Bipartisan bill led by Issa aims to crack down on fraud in high-skilled immigration program

Bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) this week would prevent the outsourcing of American jobs by reforming the nation’s high-skilled immigration program.

Issa and U.S. Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA) introduced the Protect and Grow American Jobs Act, H.R. 170, to reform eligibility requirements for H1-B visa exemptions in an effort to clamp down on fraud and abuse. A number of  companies have drawn criticism for abusing the H1-B visa program for replacing American workers with foreign workers from overseas.

“In order for America to lead again, we need to ensure we can retain the world’s best and brightest talent,” Issa said. “At the same time, we also need to make sure programs are not abused to allow companies to outsource and hire cheap foreign labor from abroad to replace American workers.”

Issa said he viewed the bill as an important step to growing the U.S. economy and reforming the country’s immigration system.

H.R. 170 would increase the salary requirement for high-skilled immigration positions from $60,000 to $100,000 per year to prevent companies from bringing in cheaper labor from abroad when Americans are available to fill positions.

“Curbing abuse of the H1-B system will protect American jobs and help ensure that visas are available for innovators who need them to maintain a competitive workforce,” Peters said. “This bipartisan bill makes one of the much-needed updates to our high-skilled visa system to level the playing field and help prevent companies from taking advantage of the system to offshore jobs.”

The bill would also eliminate the master’s degree exemption, which foreign workers have abused by seeking out low-quality certificates to meet program requirements.