NRI IMMIGRATION 34 US lawmakers introduce bill that will impact Indian companies Two US lawmakers has introduced a legislation in the House of Representatives, which if passed by the Congress would prevent Indian companies from hiring IT professionals on H-1B and L1 work visas. WWW.WISHESH.COM | AUGUST <strong>2016</strong>
Two US lawmakers has introduced a legislation in the House of Representatives, which if passed by the Congress would prevent Indian companies from hiring IT professionals on H-1B and L1 work visas. Majority of big Indian IT companies are heavily dependent on H-1B and L1 visas in the US, such a bill is likely to have a major impact, if not sound a death knell, on their businesses. The new bill proposes to bar companies that have more than 50 employees and fifty percent of them on H1-B, L1 visas, from hiring more. The bill will encourage companies to recruit American workers. The bill proposes new wage requirements for H-1B visaholders and establishment of wage requirements for L1 workers. The bill, if passed into law, will provide more authority to the Departments of Homeland Security and Labour to investigate fraud and abuse in the H-1B and L-1 programs. The visa-holders will be given a list of rights to protect them from exploitation, according to the proposed bill, Representatives Bill Pascrell and Dana Rohrabacher said in a statement. “Foreign outsourcing companies are the top users Without the critical reforms, our bill proposes, American workers will continue to be unfairly displaced and visa workers will continue to be mistreated — both of which are unacceptable of the H-1B and L-1 visa programs. Over the years a number of concerns have been raised about how certain companies have been using these visa programs,” Mr. Pascrell said. “America is producing many skilled, high-tech professionals with advanced degrees and no jobs. By ‘in-sourcing’ and exploiting foreign workers, some businesses are abusing the visa programs and undercutting our workforce to reap the rewards,” Congressman Pascrell said. “Without the critical reforms our bill proposes, American workers will continue to be unfairly displaced and visa workers will continue to be mistreated — both of which are unacceptable,” he said in a statement. “We applaud (the) longterm commitment to addressing the glaring gaps in protections in our current skilled visa programs,” AFL- CIO Government Affairs Department Director William Samuel wrote in support of the bill. “These loopholes have resulted in the mistreatment of H-1B workers and US workers alike, and have led to the egregious displacement scandals that continue to make headlines and discredit these programs,” he said. “It is more than clear that the H-1B and L-1 visa programs are being used by major companies across our economy to hire cheap, disposable workers in place of their American employees,” IEEE president Peter Eckstein wrote in support of the bill. “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,” he said. AUGUST <strong>2016</strong> | WWW.WISHESH.COM