A hardline Republican lawmaker has introduced a draft legislation in the US Congress seeking an overhaul of the H-1B visa programme, including ending its use as a pathway to permanent residency in the United States.
Congressman Chip Roy introduced the American White-Collar Worker Jobs Act on Thursday. The proposed legislation also seeks to scrap the optional practical training (OPT) programme, which allows foreign students to work in the US for a limited period after graduation.
“For its nearly forty-year history, the H-1B visa has been abused, allowing employers to routinely sideline American STEM workers in favour of cheap foreign labour, while masking layoffs and wage suppression as ‘shortages.’ “It’s time to end this lottery-based pipeline and replace it with a system that prioritises merit, enforces real wage standards, and puts American white-collar workers first,” said Roy, who represents the 21st district of Texas in Congress.
The bill is backed by US Tech Workers, the Immigration Accountability Project, and the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
The legislation comes amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on legal migration programmes through tightening restrictions, prioritisation of higher wages for H-1B applicants, and imposition of a USD 1,00,000 fee on new petitions.
Beyond ending a pathway to permanent residency, the bill seeks to impose sweeping changes to how the H-1B visa programme operates.
The legislation would require H-1B applicants to demonstrate that they maintain a residence abroad and do not intend to abandon it, reversing the longstanding policy of so-called “dual intent,” under which visa holders can pursue permanent residency while working in the United States.
It would also repeal provisions that currently allow H-1B holders to extend their status while awaiting green card processing.
The bill would shorten the maximum duration of an H-1B visa from six years to two years, while prioritising applications offering higher salaries rather than allocating visas through the existing lottery system.
“The bill will effectively address many of the egregious aspects of the H-1B visa programme that have not merely encouraged but enabled corporations, universities, and NGOs to displace our most productive workers with cheaper and more quiescent foreigners,” Kevin Lynn, President, US Tech Workers, said in a statement.
Arizona Republican Congressman Eli Crane, a co-sponsor of the bill, said in a statement that it “delivers significant reforms that protect future generations instead of padding bottom lines at their expense.” “Congress should be doing everything in our power to prioritise our own citizens rather than facilitating their displacement,” Crane said.
Roy is retiring from Congress and had been in the race for the post of Texas attorney general. He lost the primaries for the attorney general election to fellow Republican Mayes Middleton.
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