Amid the ongoing row over H-1B, Senator Eric Schmitt said he came across numerous examples of hospitals, universities and other employers hiring foreign H-1B workers as DEI staffing. Diversity, equity and inclusion of US companies ensure increased representation of underrepresented groups, while H-1B is an employment program based on skill. But Schmitt alleged that companies have been using the H-1B pool to fill DEI positions. As the Senator wrote to the USCIS to look into the matter, he cited examples of Yale New Haven Health which filed LCA for H-1B visas for the role of a DEI specialist in 2021. “Examples range from large banks and law firms to universities, healthcare systems, and even municipal park districts. Obviously, DEI positions are plainly non-technical and ideological in nature, and appear to fall outside the “speciality occupation” intent of the H-1B statute,” the Senator wrote.“More to the point, in light of everything we know about DEI, it’s alarming that American employers appear to be importing foreign workers to work in these roles — placing non-Americans in positions where they are tasked with policing the speech and thought of our own citizens.”DEI is a toxic and anti-American institution, Schmitt said, adding that DEI’s marriage with H-1B is “beyond the pale”. “Rather than recruiting genuinely exceptional top-level talent, in many cases the H-1B visa is now regularly used to staff middle management bureaucracies. Rather than 160+ IQ rocket scientists, it’s being used to import HR managers, customer service representatives, and so on.”

$100,000 H-1B visa fee

The Donald Trump administration, since the beginning, vowed to overhaul the H-1B program that allows tech companies to hire STEM graduates from other countries. Over the years, the program earned a bad name of stealing US jobs as hiring foreigners, notwithstanding their skill, became cheaper. The Trump administration hiked the fee to $100,000 which the tech companies will have to pay for hiring H-1Bs.