Fresh data released by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on April 24 has reignited the political fight over the H-1B visa programme, with Senator Eric Schmitt accusing technology companies of replacing American workers with foreign hires.
According to the FY2025 H-1B report, India remained the largest recipient country with 283,772 approvals, far ahead of China’s 49,161 approvals. Overall, USCIS approved 406,348 H-1B petitions during the financial year.
Reacting to the numbers on Tuesday, Schmitt criticised the programme and said US workers were being pushed aside.
“While Washington pats themselves on the back, American workers are told to ‘upskill’ or get replaced by H-1B hires. The entire system is designed to let companies take advantage of the law, while American grads and workers pay the price,” Schmitt wrote on X.
The Republican senator also accused major technology firms of promoting what he described as an unfair hiring system while laying off US employees.
“An ex-visa officer in India shared the dirty secret: 70-90% of Indian applicants gamed the system with fake credentials. Then, Indian workers hire their own while axing American jobs. Once they’re in, they stay, bringing more, while American talent gets left out,” Schmitt wrote, referring to earlier interviews by former US foreign service officer Mahvash Siddiqui.
What the FY2025 H-1B data shows
The USCIS report showed:
• 406,348 total H-1B approvals
• More than 62% of approvals were for technology and IT-related jobs
• India accounted for nearly 70% of all approvals
• About 72% of approvals were extensions or renewals rather than first-time hires
• China received close to 50,000 approvals, many in science and technology sectors
Schmitt also raised concerns about Chinese nationals working in sensitive sectors.
“Why on earth should the American people lose their jobs to fund CCP crimes?” he wrote, accusing China of using visa holders to gain access to intellectual property and technology.
Pushback against ‘flooding’ claims
Immigration entrepreneur James Blunt pushed back against Schmitt’s remarks, arguing that the data did not support claims of large-scale displacement of US workers.
“So we went from ‘millions flooding in’ to 400k approvals… with 70% being renewals of people already here. That’s pretty low for a trillion-dollar economy,” Blunt wrote in response on X.
“If the argument needs inflated numbers to work, it’s probably not a strong argument to begin with. Appreciate you posting the actual data though, it tells a very different story.”
Blunt also argued that the number of approved Indian H-1B workers was relatively small in the context of the US labour market.
“That’s like a few high schools’ worth of people, not flooding the market,” he added.
OPT programme also under scrutiny
The latest debate comes weeks after Arizona Representative Eli Crane introduced the “End H-1B Visa Abuse Act of 2026”, a proposal that also targets the Optional Practical Training (OPT) programme used by international students after graduation.
Schmitt has repeatedly criticised OPT, calling it a backdoor route into the US labour market.
“OPT is not in the laws passed by Congress. It’s a regulatory creation cooked up by Big Tech lobbyists to avoid Congress’s cap on H-1B visas,” Schmitt wrote on X last month.
He also questioned whether the programme was consistent with the original purpose of F-1 student visas.
“OPT violates Congress’s requirement that F-1 visa holders enter the US temporarily and solely for the purpose of pursuing a course of study,” Schmitt said.
“OPT came into this world through agency action, so it can leave through agency action,” he added.