Donald Trump’s former aide Steve Bannon shot to the centerstage Friday as the Trump administration’s recent visa decisions were seen as a victory of the Bannon camp. Bannon, an avid hater of the H-1B visa programs that allows US companies to hire foreign talent, quickly reacted to the accolades, as he wrote, “Next Victory: H1B Visa Scam”. A POLITICO report gave the verdict that it was the Bannon camp’s win over the tech camp as Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the administration would now revoke the visas of Chinese students. The Silicon Valley camp would definitely not like this decision as 70 per cent of Silicon Valley’s highly educated tech employees are from overseas and China supplies more than any country except India, the report said noting how silent the tech industry is on this major policy change — though very little has been shared by Rubio.Meta, Google, Microsoft and NVidia formally declined to comment to POLITICO and it said Tesla, Amazon and Apple did not respond to its emails. “The visa move looks like another win for the Bannon wing,” the report gave its verdict.
What Steve Bannon thinks about H-1B
Steve Bannon has openly called the H-1B program a scam. Openly declaring a war against Elon Musk, he called for an end to the program. Bannon thinks H-1B is a scam of the highest order that deprives Americans of their jobs. Reacting to the USCIS’s latest approval of over 120,000 H-1B applications for 2026, Steve Bannon said it’s outrageous at a time when AI is posing a threat to US jobs. “The number of H-1Bs we need this year is ZERO. Everyone issued one should go home, and every billet should be filled by an American,” Bannon said. The recent layoffs announced by companies, including Walmart, have been linked to the H-1B and US tech workers are demanding H-1B ban.
