April 2, 2007
DURBIN AND GRASSLEY INTRODUCE
FIRST BIPARTISAN H-1B VISA REFORM BILL
TO PROTECT AMERICAN WORKERS
[ WASHINGTON , DC ]- U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chuck Grassley (R-
IA) introduced “The H-1B and L-1 Visa Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act of
2007” late last week to overhaul the H-1B and L-1 visa programs to give
priority to American workers and crack down on unscrupulous employers who
deprive qualified Americans of high-skill jobs.
The H-1B visa program allows American companies and universities to employ
temporary foreign workers who have the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor’s
degree in a job category that is considered by the U.S. Citizenship &
Immigration Services to be a “specialty occupation”. The L-1 visa program
allows companies to transfer certain employees from their foreign facilities
to their U.S. facilities for up to seven years.
“Our immigration policy should seek to complement our U.S. workforce, not
replace it,” Durbin said. “Some employers have abused the H-1B and L-1
temporary work visa programs, using them to bypass qualified American job
applicants. This bill will set up safeguards for American workers, and
provide much-needed oversight and enforcement of employers who fail to abide
by the law.”
“This is about protecting the American worker,” said Senator Grassley. “
We’re closing loopholes that employers have exploited by requiring them to
be more transparent about their hiring and we’re ensuring more oversight of
these visa programs to reduce fraud and abuse. A little sunshine will go a
long way to help the American worker.”
Provisions of the Durbin-Grassley bill would change existing law in the
following ways:
Currently, the H-1B visa program is criticized for failing to protect
American workers.
· Under current law, only employers that employ H-1B visa holders as a
large percentage of their U.S. workforce are required to pledge that they
have attempted to find American workers before bringing in foreign workers.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would require all employers seeking to hire an H-1B
visa holder to pledge that they have made a good-faith effort to hire
American workers first and that the H-1B visa holder will not displace an
American worker.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would require that before an employer may submit an
H-1B application, the employer must first advertise the job opening for 30
days on a Department of Labor (DOL) website. DOL would also be required to
post summaries of all H-1B applications on its website.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would require that H-1B employers may not advertise
a job as available only for H-1B visa holders or recruit only H-1B visa
holders for a job.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would prohibit employers from hiring H-1B employees
who are then outsourced to other companies. This is a method that some
companies use to evade restrictions on hiring H-1Bs.
Currently, so-called “job shops” hire large numbers of foreign workers on
H-1B visas for short time periods to train and then outsource these workers
offshore.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would prohibit companies from hiring H-1B employees
if they employ more than 50 people and more than 50% of their employees are
H-1B visa holders.
Currently, the Department of Labor lacks sufficient oversight and
investigative authority over the H-1B program.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would give DOL the ability to conduct random audits
of any company that uses the H-1B program, and would require DOL to conduct
annual audits of companies with more than 100 employees that have 15% or
more of those workers on H-1B visas.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would give DOL authority to review employers’ H-1B
applications for “clear indicators of fraud or misrepresentation of
material fact.” Currently, DOL is only authorized to review applications
for “completeness and obvious inaccuracies.”
The Durbin-Grassley bill would give DOL 14 days to review H-1B applications,
instead of the seven days currently permitted.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would give DOL more authority to conduct employer
investigations and streamline the investigative process by, among other
things, permitting DOL to initiate its own investigations and eliminating
the requirement that the DOL Secretary personally authorize an investigation
.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would require the Department of Homeland Security (
DHS) to share with DOL any information in H-1B visa applications indicating
that an H-1B employer is not complying with program requirements.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would strengthen existing whistleblower protections
for the H-1B program and establish whistleblower protections for the L-1
program.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would authorize the hiring of 200 additional DOL
employees to administer, oversee, investigate and enforce the H-1B program.
Currently, the H-1B and L-1 visa programs are criticized for making it
possible for companies to hire foreign workers at lower wages and with fewer
rights than Americans, in turn creating incentives for companies to avoid
hiring Americans.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would require H-1B and L-1 employers to pay
employees the prevailing wage to ensure employers are not undercutting
American workers by paying substandard wages to foreign workers.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would require the government to provide H-1B visa
holders with information about their rights.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would require H-1B employers to provide an H-1B
employee’s immigration documents to the employee upon request.
Under current law, experts argue that employers can use the L-1 program to
evade restrictions on the H-1B program because the L-1 program does not have
an annual cap and does not include protections for American workers. As a
result, efforts to reform the H-1B program are unlikely to be successful if
the L-1 program is not reformed at the same time.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would limit issuance of L-1 visas for employees of
a “new facility” to an initial period of 12 months, which can be extended
after the employer demonstrates that the new facility is legitimate.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would prohibit so-called “blanket petitions” for
L-1 visas, requiring employers to submit a separate application for each L-1
visa.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would prohibit the outplacement of L-1 visa holders
.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would establish a process for DOL to investigate,
audit and penalize L-1 employers.
