‘H-1B Visa System Is Scam’: US Commerce Secy Says Trump Admin Is Planning Big Tweaks

Last Updated:August 27, 2025, 08:34 IST

US Commerce Secretary said that he was directly involved in a plan to change the Green Card. This plan, if rolled out, will impact thousands of Indians who are working in America.

US Green Card change: Commerce Secretary says Trump plans to change Green Card (Reuters Image)

In a major announcement that will shake up ‘the American dream’, impacting Indians, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that the US intends to change the immigration system, which includes changes in the H1B visa programme and Green Card.

Lutnick outlined Donald Trump’s ‘Gold Card’ plan, and said that only wealthy foreigners who invest $5 million in the United States will be given US residency.

“The current H-1B visa system is a scam that lets foreign workers fill American job opportunities. Hiring American workers should be the priority of all great American businesses," Lutnick told Fox News in an interview.

“We give green cards. The average American makes $75,000 a year and the average green card recipient $66,000 a year. Why are we doing that? It’s like picking the bottom core," he explained.

Lutnick also said that he was directly involved in the idea to get rid of the existing lottery system for the allocation of H1B visas to foreign nationals with a more wage-based system.

“We’re going to change that programme because that’s terrible. We’re going to change the green card," he said.

“That’s the gold card that’s coming. And that’s we’re gonna start picking the best people to come into this country. It’s time for that to change," the Secretary added.

Talking about the proposed Gold Card, Lutnick claimed that there is a strong interest in the programme and there are 250,000 people waiting in line who will potentially generate $1.25 trillion in revenue.

In January 2025, Trump repeated his support for the H-1B visa program, which lets US companies hire skilled foreign workers. He said America needs “capable" and “talented" people from abroad, and the H-1B programme helps bring them in.

He argued that allowing “quality people" to come into the US helps boost the economy.

“You got to get the best people…We have to have the quality people coming in… By doing that, we’re expanding businesses, and that takes care of everybody… But what I really do feel is that we have to let really competent people, great people, come into our country, and we do that through the H-1B," Trump said.

During Trump’s first term, his administration put limits on H-1B visas, saying the programme was being “misused" and hurting the economy. Back in 2016, Trump had criticised the programme, claiming that companies were using it to replace American workers with cheaper foreign labor.

Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

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