Senate Hearings on Immigration

On March 17, 2015 the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing to discuss the H-1B visa program, which allows U.S. employers to import foreign workers in specialty occupations. At the hearing Iowa Senator Chuck Grassly (R) challenged the H-1B visa program as being widely misused by employers to “undercut wages and offshore high-paying American jobs.” He also accused the Departments of Homeland Security and Labor’s oversight of the H-1B visa program as being “fragmented and restricted.” Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) who also spoke at the hearing acknowledged the U.S immigration system needed reform, but highlighted the value of the H-1B and other visa programs that allows employers to recruit talented and diverse employees.

The Committee heard a number of speakers including legal professionals, professors, and an immigrant business owner. Many of the speakers advocated for immigrant rights including the executive director of the American Immigration Council, Mr. Benjamin Johnson, and Mr. Bjorn Billhardt, a German immigrant who started his own business once he came to America. In his statement Mr. Johnson advocated for comprehensive immigration reform by proposing changing visa caps and pre-country quotas to economically appropriate levels. Mr. Billhardt told the committee how he was able to use an H-1B visa to stay in the U.S. after he graduated and grow the software business that he started in college to a multimillion-dollar business.

But not all the speakers advocated for immigrant rights. John Miano who represented the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers criticized the visa program and specifically referred to the H-1B visa program as an “abject failure.” Mr. Miano also accused many prominent U.S. companies such as AIG, AT&T, Merrill Lynch and even Walt Disney World of replacing American workers with cheaper foreign worker to save money. The committee also heard from Jack Palmer who was the whistleblower in the Infosys visa fraud case which resulted in the largest visa fraud settlement in US history ($34 million). Mr. Palmer discussed his experience working at Infosys, and asked the committee to reform visa laws to protect American workers and punish companies who regularly abuse the visa program.

We are following and participating in the immigration discussion on Capitol Hill and will report any new developments as soon as they occur. We also invite you to subscribe to our free weekly immigration newsletter to receive timely updates on this and related topics.