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Changes to US Temporary Workers Program Scrutinized

Aline Barros

   WASHINGTON - The Trump administration's move to curb temporary foreign
   workers in the United States weeks before the Nov. 3 election shines a
   spotlight on a much-debated portion of the nation's labor supply that
   some lawmakers have sought to reform for a decade or more.

   At stake are H-1B visas that allow employers to temporarily employ
   foreign workers in specialty fields. Rules issued earlier this month by
   the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) restrict [1]H-1B jobs by
   tightening the definition of "specialty occupation" that qualifies a
   foreign worker to be hired.Rules issued by the Department of Labor
   (DOL), meanwhile, boost the minimum wages and salaries U.S. employers
   must pay foreign workers by 30%.

   "Overall, rules are trying to make it difficult for skilled foreign
   workers to acquire visas and work permits by actually making it more
   burdensome for the companies sponsoring them," immigration attorney
   Rosanna Berardi told VOA.

   Boosting the cost of imported labor makes domestic workers more
   attractive by comparison. Economists say it can also incentivize U.S.
   firms to move operations overseas rather than bringing increasingly
   pricey foreign workers to America. The U.S. unemployment rate stood at
   7.9% in September, down from nearly 15% in April, but far higher than
   the 3.5% recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in America.

   Protecting jobs

   The Trump administration says its goal is to expand and protect
   American jobs.

   "The U.S. Department of Labor is strengthening wage protections,
   addressing abuses in these visa programs, and ensuring American workers
   are not undercut by cheaper foreign labor," Labor Secretary Eugene
   Scalia said in a statement.

   For its part, DHS said in a press release that data "shows that the
   more than a half million [2]H-1B nonimmigrants in the United States
   have been used to displace U.S. workers."

   DHS did not respond to VOA requests for details of the data it
   referenced.

   Immigration advocates contest DHS's finding. Doug Rand, co-founder of
   Boundless Immigration, said though there have been cases of employers
   abusing the H-1B system, multiple studies have found [3]a positive
   impact of skilled immigration on the wages and employment of both
   college- and non-college-educated natives.

   "Such findings are consistent with the view that skilled immigrants are
   often complementary to native-born workers, that spillovers of
   wage-enhancing knowledge and skills occur as a result of interactions
   among workers, and that skilled immigrants innovate sufficiently to
   raise overall productivity." Rand said.

   Economists note that the U.S. lags in specialized workers in several
   critical fields.

   "The high-skilled immigrants that we bring in, almost half of them are
   in STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] fields,"
   U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas senior economist Pia Orrenius said.
   "Whereas, if you look at the college graduates that we produce in the
   U.S., it's only about a quarter."

   Capitol Hill

   Balancing specialized labor needs with the well-being of American
   workers has long been sought on Capitol Hill.

   Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Illinois Democratic Sen.
   Dick Durbin have proposed a series of bipartisan bills on H-1B visas
   dating back to 2007. Most recently in May, the duo reintroduced
   [4]legislation covering temporary work visas, as well as L1 visas that
   allow overseas companies to transfer employees to the United States.

   "Congress created these programs to complement America's high-skilled
   workforce, not replace it. Unfortunately, some companies are trying to
   exploit the programs by cutting American workers for cheaper labor,"
   Grassley said in a statement.

References

   1. https://www.dhs.gov/news/2020/10/06/department-homeland-security-and-department-labor-rule-restores-integrity-h-1b-visa
   2. https://www.dhs.gov/news/2020/10/06/department-homeland-security-and-department-labor-rule-restores-integrity-h-1b-visa
   3. https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2016/09/new-report-assesses-the-economic-and-fiscal-consequences-of-immigration
   4. https://pascrell.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=4316

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