America’s white-collar workers have been fighting a war for our jobs, our wages, and our future. For 30 years, the H-1B visa program has been a corporate weapon, flooding our job market with foreign labor to undercut American salaries and displace our graduates. Congress has done nothing to stop it, leaving us to fend for ourselves. But now, a new proposal to raise H-1B wage requirements offers a powerful, immediate tool to fight back—and at White-Collar Workers of America, we’re all in. Let’s break down this wage hike, why we support it as a critical step, and how it can protect American jobs, salaries, and wages while we push for the ultimate goal: ending H-1B once and for all.
The H-1B Wage Hike Proposal: A Game-Changer We Can’t Ignore
On March 25, 2025, The Financial Express reported that the Trump administration is considering a significant wage increase for H-1B visa holders. The proposal would require U.S. companies to pay H-1B workers far above the current market rate—potentially between $150,000 and $250,000 annually, as noted in a March 21, 2025, post on X. This is a massive leap from the current minimum salary threshold of $60,000, which has been stagnant for years despite inflation and rising costs. The proposal also mandates that H-1B workers be paid the “median local wage” for their occupation, which could mean over $80,000 annually for a recently graduated software developer—a 72% increase over the current minimum, per The Financial Express.
Here’s why this matters: this wage hike doesn’t require a vote from Congress or the President. It’s a regulatory change that can be implemented swiftly through the Department of Labor or USCIS, bypassing the gridlock that has kept H-1B alive for three decades. Back in 2017, then-Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta proposed raising the H-1B minimum to $80,000, and similar ideas have surfaced since 2020. Now, with Trump back in office, we have a real chance to make this happen—and we’re urging the administration to act immediately.
Why We Support the Wage Hike: A Practical Tool to Protect American Jobs
At White-Collar Workers of America, our ultimate goal is clear: eliminate H-1B, OPT, L1, J1, and H4EAD visas entirely. But after 30 years of Congressional inaction, we can’t wait for the perfect solution while American workers suffer. The H-1B wage hike is a practical, immediate fix that can level the playing field for U.S. workers right now. By forcing companies to pay H-1B workers significantly more, this proposal makes it less appealing for corporations to hire foreign labor over Americans, directly addressing the wage suppression and job displacement that have plagued our workforce.
The H-1B program has long been a tool for corporate greed. A 2020 Economic Policy Institute (EPI) report found that 60% of H-1B positions in 2019 were certified at the two lowest wage levels—17% to 34% below the median for computer occupations. This means companies like Cognizant, Tata, and Infosys have been paying H-1B workers tens of thousands less than the median wage, forcing American workers to train their underpaid replacements before being laid off. Recent X posts echo this outrage: a January 17, 2025, post highlighted how Silicon Valley’s layoffs and hiring freezes have left American computer science graduates jobless, while companies push for more H-1B visas, often requiring U.S. workers to train their foreign replacements. A March 23, 2025, post called for mandating prevailing wages for H-1B workers to address wage suppression, a step this proposal takes head-on.
By raising the cost of hiring H-1B workers, this wage hike makes American workers the better choice. It’s a direct, actionable way to fight back against a program that has stolen opportunities from our graduates and professionals for far too long. We support this proposal because it’s a step we can take now—no votes, no delays, just results.
Impact on American Jobs, Salaries, and Wages: A Win for U.S. Workers
The wage hike’s impact on American jobs, salaries, and wages is a clear victory. First, it makes hiring H-1B workers far less profitable for corporations. If companies have to pay $150,000 or more for a foreign worker, they’ll be incentivized to hire Americans instead, opening up jobs for our graduates and professionals. With unemployment still a crisis—26 million Americans were jobless in 2020 due to COVID-19, and tech layoffs hit 1,000,000+ workers in 2020-2025, per EPI—and AI automating entry-level jobs (software development postings are down to 67% of their 2020 levels, per CBS News, January 2025), we need every job opportunity we can get.