DURBIN AND GRASSLEY INTRODUCE
FIRST BIPARTISAN H-1B VISA REFORM BILL
TO PROTECT AMERICAN WORKERS
[ WASHINGTON , DC ]- U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chuck Grassley (R-
IA) introduced “The H-1B and L-1 Visa Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act of
2007” late last week to overhaul the H-1B and L-1 visa programs to give
priority to American workers and crack down on unscrupulous employers who
deprive qualified Americans of high-skill jobs.
The H-1B visa program allows American companies and universities to employ
temporary foreign workers who have the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor’s
degree in a job category that is considered by the U.S. Citizenship &
Immigration Services to be a “specialty occupation”. The L-1 visa program
allows companies to transfer certain employees from their foreign facilities
to their U.S. facilities for up to seven years.
“Our immigration policy should seek to complement our U.S. workforce, not
replace it,” Durbin said. “Some employers have abused the H-1B and L-1
temporary work visa programs, using them to bypass qualified American job
applicants. This bill will set up safeguards for American workers, and
provide much-needed oversight and enforcement of employers who fail to abide
by the law.”
“This is about protecting the American worker,” said Senator Grassley. “
We’re closing loopholes that employers have exploited by requiring them to
be more transparent about their hiring and we’re ensuring more oversight of
these visa programs to reduce fraud and abuse. A little sunshine will go a
long way to help the American worker.”
Provisions of the Durbin-Grassley bill would change existing law in the
following ways:
Currently, the H-1B visa program is criticized for failing to protect
American workers.
· Under current law, only employers that employ H-1B visa holders as a
large percentage of their U.S. workforce are required to pledge that they
have attempted to find American workers before bringing in foreign workers.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would require all employers seeking to hire an H-1B
visa holder to pledge that they have made a good-faith effort to hire
American workers first and that the H-1B visa holder will not displace an
American worker.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would require that before an employer may submit an
H-1B application, the employer must first advertise the job opening for 30
days on a Department of Labor (DOL) website. DOL would also be required to
post summaries of all H-1B applications on its website.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would require that H-1B employers may not advertise
a job as available only for H-1B visa holders or recruit only H-1B visa
holders for a job.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would prohibit employers from hiring H-1B employees
who are then outsourced to other companies. This is a method that some
companies use to evade restrictions on hiring H-1Bs.
Currently, so-called “job shops” hire large numbers of foreign workers on
H-1B visas for short time periods to train and then outsource these workers
offshore.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would prohibit companies from hiring H-1B employees
if they employ more than 50 people and more than 50% of their employees are
H-1B visa holders.
Currently, the Department of Labor lacks sufficient oversight and
investigative authority over the H-1B program.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would give DOL the ability to conduct random audits
of any company that uses the H-1B program, and would require DOL to conduct
annual audits of companies with more than 100 employees that have 15% or
more of those workers on H-1B visas.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would give DOL authority to review employers’ H-1B
applications for “clear indicators of fraud or misrepresentation of
material fact.” Currently, DOL is only authorized to review applications
for “completeness and obvious inaccuracies.”
The Durbin-Grassley bill would give DOL 14 days to review H-1B applications,
instead of the seven days currently permitted.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would give DOL more authority to conduct employer
investigations and streamline the investigative process by, among other
things, permitting DOL to initiate its own investigations and eliminating
the requirement that the DOL Secretary personally authorize an investigation
.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would require the Department of Homeland Security (
DHS) to share with DOL any information in H-1B visa applications indicating
that an H-1B employer is not complying with program requirements.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would strengthen existing whistleblower protections
for the H-1B program and establish whistleblower protections for the L-1
program.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would authorize the hiring of 200 additional DOL
employees to administer, oversee, investigate and enforce the H-1B program.
Currently, the H-1B and L-1 visa programs are criticized for making it
possible for companies to hire foreign workers at lower wages and with fewer
rights than Americans, in turn creating incentives for companies to avoid
hiring Americans.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would require H-1B and L-1 employers to pay
employees the prevailing wage to ensure employers are not undercutting
American workers by paying substandard wages to foreign workers.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would require the government to provide H-1B visa
holders with information about their rights.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would require H-1B employers to provide an H-1B
employee’s immigration documents to the employee upon request.
Under current law, experts argue that employers can use the L-1 program to
evade restrictions on the H-1B program because the L-1 program does not have
an annual cap and does not include protections for American workers. As a
result, efforts to reform the H-1B program are unlikely to be successful if
the L-1 program is not reformed at the same time.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would limit issuance of L-1 visas for employees of
a “new facility” to an initial period of 12 months, which can be extended
after the employer demonstrates that the new facility is legitimate.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would prohibit so-called “blanket petitions” for
L-1 visas, requiring employers to submit a separate application for each L-1
visa.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would prohibit the outplacement of L-1 visa holders
.
The Durbin-Grassley bill would establish a process for DOL to investigate,
audit and penalize L-1 employers.