America just told the world’s governments: stop shipping us your best and brightest. Make your own country great again!
President Trump has thrown a grenade into America’s immigration system — and it’s exactly what the country needed. By slapping a $100,000 filing fee on H=1B visas, the White House has declared the days of cheap labor pipelines and visa abuse officially over.
For decades, the H-1B program has been tech’s favorite loophole, a foreign government’s free subsidy, and one of the most quietly exploited corners of U.S. immigration. Now, it’s facing a hard reset. Critics cry “protectionism.” They’re wrong. This isn’t about shutting doors. It’s about raising the bar. America is saying loud and clear: we want the best, not the cheapest. And the truth is, other nations should stop complaining — and start learning.
From Y2K to AI: A different world
In the 1990s, the H-1B made sense. The Y2K panic, the dotcom boom, the internet’s birth — America desperately needed coders, and India delivered. Win-win. Many rose to lead U.S. tech.
But this is 2025. AI is rewriting the rules. Silicon Valley giants admit: AI will write code within a year. Tech companies are already cutting thousands of jobs. The age of mass coding armies is ending. The future belongs to a smaller pool of elite innovators — not vast back-office battalions. Trump saw it. He acted.
Big tech can pay — and they know it
Let’s be real. The 10 largest U.S. tech giants are worth a mind-blowing $23 trillion (Nvidia, Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Broadcom, Tesla, Oracle, Netflix)— about the size of China and India’s GDP combined. For them, a $100,000 visa fee is pocket change.
They already burn billions on stock buybacks, perks, and lavish campuses. If they want that one-in-a-million AI researcher, they can pay up. Instead of paying taxes, they would happily pay for H-1B fee to the government.
And startups? In Silicon Valley today, $25 million seed rounds are just another Tuesday. If you can raise millions overnight, you can cough up $100K for extraordinary talent.
The ones screaming loudest aren’t the innovators. They’re the body shops and consulting mills that turned H-1B into a glorified staffing agency. Trump just told them: the gravy train is over.
The H-1B legacy: America already benefited
If we look back to 1995, the early waves of Indian H-1B holders were overwhelmingly strong in math, science, engineering, and medicine. Rough estimates suggest that more than one million Indians entered the U.S. on H-1B visas in that era. Many stayed on, became green card holders, and ultimately U.S. citizens.
Fast-forward three decades, and that community has grown roots. Those first-generation H-1Bs have now raised an estimated two million American-born children. And here’s the kicker: those kids are excelling at the very same things their parents were recruited for — math, science, technology, and medicine. They’re graduating from the top U.S. universities, building startups, entering research labs, and staffing hospitals.
In other words, the jobs their parents once filled as immigrants will now be filled by their American-born children. That’s the natural arc of immigration done right. And that’s why the U.S. government is focused on prioritizing employment for American citizens today. The system has already delivered: one generation of H-1Bs seeded a powerhouse second generation of Americans.
The original spirit, restored
The H-1B was never meant to import endless armies of mid-level engineers. It was designed for brilliance. For the extraordinary few. Somewhere along the way, it was hijacked — people turned into export cargo.
Trump’s reset rips it back to its DNA. You want an H-1B? Prove the worker is worth $100K in fees. Prove they’re indispensable. Otherwise? Hire American.
Simple. Fair. Long overdue.
America first doesn’t mean America alone
This isn’t xenophobia. It’s common sense. America invests trillions into its education system. Why should its own graduates be undercut by imported “cheaper alternatives?”
At the same time, Trump isn’t slamming the door on all international talent. Students already in the U.S. — with OPT work permits, SSNs, and driver’s licenses — are still in play. They’ve lived here, learned here, and earned their shot. That’s smart policy: keep the best who have already invested in America, while shutting loopholes that enabled mass outsourcing.
India’s $80 billion dependency
No country feasted on the H-1B quite like India. Its top five IT firms built an $80 billion annual revenue machine by sending workers abroad. Instead of reforming at home, India exported its best and brightest — and cashed the checks.
But exporting human capital isn’t nation-building. It’s dependency. No young graduate wants to leave their family and culture — they leave because opportunity is missing at home.
Trump’s reset is India’s wake-up call: stop banking on America to absorb your youth. Build your own ecosystem. Slash corruption. Kill red tape. Fund R&D. Empower entrepreneurs. Give the next generation a reason to stay.
The lesson for the world
This isn’t just about India. From Africa to Latin America to Southeast Asia, governments have used migration as a pressure valve — letting their best talent leave, send remittances, and keep broken systems intact. That game is finished.
We’re entering an AI-driven world. Nations that don’t nurture their own talent will get left behind. The H-1B reset is a blunt lesson: don’t whine when America closes its doors. Build your own Silicon Valley instead.
A bold, controversial, necessary move
Make no mistake: this policy will sting. Consulting firms will howl. Foreign governments will protest. Even Silicon Valley will grumble. But real leadership isn’t about keeping everyone happy. It’s about making tough calls for the long-term good.
By pricing out abuse, Trump’s policy ensures only the best — the truly irreplaceable — get through. That’s good for American workers. Good for American innovation. And ironically, good for the countries now forced to face reality: you can’t outsource your future forever.
Make your own country great again
This is not just an American reset. It’s a global reset. The White House just told every capital in the developing world: stop blaming Washington. Start building your own greatness.
Governments must invest in universities. Wealthy elites must back entrepreneurs, not offshore accounts. Bureaucrats must get out of the way. Dreamers must be given room to create.
For too long, America carried the burden of global brain drain. That era is over.
The world after the reset
In 20 years, this moment may be seen as a turning point. America chose to protect its workers and demand excellence. Other nations, forced to stand on their own, may finally unleash their own revolutions.
Trump’s $100K H-1B reset isn’t the end of opportunity. It’s the end of dependency. And that may make it one of the most consequential, world-shaping decisions of our time.
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
Politics8 years ago