(Image source from: Grassley-Durbin Reform Bill To Block Guest Workers From India})

A bipartisan legislation, the Grassley-Durbin reform bill, was introduced by two US Senators targeting the reformation of the controversial H1-B and L-1 visa programs. Since the program was introduced in 1991, more than a million professional guest workers have come to the US and eventually became permanent US residents and citizens.

Senators Chuck Grassley (Republican) and Dirk Durbin (Democrat) are two foremost critics of the programs, who argue that the original purpose of the guest worker visas were consistently being violated and abused. They both have introduced a bill to ensure a higher check and roadblocks on companies, which according to them have played games to grab American jobs using wage arbitrage.

The Grassley-Durbin bill will not allow companies to hire H-1B employees more than 50 people and if over 50% of their employees hold H-1B and L-1visas. The bill permits the department of labour to review, investigate, and audit compliance of the employer with the requirements of the program, besides penalizing fraudulent or abusive conduct. Also, the Bill requires the production of extensive statistical data regarding H-1B and L-1programs, including data related to wages, worker education, gender, and place of employment.

In a statement upon introducing the bill, Senator Grassley said, "The H-1B visa programme was never meant to replace qualified American workers, but it was instead intended as a means to fill gaps in highly specialised areas of employment that cannot be filled by Americans. The abuse of the system is real, and media reports are validating what we have argued against for years, including the fact that Americans are training their replacements."

Durbin said, "For years, foreign outsourcing companies have used loopholes in the laws to displace qualified American workers and facilitate the Altoutsourcing of American jobs. The H-1B and L-1Visa Reform Act would end these abuses and protect American and foreign workers from exploitation."

However, the Grassley-Durbin reform bill will enable continued stay of foreign students and passage in the US by the prioritization of the annual allocation of H-1B visas. This is for the first time that the new system would ensure Bright students educated in the US would be preferred for a H-1B visa.

-Sumana