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May 22, 2007
WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley today said that several H-1B visa provisions he has forwarded to help American workers were included in the immigration bill that is being debated in the U.S. Senate.
"I can’t support legislation that contains amnesty for illegal aliens," Grassley said. "That said, I’m glad the bill contains most of the provisions I’ve been pushing to reform the H-1B and L-visa programs. If we’re going to give priority to qualified American workers, these measures are a no-brainer."
The provisions are similar to legislation Grassley and Senator Dick Durbin introduced in April 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.
Recently, Grassley and Durbin also asked the top nine foreign based companies in 2006 that used nearly 20,000 of the available H-1B visas to disclose further details about their workforce and their use of the special visa program. The letters were part of an effort to determine if the H-1B program is being used for its intended purpose which is to fill a worker shortage for a temporary time period.
Here are the H-1B and L Visa provisions pushed by Grassley included in the bill the Senate is currently debating.
Require all employers seeking to hire an H-1B visa holder to pledge that they have made a good-faith effort to hire American workers first and that the H-1B visa holder will not displace an American worker.
Require that H-1B employers may not advertise a job as available only for H-1B visa holders or recruit only H-1B visa holders for a job.
Prohibit companies who have more than 50 employees from having a workforce made up of more than 50 percent H-1B workers.
Provide the ability to conduct random audits of any company that uses the H-1B program to the Department of Labor, and require the Department to conduct annual audits of companies with more than 100 employees that have 15 percent or more of those workers on H-1B visas.
Provide the Department of Labor more authority to conduct employer investigations and streamline the investigative process by permitting the Department to initiate its own investigations and eliminating the requirement that the Department Secretary personally authorize an investigation.
Give the Department of Labor authority to review employers’ H-1B applications for "clear indicators of fraud or misrepresentation of material fact." Currently, the Department is only authorized to review applications for "completeness and obvious inaccuracies."
Establish a process for the Department of Labor to investigate, audit and penalize L-1 employers.
Require the Department of Homeland Security to share with the Department of Labor any information in H-1B visa applications indicating that an H-1B employer is not complying with program requirements.
Double penalties for employers who violate H-1B program requirements.
Give the Department of Labor authority to conduct investigations for 24 months instead of the 12 currently permitted.
Give the Department of Labor 14 days to review H-1B applications, instead of the seven days currently permitted.
Strengthen existing whistleblower protections for the H-1B program and establish whistleblower protections for the L-1 program.
Place restrictions on L-1 visa holders who plan to use the L-1 visa to enter the United States and open a new office.
Authorize the hiring of 200 additional Department of Labor employees to administer, oversee, investigate and enforce the H-1B program.
Require the government to provide H-1B visa holders with information about their rights.
*This news release has been changed from the original release to accurately reflect the following provision "Prohibit companies who have more than 50 employees from having a workforce made up of more than 50 percent H-1B workers."