Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt (Mo.) said that U.S. workers "have been left behind by this economy" during a discussion on "Fox News Sunday" about the H-1B work visa, a key program to attract international talent that’s been criticized as too complicated and susceptible to abuse.
During an interview with host Shannon Bream, Schmitt was asked about the recent debate about the H-1B work visa on social platform X, which has intensified.
"I think this is an important thoughtful debate that's happening, but the context that we need to, I think, keep in mind here is that the American workers have been left behind by this economy," he responded.
"Many factory jobs have been sent overseas, and I think the abuses of the H-1B program have been evident, where you have sort of the sons and daughters of those factory workers lost their jobs, got white collar jobs as accountants and they are...training their replacements, the foreign workers who are undercutting their wages," he continued.
The debate appeared to originate from a suggestion from Sriram Krishnan, Trump’s pick for White House policy adviser on artificial intelligence, last month that Musk examine removing caps on green cards for skilled immigrants. Krishnan's comments resurfaced in recent days after Trump appointed him to serve in his incoming administration.
"So the first order business, I think, for the Trump administration is the deportations that are going to begin on day one, the executive orders that are coming," Schmitt said. "I do think President Trump has talked about reforming this system, the H-1B system. But the broader issue here is mass migration that has undercut jobs, wages and in increased housing costs."
