Durbin-Grassley H1B Visa Reform Bill: Do We Need it?

U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced "The H-1B and L-1 Visa Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act of 2007" late last week to overhaul the H-1B and L-1 visa programs to give priority to American workers and crack down on unscrupulous employers who deprive qualified Americans of high-skill jobs.

The H-1B visa program allows American companies and universities to employ temporary foreign workers who have the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's degree in a job category that is considered by the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services to be a "specialty occupation". The L-1 visa program allows companies to transfer certain employees from their foreign facilities to their U.S. facilities for up to seven years.

"Our immigration policy should seek to complement our U.S. workforce, not replace it," Durbin said. "Some employers have abused the H-1B and L-1 temporary work visa programs, using them to bypass qualified American job applicants. This bill will set up safeguards for American workers, and provide much-needed oversight and enforcement of employers who fail to abide by the law."

"This is about protecting the American worker," said Senator Grassley. "We're closing loopholes that employers have exploited by requiring them to be more transparent about their hiring and we're ensuring more oversight of these visa programs to reduce fraud and abuse. A little sunshine will go a long way to help the American worker."

Now Senate is not only looking into abuse of H1B, but have also started taking close look at L1 visa. With Senate requesting tougher scrutinizing of worker visas, soon we will see many companies refraining from hiring skilled workers to avoid unecessary hassles.

Senators should understand when a company hires a H1B visa holder, they have to spend almost $4000-$5000 (filing and lawyer fees) in addition to the base pay they offer to the prospective employee. A company would not invest in an individual unless they are not able to find right candidate. The one reason companies usually do not get skilled workers is because two third of the US population are not ready to move across a county or state line. In the 21^st century, there has been only 25 percent increase in people living in a state other than the one in which they were born (Source: U.S. Census Bureau Online). Thus there are less number of right candidates available in and around the city of interest. On other hand, non-immigrant foreign skilled workers are willing to move across the state for the right jobs as they are motivated to fulfill their American dreams.

If above bill is passed in Senate, it will make America globally less competitive. Many skilled workers would start looking at other European countries. These countries would love to have skilled workers to have edge over their counterpart. Many countries have already requested World Bank to define a unified currency to measure world economy than depending on America only. If this would happen America could lose their niche in the world.

On other hand, Foreign students and workers who might prefer to stay in the US can, and increasingly will, also return to their home countries to launch businesses. They can then compete with American companies instead of adding value to them. And when they return home, they can honestly say that America is not the land of opportunity for people like them.

The H-1B program is very small in relative numbers (new H-1B visa holders represent just 7 out of every 10,000 workers in the United States, according to the National Foundation for American Policy). It is difficult to understand why is it always a reason of worry among Senators? Or they just want someone to take the blame for the country's economic crisis and rise in unemployment rate.

Provisions of the Durbin-Grassley bill would change existing law in the following ways