United States H-1B Visa Program: An Analysis

This essay discusses the costs and benefits of the United States’ H-1B visa program. It examines how these costs and benefits may be affected by the Trump administration’s rhetorical prioritization of American workers. There is a controversy behind the H-1B program because many critics believe that the system is being manipulated by domestic companies to displace American workers with international workers. Moreover, these migrant laborers, who act as substitutes, are consequently paid less than their American counterparts and are subject to discrimination in the workplace. The Trump administration hopes to alleviate this displacement of American workers and exploitation of legal immigrants through a reform of the current H-1B system. The essay
explores recent case studies that involve minority employee rights’ and discrimination allegations that accentuate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Furthermore, the essay explores both the current and the proposed H-1B visa reform laws, and argues how and why the current H-1B visa program is in need of reform.