 "US lawmaker reintroduces HIRE Act to double H-1B visas amid political pushback")
As H-1B visas become more expensive amid calls from some Americans to curb the hiring of overseas workers, Democrat lawmaker Raja Krishnamoorthi has said he has reintroduced the High-Skilled Immigration Reform for Employment (HIRE) Act, which seeks to double the number of H-1B visas available to 1,30,000.
The legislation, designed to strengthen the US’ long-term economic and technological competitiveness, adopts a dual-track strategy to address workforce shortages — attracting more skilled talent from abroad while also increasing federal investment in American STEM education to bolster the domestic workforce.
The Act — backed by ITServe Alliance, the nation’s largest association of IT services organisations — proposes doubling the current 65,000 H-1B visas to 1,30,000 so that employers, including those in critical and emerging technology sectors, have adequate access to skilled workers. It will also remove the existing 20,000-slot cap on additional H-1B visas for individuals holding advanced US degrees.
The Act further directs funding to science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) programmes in US elementary and secondary schools.
Ahead of the 2024 Presidential elections, a YouGov poll revealed that 14.6 per cent of registered voters considered the issue the most important — up sharply from 2.1 per cent in 2012.
In September, Trump, now the President, signed a proclamation raising the annual fee for firms hiring overseas talent under the visa programme to $100,000.
According to the US government order, “The H-1B nonimmigrant visa program was created to bring temporary workers into the United States to perform additive, high-skilled functions, but it has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labour.”
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View AllIt added, “The large-scale replacement of American workers through systemic abuse of the program has undermined both our economic and national security.”
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