Migrants who enter the US uninvited at the nation’s southern border dominate the political debate over immigration. But there’s a fight as well over tens of thousands of people who enter the US legally every year as part of a visa program, known as H-1B, largely designed to attract guest workers with science, math and computer skills. Technology and engineering companies say they need more of those workers, but they’ve faced opposition from critics on the political right and left who say the program takes good jobs from Americans. The government is considering an overhaul of the program’s lottery system to crack down on companies that it says game the system.
1. What exactly is the H-1B visa program?
It’s one of a series of US immigration programs created during the 20th century to address specific labor shortages — including farm workers during World War II, sheepherders in the 1950s and nurses in the 1990s. H-1B visas are the primary way for employers to hire foreigners with at least a bachelor’s degree in fields like technology and engineering. The visas are temporary, lasting up to six years, but foreign workers who initiate the process of applying for a green card for permanent residency can renew their H-1Bs indefinitely as long as an employer sponsors their visa.
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2. How does it work?
Employees petition the government for the workers they want. Winners are picked by lottery, with the number capped at 85,000 annually. Applications have risen sharply since they moved online in 2020, topping more than 758,000 for the fiscal year that began in October. “Computer-related” occupations accounted for about 66% of H-1B approvals in fiscal 2022.
3. Why is it controversial?
The H-1B program gets wrapped into the immigration debate that heats up with every US election cycle of late, with critics saying it allows foreigners to take well-paying jobs from Americans. Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur who’s seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, made headlines in September when he said the lottery system used to award the visas isn’t meritocratic and the program should be “gutted,” by replacing the current lottery system with a merit-based selection process, — an overhaul similar to one proposed previously by the Trump administration. Other critics, including left-leaning groups, have argued that the program has been exploited by firms — especially in the information technology sector — to keep labor costs low.
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4. What changes is the government considering?
Share this articleShareThe Biden administration has proposed overhauling the H-1B lottery to address suspected fraud. The Homeland Security Department believes that the rapid rise in applications since 2020 could be attributed, at least in part, to companies artificially boosting their lottery odds by working together to make multiple entries on behalf of individual workers. Indeed, the department has found that a person’s odds of acceptance are significantly higher for those with multiple entries filed on their behalf. The lottery changes under consideration would remove the benefit of multiple applications and give individuals the same chance of being selected, the department says. Supporters of that change, which could be in place for the fiscal 2025 lottery, say it could boost the bargaining power of foreign workers — and benefit US workers — by allowing them to choose among multiple employers.
5. What do the affected industries say?
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US tech employers say American universities don’t produce enough mathematicians and engineers to keep pace with an economic sector that expects to increase its workforce by 272,000 in 2023. They point to research showing that the international talent admitted under the program — mostly workers who moved to the US for college or graduate programs — is correlated with an increase in patent applications, faster growth for participating companies and lower costs for consumers. The problem, businesses groups say, is that artificial quotas on H-1B visas and green cards limit the number of skilled workers they can add to fill critical labor shortages.
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