the arts. So you
get a lot of categories there. Under these specialty occupations
and fields, workers must hold a minimum of a bachelor's
degree in these fields for eligibility, and students must be
pursuing advanced degrees in the related fields for eligibility. Now,
(03:42):
there are some additional nuances to it, but that is
the crux of the program, and while there are some exceptions.
A typical visa recipient is granted an initial three year
visa under the program, with the ability to seek to
extend it for another three years for a total of six.
If at any time workers lose their jobs or if
students in their studies, they lose eligibility under the program
(04:05):
and are supposed to leave the country. Additionally, if they
have not established permanent legal status within the US by
the end of their alloted time, they're also to leave
the country. That's one of the points of contingent with
the program. Many do not an enforcement, especially under the
Biden administration, has been lax, So to give you an idea,
(04:30):
there are an estimated three million h one B visa
recipients in the US currently. Of them, ICE estimates over
thirty nine percent have overstayed their visas and thus are
just illegal immigrants at this point over thirty nine percent.
As for today's question about the program's merits and my
(04:52):
views of it, and also as to the characterization about
Trump maybe being a sellout on this issue, Elon Musk,
who of course is the founder in CEO of Tesla
SpaceX and the boring company, in addition to being the
owner and CEO of X, has many employees within his
(05:12):
enterprises under the program, and he's called it vital. He's
even said he would quote go to war over the issue.
As debate heated up over the program in recent weeks,
Trump backed Musk in the H one B visa program
by stating, this is a quote. I have many H
one B visas on my properties. I've been a believer
(05:33):
in H one B. I've used it many times. It's
a great program. So does this support of the program
show a contradiction between the duo's strong stance on ending
the illegal immigration crisis and promoting America First policies. I
don't think so. There's a vast difference between unskilled and
(05:56):
skilled labor. You know, it's always been a false narrative
that there are a myriad of entry level jobs that
Americans won't do, like picking crops. The fact of the
matter is that there are a myriad of jobs Americans
won't do for non competitive wages. Illegal immigrants being paid
under the table to pick crops absolutely can be replaced
(06:17):
by those in this country legally. For example, you're unlikely
to find many agricultural workers for minimum wage because there
are other minimum wage opportunities that are not nearly as taxing.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
However, if the.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Jobs paid, say, for example, thirty bucks per hour, I
bet you'd have people lined up for those positions. There
are plenty of legal citizens and residents capable of doing
that kind of work. The wages just need to be
competitive with other opportunities. Conversely, the same is not true
on the highly skilled side. We all have things that
(06:51):
we're good at doing and areas where we have limited aptitude.
Given the demands in many specialized fields, there are bound
to be shortages of America capable of performing keywork in
companies like Tesla and SpaceX, for example. No matter how
hard you'll work to try to turn me into an
aerospace engineer, ain't gonna happen. You're not gonna get me there.
(07:12):
I Am just not wired that way. Joel, on the
other hand, chewing, oh yeah. We could take him from
being newsman to be an aerospace engineer.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
We say, I was thinking sixty seconds, and IFL thirty,
I think, I think a good fifteen to eighteen seconds,
and now I'll have it like that.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
But of course there's only one Joel Mallkin, and we
need more than just one aerospace engineer. And so yeah,
I mean, the bottom line is, you know, some people
are just not going to get there. And if we
do have shortages and a lot of these key positions
are we just supposed to throw our hands up the air,
and for example, the space program in particular, just let
(07:55):
China and Russia gain the upper hand on space exploration
and all the related technology, which, by the way, are
also a matter of national defense. So that's why my
view is that the H one B visa program no
different than any other immigration immigration related laws. Enforce them.
We just need to enforce them. Right, just as we
should deport all illegal border crossers in this country, we
(08:18):
should also deport all visa over states as well. That
would restore integrity and credibility to the program, and it
would curb illegal immigration at the same time. The problem
isn't the program, it's the lack of enforcement of the
rules and the laws of this country with those who
abuse it.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
That is
Today's Q and a, do we still need H one
B Visas? This is brought to you by Melissa and
Ashes check Mark Collections. Each day I feature a listener
question that is sent by one of these methods. You
may email me Brian Mudd at iHeartMedia dot com, hend
me up on social at Brian mud Radio. You may
also use the iHeartRadio talk back feature. Just go to
w J and O or via Patriot inside of the
(00:22):
iHeartRadio app follow us once you get there. When you do,
look for the little microphone button. See it, tap it.
You may lay down the message right there, maybe for
a future Q and A. Today's note is this at
Brian mud Radio. What's your take on the H one
B visas? I wasn't happy to see Trump sell out
to Musk on the issue. Do we really still need them?
