(Washington, D.C.) – Congressman Glenn Grothman (R-WI) introduced the Protecting American Workers Through H-1B Modernization Act, which would close an outdated loophole that allows H-1B dependent employers to bypass certain American worker protections. Senator Jon Husted (R-OH) has introduced companion legislation in the Senate.
“American workers should come first in their own country,” said Grothman. “Employers should not be able to use a salary threshold established nearly three decades ago to bypass protections for qualified Americans. There is no excuse for leaving this threshold unchanged when it should have been raised years ago. Washington’s failure to act shows how little the Establishment cares about unemployed Americans when employers want access to cheap foreign labor. This bill would update that threshold and help ensure American workers have a fair opportunity to compete for these jobs.”
“For decades, companies have been able to sidestep hiring American workers because of a salary threshold that hasn’t budged since 1998. That’s not modernization, that’s a loophole. This bill simply asks that when a company is heavily reliant on these visas and wants to bring in more H-1B workers, they shouldn’t be relying on an outdated law to get around offering these jobs to qualified American workers first,” said Husted.
