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H-1B Visa Abuse: US Visa Program Under DHS Review, says Senator Schmitt

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The issue of how some of the major U.S. job-visa programmes are operating was raised in a Senate oversight hearing this week. Much of this was alleged by Republican Senator Eric Schmitt to have been in misuse through programs like the H -1B visa and the Optional Practical Training (OPT). The hearing triggered the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to affirm that it is undertaking a formal review of the student work program.

Presenting his argument to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Schmitt stated that the H-1B visa program, which was designed to allow American firms to employ highly skilled foreign professionals, was being misused more often, posing a threat to the employment opportunities of the U.S. workers.

“For those listening, the H-1B programme was marketed as a programme to bring in the best and the brightest for jobs that we don’t have people for,” Schmitt said. “What’s happening is this abuse, is that American citizens are being displaced by cheaper, more obedient foreign labour.”

Schmitt claimed that there are those employers who take advantage of the apply to reduce the cost of getting a specialized talent to get cheaper labor. The senator explained that the American citizens are getting forced out by cheaper foreign labor that is more obedient.

Schmitt also attacked the OPT program that international students studying in the U.S. can stay and work in a restricted number of years after the completion of their academic programs. The senator says that the policy has developed to have lopsided incentives to universities and employers. He pointed out that some of the institutions are becoming more and more dependent on foreign students, in part due to employment offers attached to OPT. He characterized the system as successfully serving as “visa mills for universities taking away opportunities for American students because they don’t have to pay taxes on the foreign labour for at least a year if you have this visa for OPT.”

Schmitt claimed that he had sent a letter to DHS requesting a formal examination of not only the H-1B program but also applicable scope and length of work authorization on the program of optional training. In response at the hearing, Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, affirmed that the department was already starting its review of the programs. “Yes, we are. We are still engaged in such a review and will have it finished here in 2026, Noem said. Schmitt pushed the department to the question of whether they will devote themselves to completing the reassessment in the year. “Yes, we are. We have done that review still, and we are doing it here in 2026, the same way, said Noem.

The exchange occurred within a wider oversight hearing that emphasized much of the immigration enforcement policies, border management and operational oversight of DHS. Nomad lawmakers inquired Noem on a variety of matters such as the process of deportation, the implementation of detention, and national security concerns that are related to the issue of immigration enforcement.

Debate of H-1B visas and the OPT program was one of the few parts of the hearing devoted to legal avenues of immigration, as opposed to enforcement strategies of undocumented migration. DHS manages immigration compliance and visa management by enforcing agencies like U.S. citizenship and immigration services and U.S immigration and customs enforcement.

The international students, technology businesses, and universities, especially Indian students and talent,  might experience any changes caused by the review, but the authorities have not yet described the possible changes to the policy.

Axe on H1B Visa? US Bill Placed in Upper House; How Indian IT Firms Stack Up?

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Finally, the Bill on High-Skilled Integrity and Fairness Act of 2017 has been introduced in the US House of Representatives seeking to double the minimum salary of H-1B visa holders to US$130,000, making it a mockery if American firms deny recruiting locals at a lower cost. Currently, the minimum wage cap on H1B Visa seekers is US$60,000 that was set in 1989.

The anti-H1B Visa Act, as is known among the Indian IT workers and firms in the US, was introduced by California Congressman Zoe Lofgren based on market requirements for visas to those companies willing to pay 200 percent of a wage given to local employees.

“My legislation refocuses the H-1B programme to its original intent to seek out and find the best and brightest from around the world, and to supplement the US workforce with talented, highly-paid, and highly-skilled workers who help create jobs here in America, not replace them,” said Lofgren. He said the Bill seeks to remove the ‘per country’ cap on immigrant visas so that employers hire the most skilled workers without regard to nation of origin.

It raises the salary level at which H-1B dependent employer are exempt from attestation requirements to a new required wage level of 35 percentile points above the median national annual wage for Computer and Mathematical Occupations published by the Department of Labour Occupational Employment Statistics, which eliminates the Master’s Degree exemption for dependent employers.

The legislation also seeks 20 percent of the annually allocated H-1B visas for small and start-ups. It also removes visa hurdles for students by building a bridge from F-1 student status to Lawful Permanent Residence without any paperwork and reducing administrative costs.

The Bill, if approved, would affect the entire gamut of IT companies in India which are solely dependent on H1B visa to depute its skilled techies to the US and save millions of dollars in projects running into months or few years.

Infosys alone has 14,659 employees working in the US on H-1B visas and 1,364 employees on L-1 visas as of FY ending March 2016. TCS has reduced its dependence on visa in the past three years and stepped up local hiring, while Wipro has 40% locals in its overseas offices. HCL has 65 percent locals in its US offices.

According to a study by the Bank of America Merrill Lynch, every 10% hike in H1B visa holder abroad would amount to 5% negtive impact on an average on a company’s earnings. Since the new Bill seeks almost 100% over the existing salary, it may virtually undercut the earnings by 50 percent, which may force several IT companies either to hire local workforce or stop seeking H1B visas altogether.