H-1B Visa Holders Should Not Replace US Workers, USCIS Director Says

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) director L Francis Cissna said at an event that he would happily get to work on drawing up a policy that prohibits H-1B visa holders from replacing American employees if he received such orders.

“I would really love it if Congress would pass a one-sentence provision prohibiting American workers being replaced by H-1B workers. I could draft it myself, probably right now, you know?” Cissna said in reply to a query at an "Immigration Newsmaker" event, held in Washington D.C.

Although the event, organized by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) — a non-profit that supports an anti-immigration stance — was held on Aug. 15, a transcript of it was recently made public on the organizer’s website.

Cissna further added that H-1B program should be “directed towards ensuring that the truly, truly most qualified people that we need — that we need — in this country get the visas, whatever the limited number of visas is. That should be the goal.”

He even offered a potential solution for keeping the H1-B visa holders from hurting the employment chances of the American people. “A simple fix, for example, just banning the ability of employers to fire American workers and replace them with H-1Bs, it should not be permitted,” he said.

Applicants for H-1B visa have already begun facing a higher rejection rate, as USCIS officials readily exercise their direct authority to refuse visa to anyone who fails to produce the required documents in the first instance.

The National Foundation for American Policy stated in a report that visa denials increased 41 percent from the third to fourth quarter of fiscal 2017. The spike in visa rejections was attributed to President Donald Trump’s "Buy American, Hire American" initiative.

Trump administration is also expected to rescind a policy set in place during former President Barack Obama’s era — H4EAD — which enabled the spouses of H-1B workers who were already awaiting green cards to apply for employment authorization. Revoking H4EAD would mean thousands of gainfully employed spouses of H-1B visa-holders losing their jobs and stripping families of a secondary income source.

Although the fate of H4 visa — also known as the dependent visa — holders was supposed to be decided in June, USCIS is yet come to a decision.

“The agency is considering a number of policy and regulatory changes to carry out the President’s Buy American, Hire American Executive Order,” USCIS spokesman Michael Bars said in a statement, The Guardian reported. “USCIS is focused on safeguarding the integrity of our immigration system and ensuring its faithful execution so that the wages and working conditions of US workers are protected.”

Former director of USCIS León Rodríguez, who served during Obama's presidency, said he still remembered receiving tons of emails from H4 visa holders to implement H4EAD as it would help them make decisions like whether to buy a house or leave the country altogether.

“All of those decisions were on hold because the families struggled on just the one salary,” he said.

An online campaign called “SaveH4EAD” hoped to urge Trump to let the policy stay in effect. A website dedicated to the cause is filled with heartfelt success stories of H4 visa holders.