This is big.  Through this executive order President Trump is defining fraud, corruption and abuse within the H1B visa system as a “national security threat.”  That designation gives DHS and State Dept officials an elevated power-set to immediately introduce corrective action.

….”The systematic and organized abuse of the H-1B program is also a national security threat”…

Many of us have wanted urgent action on this matter.  President Trump has addressed forcefully. [EXECUTIVE ORDER HERE]

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1. Purpose. The H-1B nonimmigrant visa program was created to identify uniquely skilled and highly specialized foreign temporary workers to strategically supplement the United States economy. Instead, the program has been widely abused by certain employers, third-party placement groups, and outsourcing firms to undercut and displace the supply of skilled United States labor. The large-scale, systematic abuse of the H-1B program to obtain non-qualifying foreign labor has undermined the additive purpose of the program and harmed the wages, working conditions, and job opportunities of skilled American workers.

The abuse of cheaper H-1B labor places downward pressure on domestic pay. H-1B visa holders earn far less than comparable United States-born workers, despite the statutory mandate that H-1B workers be paid equally to their domestic peers, with the estimated wage gap starting at $9,000 and climbing as high as $20,000 in H-1B reliant industries. One company even warned its shareholders that restrictions on cheap H-1B labor could force the company to use “local” workers, which “may only be available at higher wages.”

Many employers have laid off large numbers of highly skilled American workers, only to promptly hire large numbers of H-1B workers who are often lower-skilled and lower-paid. For instance, technology sector employers have collectively requested H-1B visas for hundreds of thousands of workers, yet have also laid off somewhere between 800,000 to 1.3 million American employees from 2022 through 2026. Employers have even forced laid off American workers to train their foreign replacements.

Many jobs held by H-1B workers eventually leave the United States entirely. Employers with outsourcing business models use teams of H-1B visa holders to replace United States workers at third‑party client businesses and liaise with other individuals working off-site from their country of origin. As soon as practicable, much of their own work is transferred offshore. In Fiscal Year 2026, the top six users of the H-1B program operating with this outsourcing business model accounted for over 25,000 H-1B cap registrations. One foreign country’s foreign minister even publicly admitted that H-1B “has become the outsourcing visa.”

(more…)

Following the previous discussion with leaders from South Africa, President Trump and Secretary of State Rubio have now announced visa restrictions for the nation of South Africa.

Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, authorizes the Secretary of State to render inadmissible any alien whose entry into the Unites States “would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”

STATE DEPT – As stated in President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) 14204, “Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa,” the United States remains gravely concerned about racially motivated crime and government-sponsored discrimination occurring against the Afrikaners and other minority populations in South Africa, including race-based discriminatory legislation, threats of land expropriation without compensation, and incitement of racial violence through dehumanizing chants and slogans.

The South African government has not adequately addressed the previously laid out concerns and so today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act targeting foreign nationals who are responsible for, or complicit in, the enactment or implementation of laws or policies that enable uncompensated land seizures, race-based discrimination, and/or the incitement of imminent violence against members of minority ethnic or racial groups in South Africa. The United States will not allow such behavior to go unchecked. These actions directly undermine peace, economic stability, and the rule of law, and they are incompatible with the pillars of America’s foreign policy.

We once again strongly urge the South African government to quickly address these egregious actions. {Source}

(more…)

Secretary of State Marco Rubio continues to impress; however, his response to the Wall Street Journalist narrative engineer is absolutely brilliant.

Following visits to Colombia and Ecuador, Secretary Rubio is in Peru today to discuss the “Shield of The Americas”; a joint collaboration and intensely strategic partnership between the United States and Latin American countries to eliminate corruption, arrest narcotraffickers and remove all corrupt elements.

During a news conference with Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori, Secretary Rubio addressed the Peruvian people in both English and Spanish as he explained the specifics of the Shield and what the partnership entails.  During the Q&A session of the press conference, a Wall Street Journal narrative engineer asked a question about sovereignty and the U.S. acting unilaterally if Peru didn’t agree to address the threat.

Essentially, Rubio responded by telling the journalist to stop working for the ‘Bureau of Imaginary Problems’.  I have prompted the video at the point of the question and then provided the transcript from that moment to the end.  The overall English audio-dub is not bad, so the entire presser is well worth watching:

[Transcript] – QUESTION:  Vera Bergengruen with The Wall Street Journal.  Mr. Secretary, you have stressed that the members of the Shield of the Americas are sovereign partners.  But if one of these governments refuses to act against one of these groups that Washington deems a terrorist threat, does the U.S. reserve the right to act unilaterally, including here in Peru?

And President Fujimori:  (Via interpreter) The question wanted more information about the partner of the Shield of the Americas.  This will include to collaborate with the United States here in the country.

SECRETARY RUBIO:  I’ll answer that question in English and Spanish.  I don’t know if you guys heard it.  Basically, the gist of the question is, if you’re a member of the Shield and refuse to act, does the United States – will the United States act unilaterally?

