There’s a lot of chatter about changes to the H-1B program much of which are based on rumors and not facts; these include a rumor about a draft Executive Order that would alter this popular visa program, and
various statutes introduced by Congress to revise the H-1B program. However, as of today, nothing has actually changed about the H-1B program. In fact, USCIS will be accepting H-1B petitions for the lottery this year starting April 3, 2017. That’s less than a week away. So why all the confusion and chatter?There’s uncertainty because there’s a grave lack of understanding as to how our immigration rules work, and what powers a President may have to change existing H-1B laws.
Why the Law Matters
The H-1B visa’s existence is because of a
statute. Congress passed multiple bills in the last century concerning immigration that eventually became laws of our land. The last iteration on H-1B visas was revised in 2004, and provided for how many H-1B visas were to be issued, what types of fees would be paid, and what wage requirements would need to be paid to foreign workers.If the H-1B visa program exists because a statute was passed and signed into law, then the program shall too be altered or cease to exist by the same method. Hence, that’s why you have various politicians angling to introduce bills that may someday get passed, signed into law and become a new statute to supersede the latest one.Congress creates. Therefore, Congress must alter or destroy. (Last time I checked, Congress had a really hard time agreeing on anything much….)
Then Why the Talk about Presidential Executive Orders?
Some might wonder why all the talk about Executive Orders if Congress controls what ultimately happens to the H-1B program.In any given statute, there will be certain portions that aren’t explicitly written in detail. When this happens, the statute will typically and explicitly designate a federal authority to “fill-in-the-blanks” by empowering them to establish regulations that will help execute the intent of the law. It is under this vein, that the U.S. President can provide guidance, priorities, and direction to those designated federal authorities.Under the current immigration statute, though, there’s not very much room for maneuvering by the President. The statute requires employers to pay H-1B workers at least the prevailing wage. Also, if the prevailing wage is made available to the public (which it is), then the prevailing wage must contain at least 4 levels of wages.Theoretically, there could be room to impose a filing fee for the Labor Condition Application (a prerequisite filing with the Department of Labor prior to submitting an H-1B petition to Immigration). There could also be room for the Department of Labor to require an employer to conduct a labor market test (force employers to advertise to hire U.S. workers only), before it would agree to certify a Labor Condition Application. Theoretically, the President could impose this in an Executive Order. Though, both plans may fail if challenged in court, simply because it may exceed the authority of the Agency, since Congress did not contemplate these processes in the statute.Therein lies the challenge with the how much power a President could wield through an Executive Order. The President’s primary role is to guide federal agencies in carrying out the law. Until Congress can act to reform the laws, we may not see very much change with the H-1B program yet.
