WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley today said that an amendment he introduced to the immigration reform bill with Senator Dick Durbin passed the Senate on a vote of 71 – 22.  The amendment eliminates the labor shortage waiver that could be used by the Secretary of Labor so that employers who use the new “Y” visa program are required to always recruit Americans first before hiring a foreign guest worker. 

            “American workers should have the first chance to get every available job, not just when the Secretary of Labor decides,” Grassley said.  “I support the ‘Y’ visa program, but it only makes sense to give American workers the opportunity before we allow more foreign workers in the country.”

            Prior to passage of the amendment, the immigration reform bill required employers to recruit Americans before hiring a guest worker.  But, exceptions could be made at the sole discretion of the Secretary of Labor if he/she determined there was a labor shortage.

            The Durbin/Grassley amendment eliminates the “labor shortage” waiver so that employers would always be required to recruit American workers before hiring a guest worker.

Grassley and Durbin have also teamed up 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.  In April the Senators introduced legislation to address the problems.  The underlying immigration reform bill contains several provisions from the Grassley/Durbin legislation.