US CEO backs H-1B, says $100,000 fee will hurt economy: 'Immigrant workers have different skill sets'

CEO of Texas's International Bank of Commerce Dennis Nixon spoke out in favor of the H-1B visa amid the raging controversy and said the fee of $100,000 won't impact the biggest sponsors like Amazon, Microsoft, Meta or Apple.

But entrepreneurs will struggle to hire workers as foreign talent will be pushed only to bigger corporations, as they will only have the ability to afford H-1Bs. Calling the new H-1B visa fee a 'prohibitive fee', Nixon said that more than 45% of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children, including Nvidia, SpaceX, Alphabet, and all of them started as small ventures. In an opinion piece in San Antonio Express News, Nixon said that it is a misconception that H-1Bs displace native American workers.

Before an employer can file for an H-1B visa, they have to ensure that hiring an H-1B worker will not displace a native worker. While complaints of a massive abuse in the system are rampant, the CEO said that immigrant workers have different skill sets, filling the types of jobs that complement American workers in the labor market rather thn competing for the same positiions.

"Immigrants are also consumers who live and work in the United States.

They contribute directly to the nation’s gross domestic product by investing their earnings back into the economy, driving growth and creating new jobs. They are more often of working age, and more likely to have children and start businesses at higher rates than native-born Americans — further expanding the labor market," Nixon wrote. "Since 1990, the H-1B visa program has offered expedited US entry to workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher.

These highly skilled workers must fill specialized positions that complement — not replace — American workers in top industries, including finance and technology," the CEO added.

America's workforce ageing, can't fill skill gap

According to Nixon, America's ageing workforce cannot fill the existing skill gaps. "Every day, nearly 11,400 American workers retire while only 7,212 enter the workforce. As skilled foreign workers leave the American talent pool, it is increasingly difficult to find qualified employees," he wrote. H-1B has emerged as the most contentious issue of the Donald Trump administration as the administration imposed an exorbitant fee so that companies can't hire H-1Bs but at the same time, President Donald Trump maintained that America needs H-1Bs for certain skills.