U.S. Representative Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) on Thursday introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives termed the “American Jobs First Act” that aims to protect American workers from less expensive employees imported from other countries.
Brooks believes the United States should make impactful changes to its immigration policy, especially the visa program that allows U.S. firms to bring in skilled foreign workers.
Brooks’ office summarized what the American Jobs First Act would do in four main points:
- Stops employers from hiring foreign H-1B workers if they have recently, or plan to, furlough their U.S. workers
- Requires employers to pay their H-1B workers more than their American workers to ensure foreign labor is only used when absolutely necessary
- Suspends the F-1 OPT program, which grants all foreign students extendable work permits and exacerbates job market competition among American graduates
- Ends the unfair diversity visa lottery program, which fails to serve U.S. interests by issuing 50,000 green cards to foreigners from around the world regardless of their qualifications
The first two changes listed by Brooks refer to the H1-B visa program in which companies can apply for a visa to bring in a foreign workers with a certain level of education or skill. The visas last six years, and 85,000 are issued annually.
Brooks is one of the fiercest immigration hawks in Congress and regularly receives plaudits from border security groups.
The congressman alleges that the “the H-1B visa program has become a cheap foreign labor pipeline that major companies abuse to increase profits,” and, as such, it deserves an “overhaul.”
Brooks remarked at length in a release about the Tennessee Valley Authority, which has a large presence in his district, and its attempt earlier in the year to replace their information technology staff with H1-B workers.
“Thanks to President Trump, TVA board member heads rolled and TVA reversed course. But, changes in the law are necessary to ensure American workers don’t face replacement by cheap foreign labor in the future,” commented Brooks about the incident.
Original cosponsors of the legislation include Representatives Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Lance Gooden (R-TX).
Though his bill will almost certainly not pass during an election year when Democrats control the U.S. House of Representatives, Brooks thinks his colleagues should look past partisanship on the issue.
“I urge my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, to put their differences aside and stand up for American workers,” he concluded.
Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: [email protected] or on Twitter @HenryThornton95
