Trump, in his craziest move yet (and that is saying something), has just imposed a hundred grand per year as ‘staying fees’ for holders of H-1B Visas.
Granted, the current lottery system was not in the best interests of USA. At the very minimum, it should have been changed to a system which favoured the most sought after people i.e. those with the highest salaries which US companies were willing to pay.
But the new step practically kills the H-1B in one swift stroke.
And as reams are written on how this will affect India, no one is yet saying about those who will be affected the most.
The US Universities.
They are done for.
US University education has itself worked as a lottery system wherein you pay tonnes of cash for a degree just with the hope of somehow slipping into permanent residency for good.
Now all those who bought into that lottery find that the tickets are duds.
And those who were issuing those tickets, the US universities, will find that there are no takers.
And that their bloated costs will not be compensated by the miserly US student. They need fat wallets of overseas students, which are no more.
Many universities will close down.
Many parts ot the economy who catered to them will take a severe hit.
And a source of part time slave labour will be halted.
While US companies shift jobs to GCCs – Global Capability Centres.
Not good times for MAGA.