American Tech Workforce Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.6206 | Sponsor: Rep. Banks, Jim (R-IN)
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
American Tech Workforce Act of 2021
This bill eliminates the Optional Practical Training Program and modifies requirements for H-1B visas (nonimmigrant workers in specialty occupations and fashion models). (The Optional Practical Training Program provides an eligible F-1 student visa holder temporary employment authorization before or after completion of the student's studies, or both.)
Under this bill, the employer must pay an H-1B visa holder the greater of (1) the annual wage paid to a U.S. worker who did identical or similar work in the two years before the employer's H-1B application; or (2) $110,000, with this amount to be adjusted annually for inflation. Currently, the H-1B visa holder must be paid the greater of (1) the employer's actual wage for similarly qualified U.S. workers in the specific position, or (2) the local prevailing wage for the occupational classification.
The bill also removes a requirement for the employer to provide the visa holder with working conditions such that the working conditions of similarly employed workers will not be affected.
The bill imposes limits on assigning H-1B visa holders to third-party work sites, such as limiting the visa validity period to one year if the visa holder performs any part of their assignment at a third-party work site.
The bill requires the H-1B applications with the highest listed compensation to be granted before those with lower listed compensation.

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to reform the H-1B visa 
                    program, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``American Tech Workforce Act of 
2021''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The H-1B visa has become a program used to supplant 
        American workers with inexpensive foreign labor.
            (2) 60 percent of H-1B visas are assigned wage levels 
        substantially below the local median wages for their relevant 
        occupations.
            (3) The ability to hire non-American workers at wages 
        substantially below median wage levels, adjusted for locality 
        and occupation, clearly disincentivizes the hiring of American 
        workers.
            (4) In 2019, Big Tech companies like Amazon, Google, 
        Microsoft, Facebook, IBM, and Apple were 6 of the top 8 initial 
        approval recipients for H-1B visas. This trend has existed 
        since 2014.
            (5) The Optional Practical Training Program was created 
        without Congressional Authority, was expanded by the Obama 
        Administration, and is most beneficial to Big Tech.
            (6) The Optional Practical Training Program allows student 
        visa holders who have completed their studies and earned a 
        degree in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math (STEM) to 
        work for up to three years, and waives their employer's payroll 
        tax obligations for the OPT participant.
            (7) The Optional Practical Training Program functions as a 
        tax break for employers who do not employ Americans, and 
        actively incentivizes such.

SEC. 3. OPTIONAL PRACTICAL TRAINING PROGRAM TERMINATED; EMPLOYMENT 
              AUTHORIZATION TO TERMINATE AFTER COMPLETION OF COURSE OF 
              STUDIES.

    (a) In General.--Section 274A(h) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) Employment authorization for aliens no longer engaged 
        in full-time study in the united states.--Notwithstanding any 
        other provision of law, no alien present in the United States 
        as a nonimmigrant under section 101(a)(15)(F)(i) may be 
        provided employment authorization in the United States pursuant 
        to the Optional Practical Training Program, or any such 
        successor program, and the Optional Practical Training Program 
        shall be terminated. Any employment authorization for a 
        nonimmigrant under section 101(a)(15)(F) shall terminate upon 
        completion of the alien's course of studies and may not be 
        granted or extended thereafter.''.
    (b) Transition Rule.--Any application for the Optional Practical 
Training Program that is pending as of the date of enactment of this 
Act shall be rejected and any fees paid pertaining to such application 
shall be refunded.

SEC. 4. OTHER PROVISIONS REGARDING H-1B NONIMMIGRANTS.

    Section 212(n) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1182(n)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), to read as follows:
                    ``(A) That the employer is offering, and will offer 
                during the period of authorized employment, an annual 
                wage to the H-1B nonimmigrant that is the greater of--
                            ``(i) the annual wage that was paid to the 
                        United States citizen or lawful permanent 
                        resident employee who did identical or similar 
                        work during the 2 years before the employer 
                        filed such application; or
                            ``(ii) $110,000, if offered not later than 
                        1 year after the date of the enactment of the 
                        American Tech Workforce Act of 2021, which 
                        amount shall be annually adjusted for inflation 
                        by July 1 of each year.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) Period of validity.--A visa granted under section 
        101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) to an H-1B nonimmigrant pursuant to a 
        petition by any employer, if any part of such an assignment 
        will be performed at a third-party worksite, shall be valid for 
        a period of not more than 1 year.
            ``(7) Specific and non-speculative employment 
        requirement.--No visa may be granted under section 
        101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) if any part of the assignment for the 
        beneficiary of the petition will be performed at a third-party 
        worksite unless the assignment is specific and non-speculative 
        and lasts for the entire time requested in the petition.
            ``(8) Order of priority.--In issuing visa or according 
        status under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) for a fiscal year, 
        applications from employers in accordance with this subsection 
        shall be granted in order of the highest compensation rate 
        included in the application to the lowest.''.
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