SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — When Rob Coverdale started as superintendent of South Dakota’s K-12 Crow Creek Tribal Schools in 2023, 15 teaching positions were vacant.
Within nine months, he filled the vacancies with Filipino teachers, most of whom arrived on H-1Bs, a visa for skilled workers in professional occupations.
“We hired H-1B teachers simply because there were no other applicants for the position,” Coverdale said. “So they’re certainly not taking jobs away from Americans. They’re filling jobs that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to fill.”
now new $100,000 fee Applying for H-1B visas has become a thorny issue for rural communities like Coverdale, which rely on immigrants to fill skilled professions such as education and health care.
The Trump administration announced the fee on September 19, claiming that employers: exchange American workers brought in cheaply from overseas. The White House has since said the following about the fee: Not applicable We have provided a form to request fee waivers for existing visa holders.
H-1B is primarily relevant to Indian technical workers. Big tech companies are the biggest users of the visa, with nearly three-quarters of those approved coming from India. But there are also essential workers, such as teachers and doctors, who don’t fit into that category.
Over the past decade, the United States has faced shortages in these and other areas. One in eight public school positions are either vacant or filled by unqualified teachers, according to the American Medical Association. shortage We will add 87,000 doctors over the next 10 years. Shortages are often exacerbated in small rural communities, where low wages struggle to fill jobs and basic necessities such as shopping and home rental options are often lacking.
H-1B and J-1 visas provide communities with the option of hiring highly trained and certified immigrants. The J-1 is a short-term visa for cultural exchange programs and is not subject to the new fees, but unlike the H-1B, it does not offer a path to permanent residency.
meanwhile large company Melissa Sadolph, executive director of the National Rural Education Association, said while they may be able to absorb the new fees, that is not an option for most rural areas.
“This could actually be the salary and benefits of one or even two teachers in some states,” she says. “Putting that price tag on just one hire just puts that position out of reach for local budgets.”
A coalition of health care providers, faith-based organizations, and educators lawsuit On Friday, he called for an end to H-1B fees, saying they harm hospitals, churches, schools and industries that depend on the visas. The Department of Homeland Security declined comment and referred inquiries to its website.
Filling classrooms that Americans don’t go to
Coverdale said areas like Stephen, where Crow Creek is based, are having a hard time attracting workers, in part because they are isolated. Stefan said it’s about an hour’s drive from the nearest Walmart or clothing store.
“The more remote you are, the harder it is for staff to get into schools and serve children,” he said.
Among Coverdale’s hires is Mary Joy Poncetores, who has 24 years of teaching experience in the Philippines and currently teaches history at Crow Creek. It was a cultural adjustment, but Poncetorres said she has made friends and Stephens is now her second home.
“I come from a private school,” she said. “When I came here, I thought it was more rural…but maybe I was looking for a similar atmosphere, where I could take my time and do things at a slower pace.”
Many immigrants like Poncetorres leave their families behind to pursue the experience and higher wages that work in the United States offers.
Sean Rickert, superintendent of the Pima Unified School District in Pima, Arizona, said his school will stop recruiting H-1B teachers if new tuition fees are imposed. “I just don’t have any money,” he said.
Schools can also use J-1 visas to bring in immigrant teachers, but the short tenure means high turnover.
“It’s very important that we find permanent residents, people who can buy homes, people who can be part of the community,” said George Shipley, superintendent of Bison Schools in Bison Town, South Dakota. “So the H-1B opens up that possibility. In my opinion, it’s really important to actually move from a J-1 visa to an H-1B.”
Without sufficient staff, schools may hire uncertified teachers, consolidate classes, increase special education administrator capacity, or stop offering some courses. Shipley said if there is a future teacher shortage at Bison, some classes will be forced to move online.
In rural areas, reliance on immigrant teachers is concentrated in more difficult specialties, Sadolf said.
“Finding qualified high school advanced math teachers is much more difficult than filling second- and third-grade classroom positions,” she said.
Filling the gap in the domestic doctor shortage
Bobby Mukkamala, president of the American Medical Association and a physician in Flint, Michigan, said the fees could be a “huge problem” for health care. Without enough doctors, patients have to drive further and wait longer for treatment.
According to the AMA, a quarter of the country’s doctors are international medical graduates.
“The shortage of doctors, especially in rural areas, is going to be a big problem,” said Mukkamala, whose parents came to the United States as international medical graduates. “People who graduate from here and want to go into medicine obviously have a choice, and they’re going to choose Detroit, they’re going to choose Chicago, they’re going to New York, they’re going to Los Angeles, they’re going to San Francisco. … This is kind of the place that everyone goes to.”
Major medical societies are calling on the Trump administration and lawmakers to grant fee waivers to immigrant health care workers.
“Given the staffing and financial challenges our hospitals already face, the petition fee increases outlined in the September 19 proclamation may prevent many hospitals from continuing to hire essential medical staff and may force them to reduce the services they are able to provide,” the American Hospital Association said in a statement.
Alison Roberts, vice president of human resources at Prairie Lakes Healthcare System in Watertown, South Dakota, said the change could be disastrous for rural American health care.
“If not ultimately waived, the difference between the current rate and the $100,000 fee will really squeeze out small rural practices,” she says.
