Stunned airline passengers filmed the moment dozens of their fellow flyers urgently got off a plane after hearing Donald Trump imposed a $100,000 fee on H-1B foreign visas.
Footage taken at San Francisco Airport showed a number of Indian passengers trying to leave an Emirates flight moments before it was due to depart for Dubai.
Panic-stricken travelers were worried that leaving the US would mean that they would have to pay the hefty fee if they returned after the deadline at midnight on September 21.
It appears that the chaos stemmed from a confused message put out by the White House over how the new visa fee would work.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Friday that the fee would be an annual cost, before the White House said Saturday that it was a one-time fee.
The restrictions would also not impact existing H-1B holders, however the confusion over the sudden announcement sent flyers on the India-bound flight into a frenzy.
Passenger Masud Rana, who filmed the moment travelers tried to exit the plane, said he was delayed by over three hours due to the turmoil on board.
Typically passengers are not allowed to leave a plane once boarding has begun, however many could be seen leaving as the pilot addressed the ‘unprecedented’ situation over the loud speaker.
Stunned airline passengers filmed the moment dozens of their fellow flyers urgently got off an India-bound plane after hearing Donald Trump imposed a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas
Donald Trump has imposed a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for skilled workers on Sunday, and in separate order he introduced a new ‘gold card’ designed to help fast-track certain visas
The captain told passengers in the footage: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, it’s the captain speaking.
‘Due to the current circumstances, obviously, that are unprecedented for us here at Emirates, we are aware that a number of passengers do not wish to travel with us, and that’s perfectly fine.
‘All we ask is that if you wish to offload yourself, you do so.’
Rana wrote on his widely-circulated social media post showing the moment that the situation was ‘complete chaos.’
‘President Trump signed an order affecting both new and existing H1B visa holders, creating panic among many – particularly Indian passengers – who even chose to leave the aircraft,’ he wrote.
The announcement and confused details sparked travel mayhem across the US, with many foreign workers scrambling to get back to America in time.
British worker Esther, who lives in New York City, told the Daily Mail that Trump’s announcement ‘ruined’ her honeymoon in Paris because she was forced to cut her trip short and race back to the Big Apple.
Esther described the chaotic trip home as a ‘f***ing nightmare’, saying that she and her new husband woke up on Saturday morning to a wave of messages from friends and her work warning her of the new H-1B restrictions.
‘It was just mayhem and panic,’ she said. ‘My work told me I had to get back by midnight.’
She added that their original return flights to New York were around $500, but was forced to shell out over $4,000 for emergency flights to Boston just to make it back in time.
‘Everyone used to tell me that the H-1B visa was the better one to get,’ she recalled. ‘I’m regretting that decision now.’
While critics have argued that the visa is damaging to the American workforce, its supporters including Elon Musk have claimed that it is vital for attracting high-skilled global talent
Trump’s executive order came into effect on Sunday, and is designed to impact only new applicants for the H-1B visa, for high-skilled foreign workers.
While critics have argued that the visa is damaging to the American workforce, its supporters, including Elon Musk, have claimed that it is vital for attracting high-skilled global talent.
A separate order signed by the US President saw the introduction of a new ‘gold card’ designed to help fast-track certain visas for those willing to ‘make a significant financial gift’ from £1million.
Up to 80,000 ‘highly valuable’ gold cards are set to be readily available, with the program currently in its ‘implementation phase’, according to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Speaking at the Oval Office, Mr Lutnick said: ‘The company needs to decide… is the person valuable enough to have a $100,000-a-year payment to the government, or they should head home, and they should go hire an American.
‘This will ensure that the people they’re bringing in are actually very highly skilled and that they’re not replaceable by American workers.
‘Stop the nonsense of just letting people come into this country on these visas that were giving away for free. The President is crystal clear: valuable people only for America.’
As Trump announced the new visa rules on Friday, his Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick (left) appeared to confuse the rollout by declaring it was an ‘annual fee’ before the White House clarified it would be a one-time fee only for new applicants
Lutnick’s assertion that the new visa restrictions would be an annual fee appeared to be a mistake, and led the White House to clarify the next day that it is a one-time fee.
Amid the confusion, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X: ‘Those who already hold H-1B visas and are currently outside of the country right now will NOT be charged $100,000 to re-enter.
‘This applies only to new visas, not renewals, and not current visa holders.’
The new fee is the latest move by the President in his major immigration crackdown.
Explaining the new policy, Trump said: ‘The main thing is, we’re going to have great people coming in, and they’re going to be paying.’
However, Elon Musk previously vowed to go to ‘war’ with MAGA Republicans in defense of the H-1B visa program.
Musk, a naturalized US citizen born in South Africa, was a previous recipient of the H-1B visa. His electric-car company Tesla also obtained 724 H-1B visas this year.
The Tesla founder and billionaire’s remarks in support of the immigration visa came after pharma entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy said that American culture was to blame for its need to hire foreign workers.
‘A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math Olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian [the top student in a class], will not produce the best engineers,’ he said on X.
To that, Musk responded in a tweet that has since been deleted: ‘That pretty much sums it up. This was eye-opening.’
In a separate post, Musk declared: ‘The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B.
‘Take a big step back and F*** YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on the issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend.’
