Vance backs H-1B visa curbs to protect American labor

Vice President JD Vance has thrown his weight behind a new round of H-1B visa curbs championed by President Trump, embracing a $100,000 fee per petition that the White House says will push employers to recruit and pay workers already in the United States 🇺🇸. The fee, signed by President Trump on September 19, 2025, is at the center of a multistate lawsuit, but Vance says the states suing should focus less on court fights and more on hiring at home.

Vance’s sharpest line came as Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield led a challenge joined by 18 other states, including Delaware and California, arguing the fee is unlawful and goes beyond what Congress authorized. In remarks reported in coverage from Fox News and other outlets, Vance said the suing states:

“might try hiring Americans” before litigating over the policy.

The comment fits into an administration message that the visa program, built to fill real skill gaps, has been used by some employers to shop for what the administration calls “cheaper third world options.”

Scope and timeline of the proclamation

• The fee applies to new H-1B petitions filed after it took effect at 12:01 a.m. EDT on September 21, 2025.
• The measure runs for 12 months unless extended.
• The policy restricts H-1B entry and visa issuance for petitions that do not include the fee.
• There is a pathway for exemptions: “national interest” cases can be decided by the Secretary of Homeland Security.

Who is affected — immediate clarifications

• According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, current visa holders or petitions filed before September 21, 2025, are unaffected.
• That clarification matters for workers who have built lives around long-term jobs and for companies trying to keep projects on track while new rules reshape future hiring.

Legal and political framing

• The lawsuit led by Rayfield frames the fee as a power grab by the executive branch, arguing it crosses lines set by Congress.
• Supporters, including Vance, frame the move as worker protection: the fee is intended to force employers to show they genuinely need to recruit abroad and to compete for domestic talent.

Related policy changes across agencies (2025 timeline)

A number of coordinated actions across agencies amplify the administration’s shift:

Screening and wage changes

• State Department guidance dated December 3, 2025 (effective December 15, 2025) requires social media reviews for all H-1B applicants and H-4 dependents.
  • Under the guidance, applicants must set their profiles to public.
  • For many families, this feels like opening up private life to government screening as a condition of joining a spouse in the U.S. 🇺🇸.
• The Department of Labor proposed raising prevailing wage levels after the 2025 proclamation.
  • Example given: positions moving from about ~$120,000 to $230,000–$240,000.
  • The aim is to reshape Labor Condition Applications and the PERM process to block lower-paid hiring through H-1B and protect U.S. wages.

Impacts and stakeholders

• Supporters’ stated rationale:
  • Use H-1B for genuine shortages and highly skilled, high-wage roles when domestic workers are unavailable.
  • The $100,000 fee and higher prevailing wages are designed to make low-cost foreign hiring far less attractive.
• Critics’ concerns:
  • The fee and tougher screening may raise costs and uncertainty for:
  • Hospitals
  • Startups
  • Universities
  • These employers argue they rely on global talent for hard-to-fill roles.
  • There is a human dimension: U.S. workers hearing “shortage” worry why they aren’t getting calls; foreign workers hear “cheap labor” and feel their skills are undervalued.
• Political and personal language heightens tensions:
  • Vance’s phrasing about American labor and “cheaper third world options” is especially painful for lawful immigrants with advanced degrees who view the visa as a professional bridge.

What to watch next

• The fight will likely play out in two arenas simultaneously:
  1. Courtrooms, where state attorneys general argue over statutory authority and the lawfulness of the fee.
  2. HR departments, where employers decide whether offering a job still makes sense when the cost to sponsor rises by $100,000.
• Possible consequences:
  • For U.S. workers: the administration’s bet is that higher barriers will translate into more interviews and stronger pay.
  • For H-1B hopefuls and families: the same changes can look like a closing door, even for those who meet the administration’s “highly skilled” criteria.

Important takeaway: With litigation underway and industry pushback continuing, there was no reported resolution as of late 2025. The program’s baseline remains the USCIS H-1B page at https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary-workers/h-1b-specialty-occupations, which lays out core eligibility and process basics amid changing policy and court fights.

According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, the combination of a six-figure fee, expanded screening, and higher wage expectations is intended to reshape employer behavior quickly by making the “cheaper” option far less cheap.