A day after U.S. President Donald Trump spoke in support of H-1B visas, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the United States will continue to use the visa programs and emphasized that an increasing number of foreign-born individuals are becoming naturalized citizens under the Trump administration.
In an interview with Fox News, Noem stated, “We’re going to continue to use our visa programs. We’re just going to make sure that they have integrity, that we’re really vetting individuals who come to this country, that they want to be here for the right reasons, that they’re not supporters of terrorists and organizations that hate America.”
Noem was asked what the administration’s position is on H-1B visas in the wake of Trump’s latest remarks that America needs to bring in talent because it doesn’t have “certain talents.”
“And that’s what I think is so remarkable … under the Trump administration, we’ve accelerated our process and added integrity to visa programs, to green cards, to all of that. But also, under this administration, more people are naturalizing than ever before,” she said.
She went on to say, “More people are becoming citizens because we’re not only streamlining and incorporating some of the processes back into our immigration policies, but we’re also making sure that these individuals who come to our country and get that privilege are actually here for the right reasons.
The Biden administration has allowed “thousands of terrorists” into the US, Noem says
Noem claimed the Biden administration allowed “thousands of terrorists” into the US by opening the southern border and abusing asylum, protection and visa programs, which she said were later fixed.
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She added: “It’s remarkable what President Trump has done, and it’s because he’s a great leader, he’s a visionary, and this man will go down as a legend in history as our greatest president ever.”
Trump defended the H-1B visa program and emphasized the need to bring in global talent. “I agree, but you also have to bring in talent,” Trump said during an interview with Laura Ingraham on Fox News.
He addressed whether the issue of H-1B visas would be a top priority for his administration, noting that raising wages for American workers would be difficult if the country brought in hundreds of thousands of foreign workers.
When Ingraham mentioned, “We have a lot of talent,” Trump responded, “No, you don’t, no, you don’t. You don’t have a certain talent. And people have to learn. You can’t take people out of unemployment and say, ‘I’m going to put you in a factory, we’re going to make rockets.'”
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He also cited a case from Georgia where authorities targeted illegal immigrants even though foreign experts from South Korea with experience in battery manufacturing were essential. “You know, making batteries (is) very complicated. It’s not an easy thing and it’s very dangerous. A lot of explosions, a lot of problems. They had, like, 500-600 people in the early stages of making batteries and teaching people how to do it. Well, they wanted them to get off the ground. You’re going to need that… I mean, I know you and I don’t agree that you’re going to build a $1 billion factory and take people who five they haven’t worked in years, and they start making rockets, that’s not how it works.”
The Trump administration has stepped up scrutiny to prevent abuse of the H-1B visa program, widely used by technology companies to hire foreign workers, with a large portion of H-1B holders being Indian professionals.
In September 2025, Trump issued a Proclamation titled “Restricting the Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers,” in which he imposed a $100,000 payment requirement for certain H-1B petitions filed after September 21, 2025. Last week, the administration opened roughly 175 investigations into “abuse of H-1B, non-existent jobs” and low-wage workers.
“As part of our mission to protect American Jobs, we have opened 175 H-1B abuse investigations,” the US Department of Labor said on X.
The post added that under President Trump and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the agency will continue to prioritize American workers. Chavez-DeRemer said on X that the Department of Labor is “using every resource at our disposal to stop H-1B abuse and protect American Jobs. Under the leadership of @POTUS, we will continue to invest in our workforce and ensure that high-skill job opportunities come first to American workers!”
