Enhancing Program Integrity and Integrity and Interagency Coordination in the Administration of the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Program

Summary: This White House release announces an executive order and proclamation strengthening H-1B visa program oversight to protect American workers. Executive order provisions: Enhances H-1B program integrity by directing increased scrutiny of applications where American worker layoffs are a heightened risk. Directs the Secretaries of State, Labor, and Homeland Security to consult with Commerce, Education, and the Small Business Administration for additional data on wages, industry conditions, and employment specialization. Requires consideration of an employer's recent or planned layoffs of similarly situated U.S. workers when reviewing H-1B applications. Proclamation: Renews the $100,000 fee on certain H-1B visa applications, first imposed September 19, 2025. Cited impacts of the 2025 proclamation: H-1B registrations from major IT outsourcing firms reportedly dropped 92%. Consular processing requests fell nearly 97%. Prior to the fee, unemployment among recent computer science and computer engineering graduates reportedly reached 6.1% and 7.5% respectively — more than double rates for biology or art history majors. Notes that foreign STEM workers in the U.S. more than doubled from 2000–2019 while overall STEM employment grew 44.5%, and that H-1B visa share among IT workers rose from 32% (FY2003) to over 65% in recent years. Broader immigration/labor context: Cites over 1 million jobs added since Trump's return to office, including manufacturing job growth. References the 2025 tax cuts (no tax on tips/overtime) and new Workforce Pell Grants. Notes a December 2025 DHS rule replacing the H-1B random lottery with a wage-weighted system, which reportedly reduced FY2027 registrations by nearly 40%. Mentions paused visa processing for 75 "high-risk" countries and cites over 3 million deportations since Trump's return to office. Note: This is an administration-authored release; the statistics and causal claims regarding H-1B policy effects reflect the administration's own characterization rather than independently verified analysis.