A group of Republican lawmakers has introduced a bill to suspend H-1B visa issuance for three years and reform the programme, saying it has hurt American workers.
The proposed “End H-1B Visa Abuse Act of 2026”, introduced by Eli Crane, seeks to reset the visa system before resuming it with stricter rules.
“The federal government should work for hardworking citizens, not the profit margins of massive corporations. We owe it to the American people to prevent the broken H-1B system from boxing them out of jobs they are qualified to perform,” Crane said.
“The bill would provide greater access to employment, strengthen protocols in the visa process, and prioritise the livelihoods of Americans.”
The legislation has gained support from several Republican lawmakers, including Brandon Gill, Paul Gosar, and Andy Ogles.
“I am proud to cosponsor Rep. Eli Crane’s effort to reform and tighten the H-1B visa system so that our immigration policies put American workers first,” Gill said.
Proposed changes in the H-1B visa
The bill calls for major changes to the H-1B programme. It would reduce the annual visa cap from 65,000 to 25,000, end exemptions, replace the lottery with a wage-based selection system, and raise the minimum salary to $200,000 a year.
It would also require employers to prove they cannot find qualified American workers and that they have not recently carried out layoffs. In addition, the bill would prevent H-1B workers from holding multiple jobs and bar third-party staffing firms from employing them.
Further provisions include banning H-1B workers from bringing dependents, ending the Optional Practical Training (OPT) programme, and preventing visa holders from transitioning to permanent residency.
“The H-1B program has been hijacked to replace American workers with cheaper foreign labor, plain and simple. This bill slams the brakes on a system that’s rigged against our own people and puts American jobs first again,” Gosar said.
Ogles took a harder line, saying, “American workers are being replaced, and cheap foreign labor is the cause. We will not bow down to corporations, and we will not let Americans become strangers in their own country. End the H-1B scam.”
The proposal also aims to keep non-immigrant visas temporary by requiring holders to leave the United States before changing status to another visa and by barring federal agencies from sponsoring such workers.
Stongest H-1B bill ever introduced in Congress
Rosemary Jenks, cofounder of the Immigration Accountability Project, called it “the strongest H-1B bill that has ever been introduced in Congress.”
She said the bill would put the programme in line with its original purpose: a short-term visa to fill temporary labor gaps while American workers are trained, pointing to measures such as lower caps, higher wage thresholds, and an end to third-party employment.
The H-1B visa programme allows US companies to hire foreign workers in specialised occupations, particularly in technology and engineering sectors. Indian nationals have historically been the largest beneficiaries of these visas, forming a significant share of the high-skilled workforce in the United States.
The programme has long been a point of political debate in Washington, with critics arguing it undercuts domestic wages, while industry groups maintain it fills critical skill shortages and supports innovation in the US economy.
(with IANS inputs)
