President Donald Trump, in a rare defense of the benefits of immigration, has ignited debate by insisting that America lacks the “talent” needed to remain competitive on the world stage.
In last week’s interview with Fox News, Trump was arguing in favor H-1B temporary visa program when host Laura Ingraham interjected to state that there was “plenty of talent” in the U.S. that could take up the roles potentially filled by foreign-born, skilled workers.
“No, you don’t. No, you don’t,” the president responded.
“You don’t have certain talents, and people have to learn. You can’t take people off an unemployment line and say, ‘I’m going to put you into a factory, we’re going to make missiles.'”
Trump’s statements sparked backlash from elements within his base, who accused him of abandoning his past stance on immigration and prioritizing foreign-born workers over fostering domestic skills. And experts say the notion of a “talent shortage” in the U.S., while true in some regards, is more nuanced than a simple binary of too many jobs, not enough talent, and may not be the defense of the H-1B program Trump seems to be suggesting…
Hal Salzman, an expert in workforce development at Rutgers University, said he found Trump’s statements “puzzling” given his administration’s efforts to make temporary visas for both workers and students more exclusive, but said there was “no evidence of a talent shortage” in the U.S.
“If anything, there is an extreme shortage of jobs,” he told Newsweek. “Layoffs by tech companies are in the tens of thousands, my students (engineering and computer science) believe there is a miserable job market awaiting them.”