Vice President JD Vance has a message for corporate America, and it is not subtle.

In a post on X on Thursday, Vance wrote, "Our message to corporate America is simple: We're not going to let you lay off American workers so you can replace them with cheap foreign labor."

This isn't a new tune for the Vice President. Back in July 2025, he went after Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and other tech companies for cutting thousands of U.S. workers while simultaneously seeking more H-1B visas for foreign workers. His question then, as now: why are you laying people off and asking for more visas at the same time?

Trump Tightens H-1B Visa Rules

Vance's post lands amid President Donald Trump's latest executive order on the issue. Last week, the administration extended restrictions on the H-1B visa program through Sept. 21, 2027, including a $100,000 fee to be paid by employers for H-1B workers outside the U.S. seeking entry, subject to exceptions. The fee was first imposed on Sept. 19, 2025.

A federal district court ruled the $100,000 payment unlawful in June. The administration appealed, and the case is now before the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Meanwhile, another order signed last week directs key agencies to gather additional data on wages, industry conditions and job specialization when administering the H-1B program. It also instructs officials to consider employers' recent or planned layoffs of similarly situated U.S. workers when reviewing H-1B visa applications.

Separately, in August, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposed a $103,265 fee for employers filing H-1B petitions subject to the annual cap, including the 20,000 advanced-degree exemption. The fee is intended to cover federal immigration administration costs across DHS and the Departments of Justice, State, and Labor. Notably, no final decision has been taken on the same so far.

Immigration Policies Fuel Stagflation Risk

According to the White House, the 2025 Proclamation was followed by a 92% drop in H-1B registrations from the largest IT outsourcing firms and a nearly 97% decline in consular processing requests.

It also describes a shift away from lower-paid foreign labor toward higher-skilled, higher-wage workers. Before the proclamation, recent computer science and computer engineering graduates had unemployment rates of 6.1% and 7.5%, respectively, while the share of IT workers with H-1B visas had risen to more than 65%, according to the White House order.

Moody's chief economist Mark Zandi said Trump's immigration policies and other supply-side shocks are contributing to higher unemployment, weaker growth, and persistent inflation, raising the risk of near-term stagflation.