WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley today said that he has introduced an amendment to the immigration reform bill with Senator Dick Durbin that would eliminate a labor shortage waiver that could be used by the Secretary of Labor so that employers who use the new “Y” visa program are required to always recruit Americans first before hiring a foreign guest worker.
“We want to make sure American workers have an opportunity to get every available job, not just when the Secretary of Labor decides,” Grassley said. “It only makes sense to give American workers a chance before we allow more foreign workers in the country.”
The immigration reform bill currently requires employers to recruit Americans before hiring a guest worker. Exceptions can be made at the sole discretion of the Secretary of Labor as to if he/she determines there is a labor shortage.
The Durbin/Grassley amendment would eliminate the “labor shortage” waiver so that employers would always be required to recruit American workers before hiring a guest worker.
Grassley and Durbin have also teamed up to overhaul the H-1B and L-1 visa programs to give priority to American workers and crack down on unscrupulous employers who deprive qualified Americans of high-skill jobs. In April the Senators introduced legislation to address the problems. The underlying immigration reform bill contains several provisions from the Grassley/Durbin legislation.
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