President Donald Trump signed his “Buy American, Hire American” executive order on Tuesday in an effort to prevent companies from choosing low-wage foreign workers over Americans. The order takes aim at the federal government’s H-1B visa program, which is supposed to help businesses hire highly-skilled, temporary workers from other countries. But critics of the program say it undercuts American workers and that most H-1B visas simply go to IT workers. But supporters say the program is vital to the tech industry, and argue that President Trump’s changes could hurt innovation. In this hour, we discuss President Trump’s order and how it could affect Silicon Valley.
President Trump Signs Executive Order Targeting H-1B Visas
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President Donald Trump signs an executive order to try to bring jobs back to American workers and revamp the H-1B visa guest worker program during a visit to the headquarters of tool manufacturer Snap-On on April 18, 2017 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Guests:
Sam Harnett, reporter, KQED
Anastasia Tonello, first vice president American Immigration Lawyers Association; managing partner, Laura Devine Attorneys
Ron Hira, associate professor of political science, Howard University; research associate, Economic Policy Institute; author, "Outsourcing America"
Gokul Gunasekaran, software engineer
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