President-elect Donald Trump made several bold promises to voters during his campaign. He promised to use tariffs to bolster the economy and promote U.S. manufacturing, to stop inflation and bring down consumer costs, and to end the war in Ukraine before he even took office. He also promised to end illegal immigration and to institute mass deportation of illegal immigrants and their families.
Since his November victory, however, Trump has been a bit more circumspect in some of his rhetoric. He has even gone so far as to admit that some of his promises won’t be all that easy to keep.
For example, in a recent network interview, Trump admitted that his planned imposition of massive tariffs on imported goods could lead to higher consumer prices. He admitted in another interview that his pledge to attack inflation and lower consumer prices would be difficult and take time. And he acknowledged that because of the complexities of the war in Ukraine he would not be able to end it before taking office.
Critics jumped all over these “concessions” and accused Trump of reneging on his campaign promises. Supporters simply saw the statements as a responsible move by the president-elect from sweeping campaign rhetoric to a more nuanced approach based on the realities of governance. And they predicted full delivery on each promise, even if it took a little longer than originally predicted.
And then there is the immigration issue. Trump’s threats and promised crackdown on illegal immigration and border issues have not changed. Indeed, those he has designated to lead the effort have already started outlining dramatic plans for immediate enforcement efforts.
But what about legal immigrants? Or foreigners who enter the United States under established visa programs? And how will Trump’s more restrictive approach to immigration impact the U.S. labor market generally, and particularly those portions of the economy that rely heavily upon skilled foreign workers?
The answer is not clear. There is very open disagreement in the Trump camp over the right approach to skilled foreign workers brought into the country on H-1B work visas.
For several very prominent Trump backers with significant ties to the tech world, skilled foreign workers are a necessity for their businesses. They argue that in the highly competitive global market for technical talent U.S. companies must recruit the highest skilled personnel from wherever they are, even if that means bringing foreign talent into the U.S. to do the work.
For immigration hard-liners, however, foreign workers brought to the U.S. under any circumstance are improperly taking jobs that should be offered to Americans. And in response to the claim that there aren’t enough skilled U.S. workers to fill the tech industry’s demand for talent, advocates argue that the tech industry should invest in the U.S. education system to help assure a sufficient supply of capable American workers.
Although the H-1B visa debate attracted significant attention in the slower news days before the new year, it will likely dissipate over the next few weeks. There is a long list of more significant issues that need to be addressed by the Trump camp in the weeks ahead than ideological squabbles over a well-established government visa program that brings a competitive edge to U.S. businesses.