Well, if we were going to act unilaterally, why would we need the Shield?  We’re not – if we were interested in acting unilaterally, we have the capacity to act unilaterally.  The reason why we’re not doing it is because we want to do it with our partners.  It’s the most effective way to do it.  For us to confront transnational criminal groups, we need to do it inside the sovereign territory of countries, and we want to partner with those countries.  It’s in their interest to do it.  That is why we have the Shield.  That is why the Shield exists.

People make up these problems that don’t exist.  They’re getting ahead of themselves with these – these ridiculous sort of things that no one’s even contemplating.  The bottom line is the reason why we have a Shield is because we choose to act in partnership with our partners.  So it’s very simple.  This is not very complicated; let me explain this to you.  It’s a very, very simple equation.  We have a country that says we want to defeat these criminals, these terrorists, these evil, despicable human beings; we want to defeat them.  We want to work with America to defeat them.  And so we say, of course we want to work – what should we say to them?  No, we don’t want to work with you?  No, we’d like you not to do anything about these groups?

(more…)

This is one spectacular impromptu presser by Secretary of State Marco Rubio following discussions with Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa at Carondelet Palace.  All of it is direct, deliberate, targeted and without any reserved remarks held back due to regional sensibilities.

Secretary Rubio emphatically outlined how the United States is going to work with Latin-America officials to remove narco-terrorism in all its forms from the region like “cutting out a cancer.”  Rubio walks through the issues and the importance of direct confrontation, including the use of the U.S. military, the U.S. intelligence agencies and every element of power at our disposal to help leaders like President Daniel Noboa fight the corrupt gangs and domestic terrorist networks within the region.  Rubio’s strength of statements is exceptional.

These remarks come on the heels of the State Dept today designating corrupt Ecuadorian officials as facilitators of Foreign Terrorist Organizations [SEE HERE]. He also praised the government of Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa as being “the most involved and aggressive partner” the US has had in its work dismantling criminal networks and “bringing people to justice that have never been brought to justice before”.  Rubio outlined all of it, soup to nuts. This is a must watch presser:

STATE DEPT – […] Pablo Ramírez Erazo, former director of Ecuador’s Prison Authority; Wilman Terán Carillo, former judge on Ecuador’s National Court of Justice; and Ronaldo Xavier Guerrero Cruz, former criminal judge on Ecuador’s Judicial Council, each significantly abused their former government positions by accepting bribes from gangs linked to narco-terrorist organizations.  In exchange for bribes, these officials interfered with judicial, electoral, or public processes on behalf of Ecuadorian gangs linked to designated FTOs Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), Los Choneros, and Los Lobos.  

Pablo Bolívar Muentes Alarcón, former member of the Ecuadorian National Assembly; María Fabiola Gallardo Ramia, former President of the Guayas Provincial Court; Johann Marfetán Medina, former criminal judge of the Guayas Provincial Court; and Mayra Carolina Salazar Merchán, former public relations officer of the Guayas Provincial Court, each abused their former public positions by accepting bribes in exchange for interfering with judicial processes to benefit narco-terrorist organizations like Los Choneros and the Sinaloa Cartel, and their criminal facilitators. (SOURCE)

(more…)

Earlier today U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio participated in a joint signing ceremony with Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella at a Strategic Civil Nuclear Cooperation and Critical Minerals Framework discussion. Both leaders signed the Memorandum of understanding and delivered remarks to the assembled media.

Secretary Rubio delivered the majority of his remarks in Spanish for the audience and media.  His bilingual skills come in very handy as Secretary Rubio travels Latin America carrying forth the U.S. strategic policy for the western hemisphere. Video and Transcript Below:

[Transcript] – MODERATOR:  (Via interpreter) Good afternoon.  Good afternoon.  The Presidency of Colombia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would like to welcome you to the – to the ceremony of two memorandums of understanding between the Government of Colombia and the Government of the U.S. of America.

We are pleased to have His Highness President Abelardo De La Espriella, who is the president of Colombia, that’s going to be in this act as the witness – as a witness of honor.  And we would also like to greet Omar Bula Escobar, who is the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, and His Excellency Marco Rubio, who is the Secretary of State of the United States of America, who are going to sign both agreements.

(In English) Good afternoon.  The Presidency of the Republic of Colombia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcome you to the signing ceremony of two memoranda of understanding between the Government of the Republic of Colombia and the Government of the United States of America.  We are honored by the presence of His Excellency Abelardo De La Espriella, President of the Republic of Colombia, who joins us as witness of honor.  We also welcome His Excellency Omar Bula Escobar, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, and the Honorable Marco Rubio, Secretary of State of the United States of America, who will sign both instruments.

(more…)

Earlier today Secretary Rubio briefed the media pool from Homestead Air Reserve Base [😁] as he prepared for a trip to Latin America.  For the specific purpose and intents of the trip, Secretary Rubio directed the media attention to the Western Hemisphere approach outlined in the 2026 National Security Strategy [See Page, 15].