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (00:42):
There aren't many issues where we've seen much distance between
the newly forged political alliance of President elect Donald Trump,
incoming DOGE leader Elon Musk, and the incoming president's political base,
but this appears to potentially be one of them. The
H one B VISA program. It's long had its critics
as it essentially provides special work status within the US
(01:05):
two skilled foreign workers. The argument among those who are
not in favor of the program is that it's contradictory
to suggest that we shouldn't force undocumented workers into the
shadows without legal status for what are considered unskilled positions
like picking crops, for example, while legitimizing workers in what
are considered skilled positions like software development. So let's start
(01:27):
by breaking down the program. The origins of the current
H one B VISA program dates back to the Immigration
and Nationality Act of nineteen fifty two. The current incarnation
of the program established in nineteen ninety under the Immigration
Act of nineteen ninety which you still have hair in
(01:52):
nineteen ninety two. I know you weren't thinking your prints anymore.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
But yes, it was the following year when my first
child was born. When I trace it back to look
at out of coincidence. I'm not saying you know it
is or it isn't, but that's that's when I trace
it back, and that would have been in ninety one.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
So yeah, all right, So the Immigration Act in nineteen ninety,
when Joel was still with lots of hair. The legislation
was bipartisan at the time, with Senator Ted Kennedy having
introduced the legislation and President George H. W. Bush signing
it into law. And the Act was then expanded in
two thousand and four to allow for additional considerations for students.
(02:30):
So you hear about the student visas that's been in
place for the past twenty years, all right, So these
are the details about the H one B visas. Under law,
up to sixty five thousand visas are available for foreign
workers annually. Up to twenty thousand visas are available for
foreign students annually. Eligible participants must study and or work
(02:54):
in what is called a specialty occupation field, and the
defined specialty i ocupatients and fields include biotechnology, chemistry, computing, architecture, engineering, statistics,
physical sciences, journalism, medicine and health, economics, education, research, law, accounting,
(03:18):
business specialties, technical writing, theology, and the arts. So you
get a lot of categories there. Under these specialty occupations
and fields, workers must hold a minimum of a bachelor's
degree in these fields for eligibility, and students must be
pursuing advanced degrees in the related fields for eligibility. Now,
(03:42):
there are some additional nuances to it, but that is
the crux of the program, and while there are some exceptions.
A typical visa recipient is granted an initial three year
visa under the program, with the ability to seek to
extend it for another three years for a total of six.
If at any time workers lose their jobs or if
students in their studies, they lose eligibility under the program
(04:05):
and are supposed to leave the country. Additionally, if they
have not established permanent legal status within the US by
the end of their alloted time, they're also to leave
the country. That's one of the points of contingent with
the program. Many do not an enforcement, especially under the
Biden administration, has been lax, So to give you an idea,
(04:30):
there are an estimated three million h one B visa
recipients in the US currently. Of them, ICE estimates over
thirty nine percent have overstayed their visas and thus are
just illegal immigrants at this point over thirty nine percent.
As for today's question about the program's merits and my
(04:52):
views of it, and also as to the characterization about
Trump maybe being a sellout on this issue, Elon Musk,
who of course is the founder in CEO of Tesla
SpaceX and the boring company, in addition to being the
owner and CEO of X, has many employees within his
(05:12):
enterprises under the program, and he's called it vital. He's
even said he would quote go to war over the issue.
As debate heated up over the program in recent weeks,
Trump backed Musk in the H one B visa program
by stating, this is a quote. I have many H
one B visas on my properties. I've been a believer
(05:33):
in H one B. I've used it many times. It's
a great program. So does this support of the program
show a contradiction between the duo's strong stance on ending
the illegal immigration crisis and promoting America First policies. I
don't think so. There's a vast difference between unskilled and
(05:56):
skilled labor. You know, it's always been a false narrative
that there are a myriad of entry level jobs that
Americans won't do, like picking crops. The fact of the
matter is that there are a myriad of jobs Americans
won't do for non competitive wages. Illegal immigrants being paid
under the table to pick crops absolutely can be replaced
(06:17):
by those in this country legally. For example, you're unlikely
to find many agricultural workers for minimum wage because there
are other minimum wage opportunities that are not nearly as taxing.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
However, if the.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Jobs paid, say, for example, thirty bucks per hour, I
bet you'd have people lined up for those positions. There
are plenty of legal citizens and residents capable of doing
that kind of work. The wages just need to be
competitive with other opportunities. Conversely, the same is not true
on the highly skilled side. We all have things that
(06:51):
we're good at doing and areas where we have limited aptitude.
Given the demands in many specialized fields, there are bound
to be shortages of America capable of performing keywork in
companies like Tesla and SpaceX, for example. No matter how
hard you'll work to try to turn me into an
aerospace engineer, ain't gonna happen. You're not gonna get me there.
(07:12):
I Am just not wired that way. Joel, on the
other hand, chewing, oh yeah. We could take him from
being newsman to be an aerospace engineer.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
We say, I was thinking sixty seconds, and IFL thirty,
I think, I think a good fifteen to eighteen seconds,
and now I'll have it like that.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
But of course there's only one Joel Mallkin, and we
need more than just one aerospace engineer. And so yeah,
I mean, the bottom line is, you know, some people
are just not going to get there. And if we
do have shortages and a lot of these key positions
are we just supposed to throw our hands up the air,
and for example, the space program in particular, just let
(07:55):
China and Russia gain the upper hand on space exploration
and all the related technology, which, by the way, are
also a matter of national defense. So that's why my
view is that the H one B visa program no
different than any other immigration immigration related laws. Enforce them.
We just need to enforce them. Right, just as we
should deport all illegal border crossers in this country, we
(08:18):
should also deport all visa over states as well. That
would restore integrity and credibility to the program, and it
would curb illegal immigration at the same time. The problem
isn't the program, it's the lack of enforcement of the
rules and the laws of this country with those who
abuse it.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
That is
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