Dive Brief:
- Sens. Chuck Grassley and Dick Durbin introduced a new H-1B reform bill they say will better protect U.S. workers.
- Grassley and Durbin say abuse of the H-1B visa "is real" and the need for reform urgent.
- The two senators have made repeated efforts to reform the H-1B program since 2007.
Dive Insight:
The new “H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act" will require all employers who seek to hire an H-1B worker "to first make a good faith effort to recruit American workers."
"The H-1B visa program was never meant to replace qualified American workers, but it was instead intended as a means to fill gaps in highly specialized areas of employment that cannot be filled by Americans," said Grassley.
The new bill "explicitly prohibits the replacement of American workers by H-1B or L-1 visa holders," said the senators in a joint statement.
The bill would also give the Department of Labor more authority to investigate and audit employers, and require users to provide "extensive statistical data" about the H-1B program.
However, the bill faces strong opposition from the technology industry and U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch, among others.