Biden’s move to revert to H-1B lotteries opposed by US senator

Washington, Feb 06: A top Republican Senator has opposed the move of the Biden administration to resort to the traditional lottery system to issue H-1B visas to foreign professionals, saying it is giving Big Tech donors the gift of "cheap" foreign labour at the expense of American workers.

The Biden administration on Thursday announced that it is delaying the H-1B policy of the previous Trump administration on the allocation of the popular foreign work visas by continuing with the lottery system until December 31, 2021, to give the immigration agency more time to develop, test and implement the modifications to the registration system.

The Trump-era rule was scheduled to go into effect on March 9.

"Big Tech abuses the H-1B visa program to hire cheap foreign labour instead of Americans. That isn't good for American workers, but the Biden administration is letting companies get away with it," Senator Tom Cotton said.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said it would prioritise wages to protect the economic interests of American workers, and better ensure that the most highly skilled foreign workers benefit from the temporary employment programme.

Senator Cotton from Arkansas said that H-1B visas should help fill labour shortages, not help Big Tech hire foreigners instead of Americans to save money.