Obama Rebukes Trump, Calls Immigration America’s Strength
Pope Francis with former US President Barack Obama (Image credit X.com)
As Trump’s executive order imposes a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas, Obama defends diversity as the cornerstone of American exceptionalism.
By TRH Global Affairs Desk
NEW DELHI, September 21, 2025 — Former US President Barack Obama has delivered a pointed reminder of what he believes makes America exceptional—its diversity and its embrace of immigrants—just as Donald Trump signed a controversial executive order tightening the H-1B visa program.
Trump’s order, unveiled this week, imposes a $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions. The measure has sparked alarm in India, which accounts for more than 70% of H-1B visas annually, and in the US tech sector, which depends on global talent.
Obama, without directly naming Trump, underscored the philosophical divide: “We live in a big, complicated, raucous, diverse nation. That is what makes us exceptional. People from every corner of the globe can keep their cultures, pray in their own ways, and still salute the same flag.”
He added that immigration is not a partisan cause: “This is not a Democratic value or a Republican value. It is an American value. George W. Bush believed it. John McCain believed it. Mitt Romney believed it.”
The contrast could not be sharper. Trump has made restricting immigration a central pillar of his presidency—from limiting asylum and tightening borders to now targeting skilled worker visas. Supporters argue his H-1B policy protects American jobs; critics warn it undercuts innovation and fractures families.
Obama’s intervention reframes the debate, reminding Americans that immigration has always been more than an economic calculation—it is a defining part of the national creed. At stake is whether the US continues to see itself as a nation built by immigrants or retreats into insularity under the guise of protectionism.
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