Republicans slam Indiana University for using H-1B visas to fill digital marketing jobs: ‘Are zero Americans qualified for this job?’

Indiana Republicans criticize Indiana University for using H-1B visa Hiring for digital marketing positions questions why taxpayer-funded agencies can’t find qualified U.S. candidates.Andrew Ireland writes on X: “Taxpayer-funded Indiana University is using H-1B visas to fill digital marketing positions in Indianapolis.”He added, “Does anyone really believe that zero Americans are qualified for this job? This university has graduated thousands of marketing students. America’s jobs are for Americans.”According to recruitment documents, the position will begin on March 3, 2026, and run until the end of February 2029.Ireland has repeatedly expressed concerns about the use of the H-1B visa program by the state’s universities. In another article, he criticized Purdue University for hiring a foreign software engineer on an H-1B visa at an annual salary of $149,000. “Does anyone believe that not a single qualified American can do this job for $149,000 per year? The same schools have graduated tens of thousands of computer science students,” he wrote. “This has to stop.”He also objected to Purdue University Northwest’s H-1B petition for an assistant professor of marketing making $127,500 a year, asking: “Does anyone really believe that there are no Americans in the Chicago area who can teach marketing at a salary of $127,500 a year? The same university even has a PhD program for marketing students.”In fiscal year 2024, 399,395 H-1B applications were approved nationwide, an increase of 3% from the previous year, of which educational institutions accounted for 5.6%.The H-1B visa program allows U.S. employers to hire highly skilled foreign workers. The MAGA base believes it undermines the status of domestic graduates and takes away American jobs, while supporters including Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy say it helps attract top global talent.