A coalition of more than 30 higher education associations has petitioned the Department of Homeland Security for a special carve-out from President Trump’s new $100,000 H-1B visa application fee, arguing that universities should be allowed to continue importing foreign workers without financial impediment.
The letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, spearheaded by the American Council on Education and joined by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, American Association of Colleges and Universities, and the American Association of University Professors, claims the fee presents an insurmountable barrier to recruiting foreign faculty, researchers, and staff.
Let us be clear about what is happening here. These institutions are arguing that they deserve special treatment because their foreign employees are supposedly indispensable to American higher education and national security. This is the same higher education establishment that has spent decades prioritizing diversity initiatives over merit, inflating administrative costs beyond recognition, and saddling American students with crushing debt loads.
Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, wrote that H-1B beneficiaries at universities “train and educate domestic students for these high-demand occupations, conduct essential research, provide critical patient care, and support the core infrastructure of our universities.” The implication is obvious: American workers cannot possibly fill these positions.
This argument collapses under the slightest scrutiny. In September, President Trump signed an executive order implementing the $100,000 application fee for new H-1B applicants after September 21. Many conservatives rightfully noted that the measure did not go far enough. According to guidance from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the fee does not apply to current H-1B holders or renewals, even for those outside the United States attempting to reenter. These exceptions significantly dilute the policy’s effectiveness.
The higher education lobby insists their foreign employees meet the standard for “extraordinarily rare circumstance where the Secretary has determined that a particular alien worker’s presence in the United States as an H-1B worker is in the national interest.” Their evidence? Seventy percent hold tenured or tenure-track positions, and the top five disciplines employing H-1B recipients are business, engineering, health professions, computer science, and physical sciences.
Here is the fundamental problem with this reasoning: each H-1B recipient occupies a position that could be filled by an American worker. The notion that Americans cannot be trained or recruited for these positions is demonstrably false. What universities actually want is the ability to hire cheaper labor and avoid investing in American talent.
The American people have made their preferences clear. They are not content merely with deporting illegal immigrants. Significant numbers want comprehensive immigration reform that includes cycling out millions who have received various visas or been granted asylum on questionable grounds, while denaturalizing those who position themselves as enemies of the United States.
Universities have no inherent right to import foreign workers at will. If these institutions cannot find qualified Americans to fill positions, perhaps they should examine their hiring practices, compensation structures, and commitment to developing domestic talent. The Trump administration’s fee represents a reasonable attempt to prioritize American workers in the American job market.
The higher education establishment’s demand for exemption reveals a deeper truth about our immigration system: special interests have carved out exceptions and loopholes that undermine any attempt at meaningful reform. Universities want to maintain their privileged access to foreign labor while Americans struggle with unemployment and underemployment in these same fields.
The answer to their petition should be simple and direct: no special treatment. American workers deserve priority in American jobs, and universities should not receive preferential status that allows them to circumvent policies designed to protect American employment.
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