US Vice President JD Vance has called the H-1B visa programme “completely broken” and said he would support scrapping it, accusing companies of using the system to replace American workers with lower-paid foreign employees.In a video shared on X, Vance said the programme had been “totally taken advantage of” by technology companies, accounting firms and other businesses. He distinguished between hiring highly skilled foreign professionals and using H-1B visas to reduce labour costs.“If you’re going to bring in an accountant making $45,000 a year to replace an accountant who is an American making $60,000 a year, that’s not you using the programme to bring in a genius,” Vance said.“That’s you destroying American jobs and defrauding the American people,” he added.Vance defends $100,000 H-1B feeVance also defended the Trump administration’s controversial $100,000 payment requirement for certain H-1B petitions involving workers outside the US. The White House introduced the measure in September 2025 and extended it for another year in September 2026.Vance said the payment was intended to discourage companies from using the programme to hire cheaper foreign labour.“If you’re just trying to replace an American accountant with a cheaper foreign accountant, then you’re not going to pay $100,000,” he said.However, the fee is currently blocked following a federal court ruling. A second US district judge in California blocked enforcement of the $100,000 fee, finding that the administration had not followed the required rulemaking procedures.Vance’s remarks come as the Trump administration pursues broader changes to the H-1B system. A September 18 executive order directs the Departments of State, Labour and Homeland Security to consider whether an employer has recently laid off, or plans to lay off, similarly situated US workers while reviewing H-1B applications. It also directs the Labour Department to review previously filed labour-condition applications for possible violations.The administration has separately introduced a weighted H-1B selection system that gives greater weight to higher-paid positions.