The Trump administration has unveiled a sweeping overhaul of the US visa system, positioning it as a decisive shift from what it calls the “open-border agenda” of the previous four years.

At the centre of the reform is the creation of a high-value “Gold Card” visa program, signed into existence by President Donald Trump through an executive order, which offers foreigners a pathway to US residency and citizenship at steep entry points—USD 1 million for individuals and USD 2 million for businesses. 

According to Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the initiative is designed to attract only “extraordinary people at the very top,” who are expected to spur job creation, establish businesses, and inject resources into the US economy. Trump said the program could generate billions of dollars in revenues to reduce taxes and federal debt, while Lutnick estimated potential Treasury inflows exceeding USD 100 billion.

Complementing this elite visa is a harsh new restriction on the existing H-1B program, widely used by US tech and STEM industries to source skilled foreign workers. Through a presidential proclamation, a drastic USD 100,000 annual fee is now imposed on H-1B visa applications, payable by US-based employers, effectively deterring widespread use of the route.

Lutnick framed the employment-based green card system as “illogical,” asserting that it had previously admitted foreign workers in the “bottom quartile” of earnings around USD 66,000 annually, a wage bracket seen as competing with American labour rather than adding value.

The administration’s message is clear: America will no longer accept foreign professionals seen as “taking jobs from hard-working Americans” but will only allow entry to those viewed as net economic multipliers at the highest levels.

In rhetoric underscoring political lines, Lutnick denounced Democrats for having allowed “floods of illegal aliens,” contrasting it with Trump’s new “America First” architecture of immigration policy. By linking visa reform with tax revenue, debt reduction, and job creation, the administration is seeking to reposition immigration policy as a fiscal as well as social safeguard.

While critics are likely to argue that such measures may shrink the talent pool critical to US tech and STEM competitiveness, Trump and Lutnick insist these programs realign the immigration system to its “intended purpose” of benefitting the US economy and citizen workforce first.

Based On ANI Report