'Bodyshops come and meet the CEOs, then fire...': Stephen Miller blasts H-1B as 20 states sue Trump over $100k fee

As 20 states sued the Donald Trump administration for its $100k fee on H-1B visa, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, known for his strong anti-immigration stand, said these lawsuits will not hold water as President Donald Trump deserves all the credit to be the first president who took action against companies for using low-wage labors.

Miller said President Trump has all the authority to decide who gets to enter the US and he blew off the lid of a whole model where tech companies fire Americans who train low-wage foreigners. Referring to the third-party companies that hire Indians for IT roles in the US as bodyshops, a known phrase in the industry, Miller said that these bodyshops are run by Americans in the middle of their career. They meet the CEOs of IT companies and then fire Americans after they train their low-wage replacements, Miller said, adding that the president has the right to decide who would enter the country and who won't. The Donald Trump administration imposed a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas so that companies do not hire foreigners in bulk and only high-skilled employees are hired. But President Trump asserted that he won't abolish the H-1B program as there are certain talents that need to be hired from foreign countries. “If hospitals and clinics must either pay an extra $100,000 per doctor to leave positions unfilled, the consequences are clear: fewer providers, longer wait times, reduced access to care and growing health disparities,” Bonta said.

The visa fee triggered a major controversy and now 20 states have sued the administration claiming that the Trump administrations does not have the power or legal authorty to rewrite immigration law. “No president can ignore the co-equal branch of government of Congress, ignore the Constitution or ignore the law,” California attorney general Rob Bonta said.

List of 20 states that joined the H-1B lawsuit

The lawsuit says the Department of Homeland Security skipped the required notice-and-comment procedures where a proposal is put out for the public to comment before it becomes a rule.