Sweeping Changes will Alter H-1B Process and Harm American Businesses

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Washington, DC – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) H-1B Strengthening Interim Final Rule and Department of Labor (DOL) Prevailing Wage Interim Final Rule were posted by DHS and DOL, respectively, in the Federal Register for public inspection. Notably, the DOL Prevailing Wage Interim Final Rule will go into effect less than 36 hours after posting. These interim final rules upend decades of requirements for the H-1B program without so much as giving the businesses, employees, and stakeholder community impacted by the rules adequate opportunity to voice their concerns before they take effect.

According to Benjamin Johnson, AILA’s Executive Director, “Contrary to the narrative promoted by DHS and DOL, and echoed by restrictionist groups, these rules will have crippling effects on American businesses, and the economy at large. These regulations will lay the groundwork for the pricing out of foreign labor, which is essential to the solvency of countless American businesses. Under the guise of economic recovery, the government is essentially halting the pipeline of global talent needed for innovation and economic success.”

AILA President Jennifer Minear added, “Foreign workers play a vital role in the American economy, but the DHS and DOL regulations will create nearly insurmountable barriers to their hiring. Not only do these rules inappropriately scapegoat immigrants for the ills of our current economic downturn, but they are also self-defeating. These rules will undoubtedly hamstring a process proven to bring some of the world’s best and brightest into American businesses. American workers and businesses only stand to suffer as a result of these changes until these rules are challenged and overturned in court.”

The American Immigration Lawyers Association is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members.

This press release was originally published on AILA’s website.