End OPT, H-1B lottery: Republican senator Jim Banks introduces new bill; 'This puts Americans first'

Republican senator Jim Banks introduced the American Tech Workforce Act , proposing a complete overhaul of the H-1b visa program which is already a high priority of the Donald Trump administration. The Indiana senator's bill proposed to raise the salary floor from $60,000 to $150,000 so that tech companies can't bring cheap labor from foreign countries in the garb of high-skilled H-1Bs.

“Corporations rigged the system to flood the country with cheap foreign labor and drive down wages,” Banks told Breitbart News. “This bill puts American workers first.”

Amid the ongoing H-1B controversy with US tech workers and politicians blaming foreigners for stealing American jobs, Banks cited the recent layoffs. He said Microsoft in July laid off 9,000 American workers after eliminating 6,000 American jobs earlier this year -- while they reportedly applied for over 5,000 H-1B visas.

Banks' The American Tech Workforce Act proposes

• 1. To raise the wage floor for H-1B visas from $60,000 to $150,000
• 2. To end the Optional Practical Training program.
• 3. To replace the H-1B lottery with a system that awards visas to the highest bidder.

International students on an F-1 visa get work authorisation under OPT for 12 months, which can be extended. Since they are considered as students and not workers, they do not pay taxes and companies can also save taxes by hiring them -- dealing a blow to American graduates as hiring them is costlier for the companies.

Banks led the American Tech Workforce Act when it was first introduced in 2021 in the 117th Congress. “Big Tech is setting aside some of the most lucrative and valuable career opportunities in America and giving them exclusively to foreign guest workers,” Banks said at that time. “They’re cutting out Americans to save a few bucks. It’s domestic outsourcing. This shocking disregard for American workers and their role in our nation’s future is unpatriotic. We must fix Big Tech’s incentives, so they begin putting Americans first.”