Donald Trump is ready to sign an executive order to ensure that Americans are not denied job opportunities in America. The order will be the “Buy American and Hire American” plan and to implement it, he will have to modify the existing H-1B visa program. This program is what makes the American IT industry flourish, and they follow this route to hire top foreign engineering talent. The “Hire American” part of the executive order is expected to rewrite this program.
New York Daily News reports that Donald Trump will go to Wisconsin where he will share his executive order.
He wants the various departments involved in recruitment to take immediate action to put an end to the abuse of America's work visa programs that have not benefited American workers.
Trump’s views on H-1B visa program
Donald Trump feels that the H-1B visa program has been abused and has given rise to a situation where Americans have been denied jobs in the tech sector. In the opinion of the Trump administration, jobs have been taken over by foreign workers who are not only of low-age but also of low-skill. As a result, Americans have been elbowed out by cheaper labor from abroad, hence the executive order. The worst part is that, in some cases, the Americans had to impart training to their foreign replacements to learn the job.
All these aspects need to be examined threadbare because of the foreigners, who are employed in the IT industry based on H-1B visa program, are not Americans as such but they devote their full attention to the job at hand. They do not have any other ax to grind and are considered to be safe bets. The administration must check out if the same logic applies to Americans.
It stands to reason that if Americans could have delivered, there would have been no need to recruit foreigners.
The concept of ‘Buy American.'
The new Executive Order is also intended to give a boost to the concept of ‘Buy American’ and is directed towards the steel industry. As Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing has said - the ‘Buy American’ slogan is a good first step.
To make it a success, all agencies concerned must carry out self-analysis to plug loopholes and streamline the system. To popularize ‘Buy American,' necessary waivers must be issued so that foreign companies can benefit from government subsidies. Simultaneously, there needs to be a relook at various trade agreements because, for every direct job in the U.S. steel industry, another seven jobs are created in the overall economy.
The intentions of President Donald Trump are clear – he wants to have an America where Americans will flourish, and he will leave no stone unturned to achieve his goal. He has already made his mark on the international scene and has now turned his attention to matters closer home.