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H‑1B Waivers Give Administration Leverage Over Tech
22 Sep 2025- Trump's new H‑1B proclamation hikes visa costs to $100,000 and creates a broad DHS "national interest" waiver, enabling political leverage over tech firms, banks, and universities.
22 Sep 2025
The Verge reports the Trump administration’s new H‑1B proclamation does more than raise the cost of skilled-worker visas to $100,000: it creates a broad exemption that hands the Secretary of Homeland Security (and effectively the president) the power to waive restrictions for any individual, company, or even an entire industry. On its face the policy looks like immigration enforcement, but the article argues the real purpose is political leverage over large institutions — especially tech companies.
Buried in section 1(c) is language saying the restriction “shall not apply … if the Secretary of Homeland Security determines … that the hiring of such aliens … is in the national interest.” That carveout, The Verge warns, allows discretionary waivers in exchange for concessions or public displays of fealty. The piece calls out major H‑1B employers — Meta, Microsoft, Amazon — and notes financial firms such as JPMorgan Chase and Deloitte each employ over 2,000 H‑1B workers. It also highlights universities (Harvard ~280 H‑1B, Columbia over 200) as vulnerable to pressure.
The article frames the move as transactional — like past tariff and exemption episodes — where reductions in immigration or national‑security rhetoric can be reversed for political or financial favors, leaving both foreign workers and institutions exposed to political coercion.
Source
The Verge reports the Trump administration’s new H‑1B proclamation does more than raise the cost of skilled-worker visas to $100,000: it creates a broad exemption that hands the Secretary of Homeland Security (and effectively the president) the power to waive restrictions for any individual, company, or even an entire industry. On its face the policy looks like immigration enforcement, but the article argues the real purpose is political leverage over large institutions — especially tech companies.
Buried in section 1(c) is language saying the restriction “shall not apply … if the Secretary of Homeland Security determines … that the hiring of such aliens … is in the national interest.” That carveout, The Verge warns, allows discretionary waivers in exchange for concessions or public displays of fealty. The piece calls out major H‑1B employers — Meta, Microsoft, Amazon — and notes financial firms such as JPMorgan Chase and Deloitte each employ over 2,000 H‑1B workers. It also highlights universities (Harvard ~280 H‑1B, Columbia over 200) as vulnerable to pressure.
The article frames the move as transactional — like past tariff and exemption episodes — where reductions in immigration or national‑security rhetoric can be reversed for political or financial favors, leaving both foreign workers and institutions exposed to political coercion.
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