H-1B row: MAGA senator slams 20 blue states for blocking Trump's visa crackdown: 'What are we doing...'

Republican senator Eric Schmitt took to social media to slam the Democratic states that are trying to block the Trump administration's H1-B crackdown.

In a lengthy post on X, Schmitt described how each Blue state is using the visa programme for certain reasons and hence trying to block the GOP crackdown.


The MAGA senator said: "20 Democrat states are suing the Trump Administration to block its H-1B visa crackdown. These states claim they need H-1Bs to import skilled foreign workers. But let's take a look at how they're actually using these visas."

California

Schmitt first attacked Blue stronghold and Gavin Newsom's territory of California. He said that California's AG, Rob Bonta, accused the Trump administration of trying to "shut out the skilled workers America depends on."

Schmitt said that California has been the site of some of the most "egregious H-1B abuse."

He used the example of Southern California Edison: Hundreds of US tech workers were laid off and then forced to train their H-1B replacements just to receive their severance package.

One laid-off American worker said: "They told us they could replace one of us with three, four, or five Indian personnel and still save money. They said, we can get four Indian guys for cheaper than the price of you."

Wisconsin

Eric then took aim at Democratic Tony Ever's Wisconsin. The Republican claimed that motorcycle manufacturer Harley Davidson, headquartered in Milwaukee, has been sued in federal court for partnering with Indian outsourcing firms to lay off Wisconsin IT workers and force them to train their H-1B replacements.

Connecticut

Like other Blue strongholds, Eric said that multiple major companies in Connecticut have fired American tech workers in high numbers and forced them to train their H-1B replacements.

Eric claimed that one laid-off American in Connecticut was forced to train 10 additional workers back in India via web conferencing.

Illinois

Schmitt said that Illinois is "another plaintiff." He claimed that Illinois' Democratic senator Dick Durbin has been pushing for H-1B reform for decades.

The US workers who were fired in the state put American flags outside their cubicles in protest before they left.

New Jersey

Eric said that New Jersey is "home to Toys "R" Us, which brought in H-1B workers from India to shadow employees for weeks (even following them to the restroom) so the foreign workers could create manuals on how to do the jobs themselves. Then the Americans were laid off."

Washington

Eric said that Microsoft recently announced mass layoffs while applying for thousands of H-1B visas in the Blue stronghold.

Minnesota

Schmitt claimed that Minnesota's largest employers have laid off hundreds of IT workers and outsourced them to India. He also accused Oregon's Attorney General of using H-1Bs to fill the position of "intern".

Schmitt ended by saying: "The H-1Bs were sold as a way to keep America 'globally competitive.' Instead, they've been used to import millions of foreign nationals to replace American workers—and transfer entire industries into the hands of foreign lobbies."