US Senators slam H-1B visa programme

February 26, 2016 15:35

Top US lawmakers today slammed the popular H-1B visa programme and demanded strict action against companies abusing it to replace Americans with low-paid foreign workers, including from India.

"The sad reality is that -- not only is there not a shortage of exceptionally qualified US workers -- but across the country thousands of US workers are being replaced by foreign labour," Senator Jeff Sessions, Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and The National Interest, said during a Congressional hearing.

Sessions refuted the claims of many US companies about shortage of skilled workers in the US and thus the need to bring in qualified foreign workers from India.

"The data shows that there is no shortage of highly qualified working American professionals, nor is there a shortage of American STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) college graduates every year," he said.

Senator Patrick Leahy, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee said immigrant visa programmes must be used to complement the US workforce, not displace it.

"We must ensure that current laws are not misused in ways that disadvantage American workers," he said.

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

Neeraj Chopra finishes second in Doha Diamond League

Olympic and world champion Neeraj Chopra finished second at the Doha Diamond League meeting javelin throw event as his big final effort of 88.36m fell short by two centimetres of Jakub Vadlejch's winning effort in Doha on Friday.

In Pictures - Gill, Sudharsan hit centuries as GT ease past CSK

IMAGES from the IPL 2024 match between Gujarat Titans vs Shubman Gill at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday.

Mani Shankar Aiyar's 'Pak atom bomb' remark sparks row

Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar's remarks on Pakistan sparked a political row on Friday, with his party quick to dissociate itself from the comments while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party latched on to them, accusing the Congress of...

Kejriwal walks out of Tihar on 21-day bail, but can't go to office

Embattled Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal walked out of the Tihar Jail on Friday evening, hours after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in a money laundering case to enable him to campaign in the Lok Sabha elections, in a...

Probe agencies failed to unmask Dabholkar murder masterminds: Court

The investigating agencies could not expose the masterminds behind the murder of rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar, and must introspect whether it was a mere failure or a 'deliberate inaction' due to the influence of any 'person in...