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- Reed Hastings backed Trump’s $100,000 H-1B fee as a fix for the lottery system.
- The Netflix cofounder said the tax would bring more certainty for high-value jobs.
- Big Tech may absorb costs, but startups warn they’ll be priced out of hiring talent.
Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings is backing Donald Trump’s plan to impose a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas, saying the policy would fix long-running issues with the US immigration system.
“I’ve worked on H1-B politics for 30 years. Trump’s $100k per year tax is a great solution,” Hastings, who was Netflix’s CEO for 25 years, wrote in an X post on Sunday.
“It will mean H1-B is used just for very high-value jobs, which will mean no lottery needed, and more certainty for those jobs,” he added.
The H-1B program allows US companies to hire foreign workers in specialized roles, particularly in tech and engineering.
Each year, more than 400,000 people apply for just 85,000 new H-1B slots available, forcing a lottery system that leaves companies unable to plan hiring and workers unsure if they can stay in the US.
A weekend of whirlwind and chaos
Hastings’ endorsement landed amid a whirlwind weekend for Silicon Valley.
Trump signed the executive order on Friday, with the fee taking effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on Sunday.
Memos sent to workers at Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Tesla, and Goldman Sachs on Friday urged H-1B and H-4 employees already in the US to stay put and advised those overseas to try to re-enter before the Sunday deadline.
On Saturday afternoon, the White House clarified that the fee applies only to new H-1B petitions and not to current visa holders or renewals, and that existing H-1B workers can continue to leave and re-enter the US.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the change would first apply in the next H-1B lottery cycle beginning March 2026, not visa renewals.
That guidance contradicted initial comments from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who had suggested the fee would also apply to renewals — a discrepancy that left employers and immigration attorneys scrambling through the weekend.
Inside airports and corporate legal teams, the uncertainty translated into real-world chaos.
A number of passengers on an India-bound Emirates flight leaving San Francisco deplaned one by one after getting word of the order, according to travelers who described a tense scramble as ground crews offloaded luggage and H-1B holders weighed whether to risk being stranded abroad.
Fallout across tech, business, and immigration
While Big Tech could afford to pay in select cases, startups and smaller firms may not.
“A $100K annual fee won’t bother Big Tech, but it kneecaps startups and bodyshops the same, and that’s a mistake,” Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan said on X on Saturday.
Data from the Department of Labor shows nearly half of all H-1B applications come from tech and science fields, and about 30% of roles pay $100,000 or less.
Even among giants, some employers may shift work abroad rather than pay.
Immigration lawyers told BI they expect lawsuits challenging Trump’s executive order, saying the text offers scant detail on mechanics like how the $100,000 would be paid, potential exemptions, and what happens if the order is later blocked.
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