A day after US President Donald Trump defended H-1B visas, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said America will continue using visa programmes while ensuring their integrity. She also noted that more foreign-born people are becoming naturalised citizens under the Trump administration.
Noem was responding to a question on the administration's position regarding H-1B visas, following Trump’s recent remarks that the US must bring in talent from abroad because it lacks “certain talents.”
"And that's what I think is so remarkable… under the Trump administration, we've sped up our process and added integrity to visa programmes, to Green Cards, to all of that. But also, more people are becoming naturalised under this administration than ever before. More people are becoming citizens because we're not just streamlining and rebuilding some processes into our immigration policies, we're also making sure that these individuals coming into our country and getting that privilege are here for the right reasons," she said.
Criticism of Biden era immigration
Noem further alleged that the Joe Biden administration had allowed “thousands of terrorists” into the country.
"They opened the southern border. They abused our asylum programmes, abused our protective programmes and visa programmes, and we fixed all of it. It's remarkable what President Trump has done, and it's because he's a great leader, a visionary, and this man is going to go down in history as our greatest president ever," she said.
Trump's defence of H-1B Visas
Trump recently defended the H-1B visa programme, stating that America needs to bring in talent from around the world.
“I agree, but you also do have to bring in talent,” Trump said in an interview with Laura Ingraham on Fox News.
Trump was responding to a question on whether H-1B visas would be a priority for his administration, given concerns that an influx of foreign workers could depress wages for Americans.
When Ingraham noted that “we have plenty of talent,” Trump replied, “No, you don’t, no you don’t. You don’t have certain talents. And people have to learn. You can’t take people off an unemployment line and say, ‘I’m going to put you into a factory, we’re going to make missiles.’”
Referring to a raid in Georgia, Trump said, “They had people from South Korea who made batteries all their lives. Making batteries is very complicated and dangerous, a lot of explosions, a lot of problems. They had 500–600 people in the early stages to make batteries and to teach people how to do it. But they wanted them to get out of the country. You’re going to need that kind of expertise. You can’t just take people who haven’t worked in five years and expect them to start making missiles. It doesn’t work that way.”
Crackdown on H-1B abuse
The Trump administration has launched a major crackdown on H-1B visa abuse, a programme widely used by companies, especially technology firms, to hire skilled foreign workers.
Indian professionals, including tech workers and physicians, represent one of the largest groups of H-1B visa holders.
In September this year, Trump issued a proclamation titled “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers” as an initial step toward reforming the H-1B visa programme. Under the proclamation, certain H-1B petitions filed after September 21, 2025, must include an additional USD 100,000 payment as a condition of eligibility.
Last week, the Trump administration announced around 175 investigations into H-1B visa abuse, including cases involving low wages, non-existent work sites, and “benching” employees.
“As part of our mission to protect American jobs, we’ve launched 175 investigations into H-1B abuse,” the US Department of Labor said in a post on X.
It added that under the leadership of President Donald Trump and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the agency would continue to act to “put American workers first.”
