An immigration row has erupted between supporters of Donald Trump over the long-standing U.S. visa program.

The dispute concerns the H-1B visa, which allows U.S. companies to bring skilled workers from abroad into certain industries.

Critics say the program undercuts American workers, but supporters say the visa allows the U.S. to attract the best professionals from around the world.

The president-elect has weighed in, saying he supports the plan — despite being critical of it in the past — and tech billionaire Elon Musk has defended it, saying it attracts "the top 0.1 percent or so." of engineering talent.”

Here is the data on who enters the United States on these visas.

The H-1B visa for skilled workers was introduced in 1990. Visas are usually valid for three years, but can be extended for up to six years.

Since 2004, the number of new H-1B visas issued each year has been capped at 85,000, of which 20,000 are reserved for foreign students earning a master's degree or higher at a U.S. university.

However, this cap does not apply to some institutions, such as universities, think tanks, and other nonprofit research groups, so more caps are often issued.

People can apply for H-1B visas only if they find employment with a U.S. sponsoring company or institution.

The U.S. government also granted extensions to those already working in the country.

According to the latest complete data we have, more than 386,000 H-1B petitions were approved in fiscal year 2023 (October 2022 to September 2023) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data.

This includes nearly 119,000 new H-1B visas and approximately 267,000 extensions of existing visas.

The 2023 total is down from more than 474,000 in 2022.

There have been efforts in the past to further restrict the H-1B program.

In 2017, then-President Trump Sign executive order Strengthen review of H-1B visa applications. The order is intended to enhance fraud detection within the program.

The rejection rate reached Record highs set during Trump's first administrationreaching 24% in fiscal year 2018, compared with 5-8% during the Obama administration and 2-4% under President Biden.

However, the total number of applicants approved under the Biden administration is similar to that during the first Trump administration.

In the three years (2018-2020) following President Trump’s executive order, approximately 1.1 million applications were approved, approximately 343,000 of which were new applicants.

About 1.2 million applications were approved in the first three years of the Biden administration (2021-2023), of which nearly 375,000 were new applicants.

Demand often exceeds the number of visas issued—most years, thousands more applications are submitted than approved.

USCIS effectively treats the H-1B program as a lottery when more applications are received than visas are available - something critics say highlights fundamental flaws in the system.

"Ultimately, if you were to create a skilled worker program for 'skilled' workers, you wouldn't issue those visas through a lottery," said Eric Ruark, research director at NumbersUSA, an organization that advocates for tighter immigration policies. ) means control.

"Obviously, that's not the way to find the best and the brightest."

We don't have a full report on 2024 numbers yet, but preliminary data suggests a sharp increase in applications.

Number of eligible registrations Published by USCIS It shows 758,994 applications for 2024 and 474,421 applications for 2023.

With Trump returning to the White House in January, Rucker said he believes the resolution of the H-1B debate will ultimately be one of the defining factors of his presidency.

“Is a second term pro-American workers, or is it a return to the old Republican position that immigration is meant to help employers — at the expense of American workers?” he said.

"It's going to be a tough battle in the second term."

The vast majority of approved applicants work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.

Most work in computer-related occupations—65% in fiscal 2023.

This is followed by architecture, engineering and surveying - about 10% of those approved in 2023 work in these fields.

As far as businesses are concerned, Amazon is the largest employer By 2024, more than 13,000 people on H-1B visas will be employed through the program.

Other familiar names like Google, Meta and Apple are also high on the employer list – at No. 4, No. 6 and No. 8 respectively.

Tesla, one of Elon Musk's companies that supports the program, ranks 22nd with more than 1,700 employees on H-1B visas.

California and Texas are the states with the largest number of people working on H-1B visas in 2024.

In fiscal year 2023, the median annual income of people approved to work in the United States on an H-1B visa was $118,000 (£94,000).

this People’s median annual income Computing and mathematics occupations are paid around $113,000 (£90,000) across the US - slightly less than salaries in similar industries through the H-1B scheme.

this Median household income Around $60,000 (£48,000) per year in the US.

While opponents of the H-1B system often argue that H-1B holders lower wages for American workers, some immigration lawyers and experts dispute that notion.

The vast majority of H-1B holders earn more than the “prevailing wage” for their occupation—a number determined by the Labor Department to calculate the average wage for similarly employed workers in a given region of the country.

Shev Dalal-Dheini, senior director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told the BBC that while prevailing wages "are not a comprehensive labor market test," they indicate that H-1B visa holders has not been fully tested. Negative impact on the rest of the workforce.

"Let's say you're a software engineer in Washington, D.C.. You look at the prevailing wage for software engineers in Washington, D.C., and you have to prove that you're being paid at least that amount," said Ms. Dalal-Dheini, who also worked in Washington, D.C. Handled H-1B issues while serving as a USCIS officer.

"You're not really lowering wages that way."

Additionally, Ms. Dalal-Dheini said U.S. companies often have to pay substantial fees to file H-1B applications in addition to attorney fees.

"Companies that end up sponsoring H-1B (recipients) have to consider fees of up to $5,000 to $10,000 on top of what they have to pay to American workers," she said.

"The bottom line is that if they can find a qualified American worker, most companies will probably choose to hire that American worker because of the cost savings."

The vast majority of those approved are from India.

this Latest data display About 72% of visas are issued to Indian citizens, followed by 12% to Chinese citizens.

About 1% are from the Philippines, Canada and South Korea.

About 70% of people entering the United States on H-1B visas are men, and the average age of those approved is about 33 years old.

Additional reporting by Becky Dyer.