How Trump's H-1B Reform Could Harm American Tech Innovation

President Trump sent shockwaves through the tech industry over the weekend by announcing a $100,000 payment for new employer-filed H-1B visa applications submitted after September 21, 2025. Since 1990, hundreds of thousands of foreigners have come to work for U.S. tech companies via the visa system. But in a proclamation, Trump wrote that the system had been "deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor." Many experts agree that the H-1B system is flawed and needs amending. But TIME spoke with three professors in economics or business who believe that Trump's new fee system could be counterproductive: that it might push talent overseas; render universities and nonprofits unable to recruit foreign experts; and harm American tech innovation, including in the rapidly emerging field of AI.