Indian IT firms brace for rude jolt as US House introduces Keeping American Jobs Act
The bill, introduced by Congressmen Derek Kilmer and Doug Collins, wants to stop US cos from outsourcing jobs overseas by "abusing" H1-B programme.
Two US politicians have reintroduced a Bill that seeks to curb misuse of H-1B visas and prevent outsourcing of jobs to foreign shores.
The Keeping American Jobs Act was introduced by Derek Kilmer (Democrat) and Doug Collins (Republican) on Thursday.
They said the legislation will prevent companies that have temporary visas from the H-1B visa programme from using them to train workers in the country and then moving those jobs to a foreign land.
A Bill to this effect was first introduced in the last Congress on February 24, 2016 under the Obama administration. “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 calls for the amendment of the Immigration and Nationality Act “to modify the provisions governing employment of nonimmigrants under Section 101(a)(15)(H) (i)(b) of that Act to prevent the transfer of knowledge from United States workers for the purpose of facilitating their jobs being moved abroad”.
“Our policies should promote jobs in America,” Kilmer, a Washington Democrat, said in a press release on Thursday.
“They should not 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.”
Collins said, “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, but we can’t allow the law to be exploited to displace American workers and send their jobs abroad.
The Keeping American Jobs Act protects American workers by preventing bad actors from abusing the system in order to offshore jobs.”
The new Bill is one of many Bills that have been introduced or reintroduced in Congress to crack down on the H-1B visa programme.
The development comes on the heels of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s remark that “there is no reason to worry about it (H-1B) as of now.”
By: Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury
Source: ET