On Thursday, a US group opposed a move by the Biden management to reverse some of Trump’s previous administration’s decisions regarding H-1B visas. The group, especially, opposed the lottery system that is used to provide the much-needed visa to work in the US.
The Act requires US Citizens and Immigration Services (USCIS) to prioritize high-paid and high-skilled workers in the US. According to the group, this ensures that U.S. businesses enter the elite pool of foreign workers, while also promoting fair wage and a healthy work culture in the country.
In a statement to the Department of Homeland Security, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) confirmed the roll-back of Trump’s policies for the H-1B visas would reduce the exploitation of H-1B visa schemes by deceitful employers. FAIR was founded in 1979 and continues to be the largest immigrant reform agency in the country.
“FAIR strongly supports the substance of the final rule and urges DHS to implement the rule without delay. As DHS has reiterated throughout the rulemaking process, prioritizing wage levels in the registration selection process incentivizes employers to offer higher wages, or to petition for positions requiring higher skills and higher-skilled aliens that are commensurate with higher wage levels, to increase the likelihood of selection for an eventual petition,” the comments note. “President (Joe) Biden often portrays himself as a man from the ‘working class’ who is a tireless defender of the American worker,” said FAIR president Dan Stein. “Yet his administration is set to postpone, by at least a year, an important rule change that prevents unscrupulous employers from using the H-1B program to undercut American wages while ensuring that companies that truly need skilled foreign workers have access to the best and the brightest,” he alleged.
Current DHS policies require USCIS to opt for random registration, using a lottery system.
“This random lottery selection process places no weight on wage or skill levels and fails to ensure businesses actually have access to the best and brightest workers possible. Worse, the lottery creates a scenario where American workers could be replaced by foreign workers who can be paid significantly less or who possess considerably lower skills,” said Stein. FAIR strongly urged DHS to implement these critical reforms without undue delay “This final rule will allow DHS to more effectively protect US workers against competition from foreign labor at a time when US workers need protection more than ever. The acute fiscal harm that US workers are facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic will only be exacerbated if employers are encouraged to continue to underpay H-1B beneficiaries because of an outdated and illogical current wage structure,” it said.
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