The expansion of the visas, known as H1Bs, is one element of talks among a bipartisan group of eight senators, whose legislation is expected to serve as the basis for a deal between Congress and the White House to retool the immigration system. The number of visas available would approximately double from the current limit of 65,000 per year.
The H1B program was created in 1990 to attract high-skilled workers from around the world, but it has become a way for outsourcing firms to bring lower-paid employees to the United States.
Most of the top 10 employers of H1B visa holders, for instance, are India-based technology consultancies with large U.S. operations. Those firms often train workers in the United States before sending them back home to do the same jobs for considerably less money, say critics of the program on the Hill and in the labor movement.
Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), a member of the bipartisan immigration working group, has been trying to persuade the negotiators to accept two key restrictions on the visas, according to people familiar with the talks. One would prevent certain firms that rely heavily on H1B visas from hiring more workers under the program, and the other would require companies to make a “good faith” effort, subject to federal oversight, to recruit American workers.
But instead, the group has tentatively agreed to impose stiff fees on some outsourcing companies that hire H1B workers and to require modest measures to encourage the hiring of Americans, such as advertising the jobs, but with limited federal oversight. And while Durbin has pushed to increase the lowest wage levels permitted by the visa program, it’s likely that only certain firms would be required to pay more.
Durbin, who has been a lone voice in the room on the issue, is likely to back down, according to people familiar with the talks, because he has gotten his way on other points, such as a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants living in this country. A Durbin spokesman declined to comment, stressing that negotiations were continuing into the night Wednesday and that nothing was final.
Andrea Zuniga DiBitetto, a lobbyist for the AFL-CIO, said in an interview that the plan could be a “reckless” change that may keep Americans from getting good jobs.
But advocates for tech companies welcomed the developments, describing the still-evolving immigration plan as a potential watershed moment.
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