(MENAFN- Live Mint) US President Donald Trump seemed to defend H-1B visa holders when he said in an interview on Tuesday, "We have to bring in talent". He suggested that the United States "does not have plenty of talent".

"You can't take people off the unemployment line and say, 'go make missiles,'" Trump said in an interview with Fox News.

During the one-on-one interview, Trump was asked, "If you want to raise wages for Americans, you can't flood the country with thousands of foreign workers.”

The US President reacted, saying, "I agree, but we also do have to bring in talent."

When the interviewer said "we have plenty of talent," Trump denied: "No, we don't...You don't have certain talents, and people have to learn."

"You can't take people off the unemployment line and say, 'go make missiles,'” Trump said.

'I like competent people coming to US'

In January this year, Trump had said he likes both sides of the argument on the H-1B foreign guest workers' visa, noting that the country needs "very competent" and "great" people, which is possible through this visa programme.

“I like both sides of the argument, but I also like very competent people coming into our country, even if that involves them training and helping other people that may not have the qualifications they do. I don't want to stop...,” Trump was quoted by PTI as saying during the event along with Oracle CTO Larry Ellison, Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, and Open AI CEO Sam Altman.

Trump had then said that he had also used the H-1B visa programme.

"We want competent people coming into our country. And H-1B, I know the programme very well. I use the programme. Maître d', wine experts, even waiters, high-quality waiters, you've got to get the best people. People like Larry, he needs engineers, NASA also needs... engineers like nobody's ever needed them," Trump said.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

Trump's $100,000 fee on H-1B visas

In September, the Trump administration slapped a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas. The move stunned and confused employers, students and workers from the United States to India and beyond.

The application fee was earlier $215, plus other relatively nominal processing charges. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had said the fee would be applied annually, for a total of $600,000 over the maximum number of renewals allowed. The White House clarified Saturday that it was a one-time fee and said it would not apply to current visa holders.

Trump also rolled out a $1 million“gold card” visa for wealthy individuals.

The moves are certain to draw lawsuits charging that the president was improperly sidestepping Congress with a dramatic overhaul of the legal immigration system.

(With inputs from agencies)

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