Second, the wage hike will boost American salaries. By mandating that H-1B workers be paid the median local wage or higher, companies will have to offer competitive salaries to attract talent—whether foreign or American. This could raise the bar for tech salaries overall, benefiting U.S. workers in fields like software engineering, where H-1B workers are concentrated. This wage hike could push salaries even higher, ensuring American workers are paid what they deserve.
Finally, the wage hike tackles wage suppression head-on. A January 14, 2025, X post revealed how companies misuse H-1B visas for non-tech roles like marketing, flooding the market with foreign labor and keeping wages stagnant for Americans. Outsourcing firms like Tata and Infosys pay H-1B workers as little as $69,000 to $82,000 annually, while tech giants like Microsoft and Google pay $121,000 to $131,000—still below what many American workers demand, per a 2021 EPI report. By raising H-1B wages, this proposal forces companies to stop undercutting U.S. workers, giving us a fighting chance in our own job market.
The Outsourcing Threat: Trump Must Act to Stop It
There’s one potential challenge we can’t ignore: the risk of outsourcing. If H-1B wages rise to $150,000 or more, some corporations might try to move jobs overseas to countries like India, where wages are 90% lower, as noted in a 2021 EPI report. This isn’t a reason to oppose the wage hike—it’s a call to action for President Trump to step in and stop outsourcing in its tracks. Trump has the power to implement policies that penalize companies for offshoring jobs, such as tariffs on services imported from foreign affiliates or tax incentives for keeping jobs in the U.S. A 2025 study by the American Immigration Council (which supports H-1B visas) admitted that past H-1B restrictions led U.S.-based multinationals to increase employment in India, China, and Canada. We can’t let that happen again. Trump must act decisively to ensure that the wage hike leads to more jobs for Americans, not more outsourcing.
The Hidden Cost of H-1B: Draining American Resources
Beyond salaries, the H-1B program places an enormous burden on American communities by siphoning resources that should go to our own citizens. With millions of H-1B visa holders in the U.S.—over 180,000 new H-1B workers were hired by top employers in 2024 alone, per EPI—their presence strains our housing, transportation, and education systems. Companies should be required to cover the full cost of foreign workers’ housing, transportation, and schooling for their children, expenses that currently drain local resources. In cities like San Francisco and Seattle, where H-1B workers are concentrated, housing costs have skyrocketed, pricing out American families. Public schools are overcrowded, and transportation infrastructure is stretched thin, all while American taxpayers foot the bill. Forcing companies to pay these costs would not only make H-1B workers even less appealing to hire but also ensure that our communities’ resources are reserved for Americans, not foreign labor.
The Pro-American Path Forward: Wage Hike Now, End H-1B Next
The H-1B wage hike proposal is a critical tool in our fight to protect American workers, and we at White-Collar Workers of America fully support it. It’s a regulatory fix that can be implemented immediately, bypassing the Congressional inaction that has failed us for 30 years. By making H-1B workers more expensive, it opens up jobs for Americans, boosts our salaries, and fights wage suppression—all while we continue to push for the ultimate goal: the complete elimination of H-1B, OPT, L1, J1, and H4EAD visas.
But we can’t stop here. We need American Data Locality laws to ensure our data—and the jobs tied to it—stay on U.S. soil, handled by U.S. citizens. And we need Trump to take bold action against outsourcing, ensuring that the wage hike doesn’t push jobs overseas. President Trump has a chance to build on his 2020 executive order, which our group helped secure to block new H-1B visas. With unemployment still a crisis, AI threatening jobs, and corporations prioritizing profits over people, the time for action is now. The wage hike is a vital first step, but we won’t rest until the H-1B program is gone for good.
Join the Fight: Call the White House and USCIS to demand they implement the H-1B wage hike immediately, and urge Trump to stop outsourcing. Together, we can take back our jobs for Americans—because these are our jobs, and our future.
White-Collar Workers of America 