Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri) tweeted on May 13, 2026, "We don't just have an illegal immigration problem, we have a legal immigration problem. Americans first."
The statement reflects a months-long campaign by the Republican senator to shift the immigration debate beyond border enforcement to include legal immigration programs he believes harm American workers.
Schmitt has repeatedly argued, particularly on Fox News programs like The Ingraham Angle, that programs such as the H-1B visa and Optional Practical Training are being systematically abused at the expense of American workers and students. His core contention is that corporations exploit these legal immigration pathways to hire cheaper foreign workers, displace American graduates, and avoid payroll taxes, making foreign labor more financially attractive than hiring Americans.
Schmitt has singled out the OPT program, which allows foreign students to work in the United States for up to 12 to 36 months after graduation, as a "cheap-labor pipeline for big business." He emphasizes that OPT workers are exempt from federal payroll taxes, providing employers roughly an 8 percent cost savings over hiring Americans. He also argues that universities have strong financial incentives to enroll ever more foreign students who pay full tuition.
On his Facebook page, the tweet was accompanied by a video stating, "Our legal immigration system is stacked against working people and now it's hitting home with white collar workers. This H-1B visa program is a..."
The tweet arrives amid a wave of Republican legislative activity targeting legal immigration programs. In April 2026, Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) introduced the End H-1B Visa Abuse Act of 2026, which would pause the H-1B program for three years, raise the minimum wage for visa holders to $200,000 per year, and eliminate OPT entirely.
Schmitt himself introduced the Protect America Act in February 2026, a sweeping four part immigration enforcement bill targeting sanctuary cities, illegal entry penalties, and NGO funding. The Trump administration also separately moved to impose a $100,000 fee for new H-1B holders in late 2025 and proposed raising prevailing wage thresholds by 21 to 33 percent in March 2026.
The phrase "Americans first" encapsulates Schmitt's stated priority. He has argued that American workers, students, and graduates should not have to compete against what he describes as a legally "gamed" system. He has made this case since at least late 2024, when he criticized H-1B abuses on Fox News Sunday and called for a merit based, reformed system.
The May 13 tweet signals that Schmitt intends to push this message further, indicating that even legal immigration must be reformed under the America First framework, not just enforcement at the border. Without doing this, the United States will continue to be demographically swamped, while its workers become economically dispossessed.
