The Trump administration is moving toward stricter guidelines for the visa program that is directed toward skilled foreign workers.
Joseph Edlow, the new director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, told The New York Times in an interview that he was also looking at the test to become a citizen of the U.S. because it might be too easy. The agency, known as USCIS, oversees immigration programs in the United States. Edlow was confirmed to his position on July 15.
The foreign worker visa program referenced as H-1B is designed to facilitate the entry of foreign nationals who have job offers from U.S. companies. But there has been criticism that the program has been used to bring in workers at lower-than-normal wages to circumvent hiring Americans.
Vice President JD Vance criticized Microsoft on Thursday for its use of H-1B visas to hire foreign staff while laying off thousands of American workers. Vance said the practice creates a combination of financial and ethical issues.
Edlow told the Times, “I really do think that the way H-1B needs to be used, and this is one of my favorite phrases, is to, along with a lot of other parts of immigration, supplement, not supplant, U.S. economy and U.S. businesses and U.S. workers.”
USCIS issued a notice to the Office of Management and Budget last week that it was proposing a rule change involving the visa program in order to use a “weighted selection process,” but the notice did not include specifics.
Edlow similarly did not provide details of the pending changes to the visa program to the Times past his “supplement” comment.
He did offer some insight into what changes he would like to see on the citizenship test, which may involve increasing the number of questions applicants must answer correctly, similar to what was used during President Donald Trump’s first term. But the final change has not been released.
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