Walmart stops hiring H-1B visa workers due to Trump’s $100,000 fee policy

Following the Trump administration’s decision to add a $100,000 fee to H-1B visa applicants, one retail giant has reportedly temporarily halted job offers to candidates who require a work permit.

Walmart has stopped hiring individuals who need an H-1B temporary work visa due to the Trump administration’s decision to charge a $100,000 application fee, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The outlet reported that the current guidelines primarily affect corporate employees.

government data shows The company is the largest user of H-1B visas among major retailers, employing approximately 2,390 visa holders.

“We have qualified Americans all over this country,” Azoria CEO James Fishback said in response to the Varney & Co. program. Wednesday. “[Students’] The biggest fear, with youth unemployment now double the national average, is that they won’t get jobs as Google, Amazon, Meta and Apple turn to foreigners from India and China to fill those roles.

Business leaders warn Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee could hurt innovation and drive talent away

He continued: “Made in America must take a step forward: Made in America by Americans.” “The whole American social contract is that we put our people first. When we have qualified Americans looking for jobs, and they are ignored because a Fortune 500 company wants to get cheap labor from India and exploit that labor, that is not acceptable.”

Walmart did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Last month, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation restricting… Issuance of H-1B visas By requiring applicants to pay a $100,000 fee as of September 21, a move that prompted a lawsuit from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber says the fees unlawfully exceed the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act governing the H-1B visa program, including the requirement that the fees reflect government processing costs.

The H-1B visa program allows employers to hire foreign workers in specialized occupations that require specific experience and at least a bachelor’s degree. H-1B workers have temporary authorization to work in the United States, although the visa is renewable.

The goal of the program is to give employers access to talent not available in the local workforce, and by law, companies must certify that wages for H-1B employees are similar to those earned by similar U.S. workers.

Get FOX Business on the go by clicking here

“We have to take the best of the best, and that’s what the O-1 visa program allows us to do,” Fishback noted. “If you are a top AI scientist from China and want to help OpenAI overcome the Chinese AI arms race and take us to the top, please feel free to get them involved.”

“I think the way to do that is to let the market decide how to do it, and you do that by creating a floor with the scope to actually end the H-1B program entirely,” he added. “If you’re saying you can’t afford $100,000 a year to pay some skilled workers, they’re not all skilled at the end of the day.”

Read more from Fox Business

FOX Business’ Eric Revell contributed to this report.