H1B visa programme faces onslaught

At least half a dozen Bills have been tabled contending that firms eats into American jobs

With the Trump administration seriously mulling H1B visa reforms, at least half a dozen Bills have been tabled in the US House of Representatives and the Senate, contending that the programme that is popular among Indian information technology (IT) firms eats into American jobs.

Authors of all these Bills from both the Republican and the Democratic parties believe that H1B work visas, which are highly popular among Indian techies and Indian IT companies, tend to replace American workers.

Even though this argument is disputed by research scholars, economists and Silicon Valley executives, these legislations are based on the premise that Indian techies are eating into American jobs.

In less than a week of Trump being sworn in as the 45th US President, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, and Assistant Senate Minority Leader Dick Durbin, introduced the “H1B and L1 Visa Reform Act” to prioritise American workers and restore fairness in visa programmes for skilled workers.

Grassley is chairman of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee.

Among other things, the H1B reform Bill proposes to eliminate the lottery system and give foreign students educated in the US priority on visas.

The Bill would prohibit companies with more than 50 employees, of which at least half are H1B or L1 holders, from hiring additional H1B employees.

It also explicitly prohibits the replacement of US workers by H1B or L1 visa holders.

The Bill, among other things, would also crack down on outsourcing companies that import large numbers of H1B and L1 workers for temporary training purposes only to send the workers back to their home countries to do the same job.

It explicitly prohibits the replacement of US workers by H1B or L1 visa holders. 

These provisions address the types of abuses that have been well-documented in recent press reports.

Democrat Zoe Lofgren, who represents a Congressional district in California that includes Silicon Valley, introduced “The High-Skilled Integrity and Fairness Act of 2017”.

As soon as the Bill, which proposes a skill- and wage-based system for allocation of H1B visas and seeks to more than double the minimum wage for an H1B visa holder to $130,000, was introduced, stocks of major Indian information technology went down and rattled the $150-billion outsourcing industry.

“It’s near-impossible to design an immigration system that selects only the highest-paid and still protects the inventiveness and meritocracy that has made Silicon Valley the centre of the tech world,” said Ridhika Batra, US head of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries. “Like all forms of protectionism, these measures by (the) US government would only lower standards and reduce productivity, eventually causing the US to lose the edge — and the income — that comes with being the undisputed champion of innovation.” 

The Bill, among other things, proposes setting aside 20 per cent of the annual allocation of H1B visas for small and start-up employers with 50 or fewer employees. 

On the table:

H1B and L1 Visa Reform Act

* To prioritise American workers and restore fairness in visa programmes for skilled workers.

* Bill proposes to eliminate the lottery system and give foreign students educated in the US priority on visas. 

* The Bill would prohibit companies with more than 50 employees, of which at least half are H1B or L1 holders, from hiring additional H1B employees. 

* It also explicitly prohibits the replacement of US workers by H1B or L1 visa holders. 

* It would also crack down on outsourcing companies that import large numbers of H1B and L1 workers for temporary training purposes only to send the workers back to their home countries to do the same job.

* It explicitly prohibits the replacement of US workers by H1B or L1 visa holders

Other bills

* The High-Skilled Integrity and Fairness Act of 2017: Proposes a skill- and wage-based system for allocation of H1B visas.

* Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2017: Proposes to eliminate the per-country immigration caps with a first-come-first-served system

* End Outsourcing Act: Aims to ensure that federal contracts are awarded to companies who hire US workers

* Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment Act: Proposes to lower overall immigration to 637,960 in its first year