The H-1B visa program, a key pipeline for skilled foreign workers and tech, has recently been upended by President Donald Trump.

Recent executive order now mandates the companies pay $100,000 per application a move.

The White House says will protect American jobs.

But critics warn it could shrink the talent pool, raise costs, and push innovation overseas.

So what's really changed to benefits the most and how might this impact the economy?

Hello and welcome to USA Today's The Excerpt.

I'm Dana Taylor.

Today is Thursday, October 23, 2025.

Join me to unpack the latest with the H-1B program and the state of employment in the tech

industry writ large is Daniel Costa, Director of Immigration Law and Policy Research

at the Economic Policy Institute.

Thanks for joining me, Daniel.

Thanks so much for having me.

Let's start with the changes.

What were they and was the tech industry prepared for this?

Well, the main change was a new $100,000 fee on H-1B visas, and there was a lot of confusion

about which visas these applied to and who exactly, which applicants they applied to.

And it turns out, after additional guidance and clarifications from the Trump administration,

that it applies only to H-1B visa applicants who are outside of the country and for only new H-1B visas.

I must say, though, that there's still no process in place to implement this change in this fee.

There's still no form.

There's no actual way to do it, even though the fee is under the terms of President Trump's proclamation,

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