Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) believes it’s time American companies exploiting H-1B visas to import cheap foreign labor put American workers first.
Banks introduced the American Tech Workforce Act Monday, Breitbart News learned exclusively. The bill overhauls the H-1B visa process through which U.S. companies important cheap foreign labor and raises the salary floor to $150,000 — a change that will most acutely affect tech companies who continue to import cheap workers en masse at the expense of Americans.
“Corporations rigged the system to flood the country with cheap foreign labor and drive down wages,” Banks told Breitbart News in an exclusive statement. “This bill puts American workers first.”
Microsoft has reportedly applied for over 5,000 H-1B visas.
Most H-1B visas go to workers in computer-related occupations, with the median H-1B software developer making about $116,000, Banks’ office says. Meanwhile, although Congress caps the number of H-1Bs available, half a million workers are in the country through the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, which was designed by corporations and regulators to circumvent statutory caps.
Banks’ bill would protect against such abuses. The American Tech Workforce Act would:
1. Raise the wage floor for H-1B visas from $60,000 to $150,000.
2. End the Optional Practical Training program.
3. Replace the H-1B lottery with a system that awards visas to the highest bidder.
While in the House, Banks led the American Tech Workforce Act in the 117th Congress.
“Big Tech is setting aside some of the most lucrative and valuable career opportunities in America and giving them exclusively to foreign guest workers,” Banks said at the time. “They’re cutting out Americans to save a few bucks. It’s domestic outsourcing. This shocking disregard for American workers and their role in our nation’s future is unpatriotic. We must fix Big Tech’s incentives, so they begin putting Americans first.”
The bill has been endorsed by the Immigration Accountability Project.
Bradley Jaye is Deputy Political Editor for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter and Instagram @BradleyAJaye.
Read the full article here