Yet another Bill has been introduced in the US Congress with the stated aim of reforming the H-1B and l-1 visa regime in order to curb “fraud and abuse” of these work visas used extensively by Indian IT firms and software personnel.
It is the fourth Bill to be introduced in the US Congress this season and comes at a time when the Trump administration is still deliberating on its plans in respect of these guest worker visas. All the Bills are seen to be targeting the Indian IT firms in the name of protecting American workers.
Curiously enough, one of the co-sponsors of the new Bill is Indian-American lawmaker Ro Khanna.
“This legislation will offer reforms that eliminate the abuse of the H1-B visa programme. As the son of immigrants, I know that immigrants strengthen our nation and economy. But we cannot allow for companies to underpay foreign workers and use them to replace American workers,” said Khanna, a Democrat from California who was elected for the first time to the House of Representatives last November.
“Instead, we need American companies to invest in our own workforce. The bill will prevent the exploitation of foreign workers while still recognizing the contributions immigrants make to our economy,” said Khanna, who represents California’s 17th district in the San Francisco Bay Area’s tech heartland.
A section of the Indian-American community made known its displeasure over Khanna’s involvement in this pursuit. “Please note: Ro Khanna, an Indian American politician funded heavily by NRIs, is championing restrictions on H1B,” tweeted Rajiv Malhotra, a former tech executive.
The prime mover of the Bill is New Jersey Democrat Bill Pascrell, Jr., with Virginia Republican Dave Brat and Arizona Republican Paul A. Gosar being the other co-sponsors.
“We have skilled, high-tech professionals here in America,” said Congressman Pascrell. “Many are unemployed and carrying the debt of advanced degrees. Some businesses, by ‘in-sourcing’ and exploiting foreign workers, are abusing the visa programs – undercutting our workforce to reap the rewards.”
The Bill, according to Pascrell, would “close loopholes in the H-1B and l visa programmes to reduce fraud and abuse, provide protections for American workers and visa holders, and require more transparency in the recruitment of foreign workers”. Abusing the visa programme “to get cheap labour hurts the American middle class” is “something I cannot accept”, he added.
Separately, senior Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who has moved his own bipartisan bill on H-1B along with Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, criticized President Trump for failing to crack down H-1B visa abuse.
“I note with concern that in recent weeks one of your largest campaign donors has promised that you will not crack down on H-1B abuses and instead will seek to increase the number of H-1B visas granted each year,” Durbin said in a letter to Trump, adding that with H-1B petitions for the next fiscal year due to be accepted from April 3, the administration must act immediately to prevent further harm to American workers.