Other legal pathways to come to live and work in the US have also been tightened up, through various policy changes.

Dozens of countries the Trump administration has deemed a security risk have been subject to a full or partial freeze on visas and travel.

Enhanced vetting and new rules that send people residing in the US back to their home countries to apply for green cards has slowed that process down.

And in September 2025, a $100,000 fee on new H1-B visas for skilled workers, mostly held by Indians, stunned the US tech industry. In May this year, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services said on X, external that registrations for 2027 were down 40%.

“The data is a clear sign that the days of abusing the program with mass, low-wage registrations are over, and that the program is better serving its intended purpose of attracting highly skilled foreign workers and protecting the wages, working conditions and job opportunities of American workers,” the statement added.

While a court has blocked the $100,000 fee – for now – the threat of it appears to have deterred employers. But some experts have cautioned the administration’s aim of protecting American jobs, raising wages and stopping firms from outsourcing may prove elusive.

One study, from the Wharton School of Business, external, found that the H1-B changes would have “no significant impact” on the wages of US-born workers, with any reduction in competition offset by reduced productivity growth.