PTI, Washington :
The H-1B work visa, which is highly popular among Indian technology professionals, puts American workers at risk, a top Republican Senator has alleged.
The H-1B program offers temporary US visas that allow companies to hire highly skilled foreign professionals working in areas with shortages of qualified American workers. But since taking office last January, the Trump administration has been cracking down on the scheme.
“The H-1B visa is one programme that really puts American workers at risk,” Senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, said during a Congressional hearing on homeland security yesterday. Noting that the population of H-1B workers in the United States has been growing for decades, Mr Grassely alleged that with that growth, comes an increased possibility for fraud or abuse “both of which I have seen and called on the Department of Homeland Security, with the help of Department of Justice, to investigate and prosecute,” he said.
Mr Grassely even looked to put blame on the H-1B workers for “stagnation” of salaries in the technology sector. “The vast majority of these H-1B workers are employed in the technology sector, and we’ve seen salaries in that industry stagnate for decades, at the same time the number of foreign tech workers keeps growing,” he said.
