Rule targets American worker protections

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials are espousing the benefits of a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) designed to protect American workers while also strengthening the economy.

The revision would prioritize the selection of H-1B registrations based on corresponding wage levels to enhance efforts to bolster workers’ economic interests and allow employers to meet personnel needs amid global competition.

“With this proposed rule, the Trump administration is continuing to deliver on its promise to protect the American worker while strengthening the economy,” Acting DHS Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli said. “The H-1B program is often exploited and abused by U.S. employers, and their U.S. clients, primarily seeking to hire foreign workers and pay lower wages. The current use of random selection to allocate H-1B visas makes it harder for businesses to plan their hiring, fails to leverage the H-1B program to truly compete for the world’s best and brightest, and hurts American workers by bringing in relatively lower-paid foreign labor at the expense of the American workforce.”

The action would solely impact H-1B registrations submitted by prospective petitioners seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions. The implementation would occur for both the H-1B regular cap and the H-1B advanced degree exemption, but would not change the order of selection between the two, as established by the H-1B registration requirement final rule.