India says it will contest a bill to reform the H-1B and L-1 visa programs, if passed, saying it would violate international trade agreements. Last week, Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) introduced the H-B and L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2016 that would prevent companies from misusing these visas to replace American workers.
The bill would prohibit companies, that employ more than 50 people, from hiring H-1B and L-1 foreign workers if 50% or more of that company’s workforce are already H-1B or L-1 visa holders. It would also require employers to make a good faith effort to give preference to American workers when filling open positions.
If this bill is passed in the Senate and signed into law, India claims it would severely hurt IT outsourcing companies, who are the main users of these visas, from sending more workers to the U.S. One top outsourcing company. Infosys, was fined $34 million in 2014 for circumventing current visa laws. The McClatchy Company used another company, Wipro, to replace 150 American workers with foreign H-1B and L-1 workers this year.
India says the bill disregards the General Agreement on Trade in Services and if passed they would seek to settle the dispute through the World Trade Organization (WTO) and over-turn the U.S. law.
The proposed Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), along with other trade agreements, could cause similar actions by partnered countries should the U.S. attempt to make changes to existing immigration laws.
In an interview with Breitbart News, Rosemary Jenks, NumbersUSA’s Director of Government Relations, talked about the foreign tribunals in TPP saying, “I’m sure what will happen if this is agreed to, is that our immigration laws will be challenged…There’s no question that TPP sets up expectations that there will be virtually unfettered access to the United States for people and companies that provide services.”
The Indian governments says they will first try to work with the U.S. Trade Representative’s office to work out the issue before they go to the WTO.
Read more on this story at The Hindu Business Line.
