Azoria CEO James Fishback speaks out on Walmart’s discontinuation of job postings for H-1B visa applicants, highlights the importance of hiring U.S. citizens and the upcoming September CPI report.
Following the Trump administration’s decision to add a $100,000 fee to H-1B visa applicants, a retail giant has reportedly suspended job offers to applicants who need a work permit.
Walmart stopped hiring people requiring H-1B temporary work visas because of the Trump administration’s decision to impose a $100,000 application fee, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The current guidelines primarily affect company employees, the outlet reported.
Government data shows The company is the largest user of H-1B visas among large retailers, employing approximately 2,390 visa holders.
“We have qualified Americans all over the country,” James Fishback, CEO of Azoria, said in response on “Varney & Co.” Wednesday. “[Students’] The big fear, with the youth unemployment rate now double the national average, is that they won’t find jobs because Google, Amazon, Meta and Apple are looking to foreigners from India and China to replace those positions. »
BUSINESS LEADERS WARN TRUMP’S $100,000 H-1B VISA FEE COULD DROP INNOVATION AND DRIVE TALENT OUT OF US
“Made in America must go further: made in America by Americans,” he continued. “The whole social contract of America is that we put our citizens first. When we have qualified Americans looking for jobs and they are ignored because a Fortune 500 company wants to get cheap labor from India and exploit that labor, that is not acceptable.”
A Walmart store in East Meadow, New York on September 16, 2025. (Getty Images)
Walmart did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Last month, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation restricting issuance of H-1B visas by requiring applicants to pay a $100,000 fee starting Sept. 21, a move that sparked a lawsuit with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber contends that these fees illegally exceed provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act that govern the H-1B visa program, including the requirement that the fees reflect the government’s processing costs.
Coresight Research founder and CEO Deborah Weinswig describes Walmart’s new partnership with OpenAI to integrate AI into the shopping experience ahead of the holiday season, in “The Claman Countdown.”
The H-1B visa program allows employers to hire foreign workers in specialized occupations that require specific expertise and at least a bachelor’s degree. H-1B workers have temporary authorization to work in the United States, although the visa is renewable.
The goal of the program is to allow employers to access talent not available in the domestic workforce, and by law, companies must certify that the wages of H-1B employees are comparable to those of similar U.S. workers.
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Walmart U.S. Chairman and CEO John Furner details the company’s philanthropic efforts in hurricane relief, how they are “keeping prices low” and expanding the brand’s presence.
“We should choose the best of the best, and that’s what the O-1 visa program allows us to do,” Fishback noted. “If you are a leading Chinese AI scientist and want to help OpenAI beat China’s AI arms race and put us at the top, get them involved.”
“I think the way to do that is to let the market decide how you do it, and you do that by creating a floor to completely end the H-1B program,” he added. “If you say you can’t afford $100,000 a year to pay a skilled worker, then at the end of the day, they’re not that qualified.”
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Eric Revell of FOX Business contributed to this report.
