America’s guest-worker H-1B visas sought in some unexpected fields like journalism and pickleball

Millions of Americans play pickleball, so when news broke that companies were applying to the government for a guest worker visa to hire immigrants as coaches, at annual salaries up to $95,000, condemnation was swift and severe.

“Abuse,” said one commenter. “Beyond absurd,” said another.

It’s not just pickleball. Clubs and colleges have sought to fill dozens of tennis and soccer coach positions with foreign guest workers through the H-1B visa program. Hundreds of news reporter positions have been submitted to the H-1B program, including by Bloomberg and the Daily Mail.

The program, intended to attract skilled foreigners, has long been criticized for allowing companies to import cheaper labor to undercut Americans. Some American workers said they were fired but were required to stay to train their lower-wage replacements.

The Trump administration has moved to crack down.

In a proposal announced Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called for rewriting the way H-1B visas are issued, giving new preferences to the highest-wage jobs. The government figures that this is a proxy for higher skills or, at the very least, a job that is tough to fill with American workers.

The goal is to curb “H-1B mills,” which churn foreign workers into the U.S. economy.

“Ultimately, prioritizing in the previously described manner would incentivize employers to offer higher wages or higher-skilled positions to H-1B workers and disincentivize the existing widespread use of the H-1B program to fill lower-paid or lower-skilled positions without effectively precluding beneficiaries with lower wage levels or entry-level positions,” Ms. Noem said in the proposal.

Last week, Mr. Trump announced a $100,000 fee on some H-1B applicants who want to bring in foreign workers.

Together, the plans significantly change how the country recruits H-1B workers.

“Employers who really, really need these highly skilled workers will be able to pay enough to get a visa. Employers who want cheap labor, less so,” said Rosemary Jenks, policy director at the Immigration Accountability Project.

Immigrant rights groups were horrified at the changes, particularly the $100,000 fee. Advocates acknowledged some “abuses” in the program but said the moves are part of a broader nativist push.

“We urge the Trump administration to focus on real solutions for immigrants, U.S. workers, and our communities, instead of creating confusion and trying to change the immigration system into a ‘pay-to-play’ mess,” said Asian Americans Advancing Justice.

The H-1B program allows 65,000 new basic visas a year, plus another 20,000 for foreigners who graduate from U.S. universities with a master’s or doctoral degree.

The visa lasts three years and can be renewed. It is not an immigrant visa, and workers are supposed to return home at some point. In reality, many go on to win full employment-based green cards or marry U.S. citizens, earning permanent residency and putting them on the path to U.S. citizenship.

Nearly 480,000 registration applications were filed this fiscal year, down from more than 780,000 in 2024.

Companies applying for H-1B visas must obtain Labor Department certification showing they offer competitive wages. Unlike other guest worker programs, they do not have to prove that they have tried to recruit Americans for the jobs.

Once they have certification, their applications are entered into the lottery run by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Under Ms. Noem’s proposal, jobs offering higher wages would have better chances in the lottery. The proposal must undergo the notice and comment process before it is finalized.

Meanwhile, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said she will initiate investigations into abuses of the H-1B visa.

In announcing the $100,000 fee, Mr. Trump cited a software company that had been “approved” for 5,000 H-1B workers this year while laying off more than 15,000 employees.

Disney information technology workers said they were fired but required to train their H-1B replacements before they could receive a severance package. Workers sued, but courts found Disney’s actions legal.

Experts said Mr. Trump appears to have broken procedural rules by acting unilaterally and that the $100,000 fee likely exceeds what the law allows.

Mr. Trump said he is operating under a section of law that allows him to bar the entry of any class of immigrant he deems detrimental to U.S. interests. Whether that includes imposing new fees will be determined by the courts.

Sam Arnold, one of the co-founders of Slate Pickleball Club in Northbrook, Illinois, said he had a particular woman in mind, so he applied for an H-1B visa.

“I needed coaches I could trust and develop and work with,” he said. “She’s attracted a lot of business. That’s tough to find in the rackets industry.”

He said he teaches pickleball using a “specific methodology” that is not universally accepted, so finding the right fit was tricky.

He won Labor Department certification, which means he was approved to offer the job to a guest worker, but he wasn’t selected in the lottery.

That wasn’t the end of the story. He said the woman went back to school and applied for optional practical training, a temporary work program for foreigners in the U.S. who have completed their student visas, so he was able to hire her.

“She’s young, she’s super athletic, she really wants to work. She’s willing to go all out to make things happen,” Mr. Arnold told The Washington Times.

Ms. Jenks said she hopes the Trump administration will curtail the training program and that H-1B workers shouldn’t be allowed to adjust to a pathway to citizenship.

“It should actually be a temporary visa instead of a way to stay permanently,” she said.

Although they grab attention, jobs for pickleball and tennis coaches and news reporters represent a small fraction of the applications submitted.

IT firms dominate. USCIS data shows Amazon.com Services LLC as the top recipient of H-1B visas this year, at 10,044.

Tata Consultancy Services LLC, which has been accused of operating as an H-1B “mill,” was second with 5,505, followed by Microsoft with 5,189. Meta and Apple fill out the top five.

Despite his recent moves, Mr. Trump has been bullish on the H-1B program.

Melania Trump, the president’s wife, was in the U.S. on an H-1B visa in the 1990s as a prominent fashion model from Slovenia. She won the EB-1 visa, which is reserved for foreigners with extraordinary ability, before becoming a citizen in 2006.

Mr. Trump has frequently used foreign guest workers in his business empire.

By the time of his 2016 campaign, he was less excited. His campaign website complained about H-1B visas because seeking American workers first was not required.

However, during a Republican primary debate in March 2016, Mr. Trump went rogue on his campaign team when asked about highly skilled foreign workers.

“I’m changing. I’m changing. We need highly skilled people in this country,” he said. “I’m softening the position because we have to have talented people in this country.”

Hours later, though, his campaign released a statement insisting he wasn’t talking about H-1B workers.

The issue arose again in December during Mr. Trump’s transition to his second term. Mr. Trump told the New York Post that he “always liked” the H-1B program and touted its use in his business empire.

“I have used it many times. It’s a great program,” he said.

Yet months later, he was in the Oval Office announcing his changes.

Immigration analysts suggested that Mr. Trump’s uncertain stance on the issue reflects a broader split within the Republican Party and seems to depend on which side of the debate has his ear.