In an executive order, President Donald Trump announced he would hike the price of H1B work visas, which used to cost about $5,000. Those visas will now cost $100,00 per person, per year, according to the new executive order.
H1B visas are generally used to fill high-skill jobs, like nurses, and allow for longer careers in the U.S. by providing a path to permanent residency, like a green card. In recent years, H1B visas have become increasingly popular for Alaska schools to hire teachers from abroad.
But there’s concern that many Alaska school districts can’t afford the price hike.
“With a pen stroke, we possibly have ruined the future of education for Alaska students,” said Cyndy Mika , the Kodiak Island Borough School District’s superintendent. She said she texted that to another superintendent in Alaska after she heard the news this weekend.
“I can’t imagine what our classes would look like without our classes would look like without those international teachers filling the need.”
There are over 30 teachers in Kodiak’s school district who were hired abroad, many of whom currently hold H1B visas. And earlier this year, Mika organized a recruiting trip to the Philippines for administrators representing the Nome, Bering Strait, and Kenai Peninsula school districts.
Districts across the state have faced shortages for teaching staff and struggled to fill positions with domestic hires, including from the Lower 48. For some, international hiring efforts are a sort of stopgap measure to ensure classrooms and kids’ needs are met.
Much of the justification outlined in Trump’s executive order, however, targets large information technology firms. But immigration lawyers, like Anchorage attorney Margaret Stock, say multiple industries – like Alaska’s public education system – are collateral damage.
“It’s been complete chaos since last Friday,” Stock said.
She said Alaska’s university system, healthcare, accounting, and financial service, and tourism sectors all use H1B visas, too. And Trump and his team haven't had consistent messaging about how they might be affected.
“It’s hard to figure out what to do when the president issues a proclamation that is then contradicted by everybody who works for the president,” said Stock. “It’s just hard to advise clients.”
She’s seen the White House and various federal agencies issue conflicting statements surrounding the new H1B fees. A staffer with Sen. Dan Sullivan’s office said via email on Tuesday that previously approved visa applications won’t be subject to the new fees. Mika’s heard something similar from the school district’s legal team.
But it’s unclear what final decisions will be made.
“They seem to be motivated mainly by collecting a lot of money from people, but they didn’t even roll out a way to pay this $100,000 per person fee,” Stock said.
Mika said she’s already working with Alaska’s congressional delegation to find some kind of solution for Kodiak and other school districts.
Rep. Nick Begich III, who was in Bethel this week, said he’s already brought up how important internationally hired teachers are with the Trump administration.
“I do support the ability to bring in J1 and H1Bs to support as a supplement to local Alaskans and Americans generally,” Begich said on a visit to KYUK in Bethel on Tuesday. “The education workforce in rural Alaska – we know it’s a hard job to fill and when you’ve got positions that go unfilled, it means kids are going uneducated.”
Staffers for Senators Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski both also said via text and email on Sept. 23 that there’s a lack of clarity and want schools to have the resources they need.
For now, the consensus is that everyone’s waiting for more details from the White House.
KYUK’s Sage Smiley contributed to this reporting.
