Exclusive: H1-B Atty Blackwell Encouraged by Prospect of Reform from White House

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Attorney Sara Blackwell tells Breitbart Texas exclusively that a discussion at the White House about the controversial H-1B foreign guest worker visa program was productive and “encouraging,” though it did not yield any direct results.

Blackwell tells Breitbart Texas exclusively that the discussion was facilitated by senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller and that President Trump was initially expected to attend.

Blackwell represents Americans fired by U.S. companies after being told they would be replaced by H-1B labor.

“There’s no doubt that this is the same Stephen Miller that we’ve known that’s in the White House,” Blackwell told Breitbart Texas. “[He] still cares about this issue.”

Blackwell said the meeting largely focused on what the President and Congress could do for the H-1B visa, but said no reforms were discussed.

“It was not directed at anything,” Blackwell told Breitbart Texas. “We just met for an hour discussing H-1B. That doesn’t mean reform isn’t being discussed.”

Howard University Professor Ron Hira, a longtime critic of foreign guest worker visas, was in attendance at the meeting. He previously testified before Congress that the H-1B program can be an avenue for big business to profit off cheaper, foreign labor while displacing Americans.

Under the H-1B regime, at least 85,000 new foreign workers are brought to the U.S. every year, often taking once high-paying jobs from Americans who are fired and forced to train their replacements.

Foreign workers in the U.S. often remain in the country for years, applying for green cards which are allotted to roughly one million per year.

Without the H-1B, computer science job availability in the labor market would be up 11 percent and wages in the tech industry would have increased by five percent, Breitbart News reported.

While there have been no specific reform proposals yet by the Trump White House, the Department of Justice under Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ leadership has demanded that U.S. companies not discriminate against Americans to favor foreigners, Breitbart Texas reported.

The Trump Administration has created a resource for Americans who are the victims of H-1B visa abuse to file a formal complaint, Breitbart Texas reported.

Blackwell told Breitbart Texas that the meeting was “encouraging” and she was “grateful” to discuss the issue with White House officials.

“I would attend as many times as they needed,” Blackwell said. “I’m really glad H-1B is being discussed.”

John Binder is a contributor for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.