The video and transcript are below:

[Transcript] – SECRETARY RUBIO:  So this is an important trip, obviously.  We’re going to go visit three countries strongly aligned with the United States.  We have a lot of common interests with them, both taking on regional transnational criminal terrorism and also economic engagements.  We’re hoping to wrap up good, solid trade deals with all three of these countries in the foreseeable future.  And of course, a lot of strong cultural links.

So I think it’s part of a trend that you’re seeing in the Western Hemisphere of alignment with the U.S. and U.S. interests.  If you read our National Security Strategy – I’m sure all of you have read it very carefully page by page – it outlines one of our priorities is strengthening our presence in the Western Hemisphere.  And I think this trip and these meetings, as much as anything else, is continuing to further that goal as part of that strategy.

QUESTION:  Secretary Rubio, why not travel to Venezuela on this trip?  As you mentioned, this is all about the Western Hemisphere.

(more…)

Speaking without a prepared script or teleprompter, here is the transcript from Secretary of State Marco Rubio speech to the Foundry School.

We either reindustrialize our national economy, moving completely away from the ‘service driven’ narrative of years past, or we will forever consign ourselves to economic servitude.  This is also the American ideological perspective that undeniably affirms our baseline reason for cutting ties with Canada.

[TRANSCRIPT] – SECRETARY RUBIO: “Thank you. Thank you, all of you, first of all, for being here today. Thank you – Jacob Helberg’s doing a phenomenal job. Everybody at our department is doing a great job, and I’m very proud of the work the State Department is putting in into these and other initiatives.

One of the things we really wanted to do in our time here, and one of the reasons behind many of the reforms we undertook, is to allow us to have a State Department that could move at the speed of relevance, which is something we used to say all the time. Now it’s become almost a cliche, but it really is important – because world affairs are moving so quickly, economic developments are moving so quickly, and so much of that is internationalized, and it involves what we do around the world as well.

And so, I’m very proud of everybody at the Department of State and all the work that they’re doing to be a part of this initiative, along with our partners in the other agencies, because this truly is an interagency challenge that we’re facing.

What is the challenge that we’re here to talk about today? Let me put it to you this way: I think we made a terrible mistake in this country – not – many years ago, under people that were in charge at the time, especially at the end of the Cold War. And that was the idea that the ability to make things no longer mattered. And no matter – it didn’t matter any longer where things were made. They were to be made in the most efficient place at the lowest possible cost. That meant more profits for the company, lower costs for the consumers, and that was the way the world would work. There was this fantasy, really, that the whole world would become a free enterprise, democracies, and that everyone would look us.”

(more…)

This morning the Trump administration launched the Foundry School, a national program to train the entrepreneurs, engineers, technicians, and industrial leaders needed to rebuild American manufacturing. [Press Release Here]

“President Trump’s reindustrialization agenda has already brought trillions of dollars in industrial investment to American soil. Foundry School will focus on turning that investment into jobs. American manufacturers will need an estimated 3.8 million skilled workers by 2033 in semiconductors, defense, energy, and beyond, and Foundry School exists to make sure Americans fill those jobs. The program will put American workers first by equipping them with the skills needed to bring manufacturing jobs home and build careers in industries critical to our nation’s economic security.”

This critically important initiative launched today with the full support of the administration including remarks by both Vice-President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. ‘Industrial Security Is National Security’, noted Vance. ‘We Lost Our Ability to Make Things’ Rubio warned as both explain the importance of the objective.  WATCH:

.

(more…)

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has quietly been the lead on this initiative.  The discussions with Venezuela were working along slowly in the background as the negotiations with Canada on trade were proceeding.  Today, Canadian oil is replaced.

BREAKING NEWS: The United States of America has just entered into an Agreement with the Country of Venezuela on, THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY! At my direction, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, working closely with Highly Respected Interim President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, and, through a partnership with private business, have secured majority U.S. control of more than 65 BILLION BARRELS of proven Oil Reserves in Venezuela, at no cost to the American Taxpayer.

This Historic Transaction MORE THAN DOUBLES American Oil Reserves, greatly increases our Oil Supply, and will substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans, long into the future, while helping to continue to set Venezuela on a course toward Tremendous Success and Great Prosperity. This Transaction will greatly strengthen the already growing relationship between Venezuela and the United States! Thank you for your attention to this groundbreaking matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

~President DONALD J. TRUMP

(more…)

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has suspended all international visa reviews and interviews with applicants until all of the consulate staff undergo training on the appropriate review process.  The intent is to proactively identify visa applicants who are seeking temporary visas with the intent of claiming asylum status or similar permanent migration.

Each consular staff agent and officer is being tasked with scrutinizing applications to ensure the applicant does not become a “public charge” after entry.

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration has directed U.S. embassies and consulates around the world to postpone immigrant visa interviews while consular officers complete training on new public-charge guidance, temporarily stalling applications that have reached the interview stage.

The State Department told diplomatic posts to reschedule immigrant visa interviews until consular officers complete the training on how to evaluate whether an applicant is likely to become a public charge.

(more…)