Washington DC [US], September 29 (ANI): The US Department of Labour on Sunday (local time) said that companies must end H1-B 'abuse'.

The Labour Department also called on US companies to hire American workers.

'End H-1B abuse. Hire American,' the Department of Labour said in a post on X.

https://x.com/USDOL/status/1972378359276699795

'We're fighting for the American Dream,' it said.

https://x.com/USDOL/status/1972437278275596731

The announcment follows US President Donald Trump's surprise order imposing a USD 100,000 fee for the H-1B visa, impacting the largest group of beneficiaries of the skilled-worker program.

The H-1B visa is a work visa that's valid for three years and can be renewed for another three years. Economists have argued the program allows US companies to maintain competitiveness and grow their business, creating more jobs in the US.

US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick lauded the Trump administration's recent overhaul in its visa programmes, announcing that these new visa programmes will ensure foreign workers provide 'significant benefit' to the US by ending practices where they 'take jobs from hard-working Americans' and exploit the economy without any meaningful contribution.

In a post on X, moments after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order for a 'Gold Card' visa programme with fees set at USD 1 million for individuals and USD 2 million for businesses, as well as issuing a proclamation imposing a USD 100,000 fee on H-1B visa applications, Lutnick outlined the shift from what he called the 'open-border Democrats' disastrous agenda' of the past four years, which he accused of flooding the country with illegal immigrants at the expense of US citizens.

'For the past four years, open-border Democrats endlessly flooded the country with illegal aliens at the expense of hard-working Americans. The Trump administration is completely reversing course on that disastrous agenda. These programs guarantee that recipients who come to work in America must provide significant benefit to our great country. We are ending workers taking jobs away from hard-working Americans and taking advantage of our economy and providing nothing in return. The Trump Card begins to restore our immigration system to its intended purpose: significantly benefitting America,' Lutnick wrote in his post. (ANI)