Republican Rep. Riley Moore has called for the termination of the H-1B and OPT foreign workers programs just as the Trump administration has proposed a new rule to raise application costs to over $100,000.
The H-1B and OPT programs are a SCAM!
— Rep. Riley M. Moore (@RepRileyMoore) August 25, 2026
Americans have the talent or are willing to be trained. But companies keep going back to these programs because they are addicted to cheap foreign labor.
The United States is not an economic free trade zone. We are a sovereign nation. We… pic.twitter.com/kwi5y9Mn66
“I don’t believe that for a minute, that they have trouble finding people with skills in the U.S. to fill those jobs,” Moore replied when asked about companies hiring non-Americans due to an alleged lack of talent. “This isn’t about skills. This is about money. It’s about cheap labor. That’s what they’re looking for.”
“If you look at every H-1B visa that’s put out there, it’s paying lower than what the market value of an American who has graduated with the exact same degree,” Moore continued. “I mean, we’re the only people on the face of the planet, our labor force, that has to compete with labor all over the world inside their own borders.”
“The United States is not an economic free-trade zone,” Moore added. “We are a sovereign nation, and citizens have rights and privileges by being citizens of this country. All of those H-1B visas, whether it’s in the tech sector or otherwise, we have millions of people graduating from college every year who are qualified to do those kinds of jobs.”
The proposed rule under consideration from the Department of Homeland Security to impose heavy fees for choosing to hire foreign labor over American workers is now in an open comment period on the Federal Register site.
🚨Public Comment on the H-1B Fee is Open🚨
— Immigration Accountability Project Action (@iaproject) August 25, 2026
Don't miss your chance to share your opinion on the $103,265 fee. Don't let cheap labor advocates be the only ones flooding the system. https://t.co/Qp26ImTOVy
The open comment period will end next month on September 24.
The move comes as the Trump administration found that the OPT program was rife with fraud, with over 10,000 individuals on F-1 visas working supposedly bogus jobs in exchange for residency in the United States.
