| Translate This News In |
|---|
On Thursday, a US organization criticized the Biden administration’s decision to reverse some of the Trump administration’s decisions on H-1B visas, including switching to a lottery system for allocating this highly sought-after work visa for international technology professionals.
The law, titled Modification of Registration Requirement for Petitioners Seeking To File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions, allows US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to give higher priority to higher-paid and higher-skilled foreign workers for H-1B cap-subject visas, ensuring that US companies have access to the best pool of foreign workers while also discouraging wage suppression and creating unfavorable working conditions.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) reported in a statement to the Department of Homeland Security that enforcing the Trump administration regulation would minimize misuse of the H-1B program by unscrupulous employers while still protecting American workers.
FAIR is the largest immigration reform organization in the world, having been established in 1979.
“FAIR applauds the final rule’s content and urges DHS to put it into effect as soon as possible. Prioritizing wage levels in the registration selection process encourages employers to pay higher salaries or to petition for positions requiring higher skills and higher-skilled aliens, as DHS has indicated in the rulemaking process, in order to increase the likelihood of selection for an eventual petition.” As mentioned in the comments
According to Equal president Dan Stein, President (Joe) Biden “often introduces himself as a “working-class” man who is a tireless defender of the American worker.”
“Yet his administration is set to postpone for at least a year a key rule change that will deter unscrupulous employers from abusing the H-1B program to undercut American wages while ensuring that companies that genuinely need skilled foreign workers have access to the best and brightest,” he claims.
“This random lottery selection process pays little attention to salaries or ability levels, failing to ensure that companies have access to the best and brightest workers; worse, the lottery creates a situation in which American employees might be replaced by foreign staff who are paid far less and have far less skills,” Stein said.
FAIR has firmly urged DHS to introduce these essential reforms without unnecessary delay.
“This final rule will allow the Department of Homeland Security to better defend US employees from foreign labor competition at a time when they need it more than ever. The extreme financial harm that US workers would experience as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic would be worsened if employers are allowed to continue underpaying H-1B workers due to an outdated and illogical wage structure “It said, “Right.”
