<p>The H-1B visa programme in which India’s IT industry has much at stake has come into serious political focus in the US just before Donald Trump takes over as the President. Trump has always struck a tough posture against immigration and this position has been part of his MAGA (Make America Great Again) campaign. </p><p>Trump’s appeal to his following has much to do with this posture. But the Trump camp is now seeing a division and a shift in views on the H-1B visa issue. Some of Trump’s major supporters and allies such as Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, both of whom will hold important positions in his administration, have strongly supported the H-1B programme. </p><p>Both are entrepreneurs and know the role the visa scheme has in American business and industry. Musk even said that he would “go to war” on the visa issue, if necessary. Trump appears to have agreed and said he has been a “believer in the programme.”</p>.India says US H1B visas benefit both countries after Trump, Musk backing.<p>The positions on H-1B visa have shifted too. Trump had strong views about it in his first term. He had then imposed restrictions on the visa and said the system needed to be fixed. But he has softened his position now. Musk, who said “we cannot do without” foreign technology workers, has also since said there is a need to fix the programme. </p><p>The variety of positions and the shifts are caused by the politics surrounding the issue. Trump’s support mainly comes from the blue-collar segments among workers who resent that their jobs have been shipped abroad and from the nativist, rightist and white American groups who feel that immigration is changing American society for the worse. </p><p>They respond to the call to make America great without, ironically, realising that it was the foreign talent at work in the US that had once made America great. The H-1B visa is a tool and symbol of that idea.</p>.<p>The debate on the programme is likely to continue though the focus of the anti-immigrant sentiment and politics is now being shifted to illegal immigration. </p><p>Technology and business leaders have maintained that they cannot do without qualified personnel from other countries. But it is possible that there will be some “fixing,” especially because there is criticism that foreign companies, including Indian firms, have abused the system and US companies have used it to get workers cheap from outside to replace American workers. </p><p>The system is unlikely to face a major disruption. One fallout of the debate around the visa scheme is that the issue has been used by some sections in the US to create an anti-Indian narrative.</p>
<p>The H-1B visa programme in which India’s IT industry has much at stake has come into serious political focus in the US just before Donald Trump takes over as the President. Trump has always struck a tough posture against immigration and this position has been part of his MAGA (Make America Great Again) campaign. </p><p>Trump’s appeal to his following has much to do with this posture. But the Trump camp is now seeing a division and a shift in views on the H-1B visa issue. Some of Trump’s major supporters and allies such as Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, both of whom will hold important positions in his administration, have strongly supported the H-1B programme. </p><p>Both are entrepreneurs and know the role the visa scheme has in American business and industry. Musk even said that he would “go to war” on the visa issue, if necessary. Trump appears to have agreed and said he has been a “believer in the programme.”</p>.India says US H1B visas benefit both countries after Trump, Musk backing.<p>The positions on H-1B visa have shifted too. Trump had strong views about it in his first term. He had then imposed restrictions on the visa and said the system needed to be fixed. But he has softened his position now. Musk, who said “we cannot do without” foreign technology workers, has also since said there is a need to fix the programme. </p><p>The variety of positions and the shifts are caused by the politics surrounding the issue. Trump’s support mainly comes from the blue-collar segments among workers who resent that their jobs have been shipped abroad and from the nativist, rightist and white American groups who feel that immigration is changing American society for the worse. </p><p>They respond to the call to make America great without, ironically, realising that it was the foreign talent at work in the US that had once made America great. The H-1B visa is a tool and symbol of that idea.</p>.<p>The debate on the programme is likely to continue though the focus of the anti-immigrant sentiment and politics is now being shifted to illegal immigration. </p><p>Technology and business leaders have maintained that they cannot do without qualified personnel from other countries. But it is possible that there will be some “fixing,” especially because there is criticism that foreign companies, including Indian firms, have abused the system and US companies have used it to get workers cheap from outside to replace American workers. </p><p>The system is unlikely to face a major disruption. One fallout of the debate around the visa scheme is that the issue has been used by some sections in the US to create an anti-Indian narrative.</p>
