Bipartisan Legislation Introduced to Fix American Job-Killing Visa Mess

U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ) introduced a long overdue bill to close the multiple loopholes in the H-1B and L-1 visas. Called the H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act, the legislation would protect U.S. workers and crack down on foreign outsourcing companies’ abuses that deprive qualified Americans from gaining employment and getting high-paying jobs. U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) is a co-sponsor.

New bill would give Americans a fair chance at good jobs.

In his press release, Pascrell wrote that America produces many talented high-tech professionals who, because of an abundant oversupply of foreign-born H-1B visa workers, cannot find or keep good jobs. Unscrupulous employers also victimize the visa holders. Pascrell called American worker displacement and overseas worker mistreatment “unacceptable.” That’s an understatement.

The new bill’s provisions include a ban on hiring H-1B employees if corporations employ more than 50 people, and more than half of their existing employees are H-1B or L-1 visa holders. Another condition in Pascrell’s legislation is that visa holders be provided with a list of their employment rights before they enter the U.S. so that they’re better protected against mistreatment or underpayment of wages.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) endorsed the H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act. IEEE President Peter Eckstein wrote that “Reports of Americans being fired and replaced by non-Americans, who will never be invited to become Americans, can no longer be dismissed as mere ‘anecdotes.’ Rather, outsourcing companies dominate the H-1B and L-1 programs, annually costing America tens of thousands of good, middle-class jobs,” a conclusion that Californians for Population Stabilization has repeatedly agreed with.

Seeing a Democrat like Pascrell, who has an “F” current and career grade from NumbersUSA, is a sign that he’s joined the legions of Americans that, as AFL-CIO Government Affairs Department Director William Samuel said in his endorsement, “… are deeply committed to ensuring program reforms that support the rights and interests of all workers in these industries.”

Go to the CAPS Action Alert page here to tell your congressional representative to end H-1B visa abuse now.