Indian government had earlier this week informed that the United States had conveyed to India that there is no significant change in the H-1B visa regime. The sigh of relief for the Indian IT services companies though has been short-lived. ‘The Keeping American Jobs Act’, that seeks to prevent US companies from outsourcing jobs overseas by “abusing” the H-1B program has been re-introduced in House of Representatives.
The Bill is sponsored by Democrat Congressman Derek Kilmer and Republican Doug Collins, and if passed, would prevent companies that have H-1B employees from using them to train workers in the country and then move those jobs to a foreign country.
“We can’t allow the law to be exploited to displace American workers and send their jobs abroad,” the two congressmen said in a statement.
“The Keeping American Jobs Act protects American workers by preventing bad actors from abusing the system in order to offshore jobs.”
The bill was initially introduced in February last year, and had died in the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.
Kilmer said in a press release: “Our policies should promote jobs in America. They shouldn’t be about sending jobs done by hard working Americans overseas. That’s why I’m continuing my push with Representative Collins to keep H-1B visas from ever being used to send any job to another country.”
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Collins, in turn was quoted as saying, “Protecting American jobs is crucial in order for our economy to continue to gain strength and momentum. Companies have the opportunity to bring workers from overseas on H-1B visas in the event that qualified Americans aren’t available.”