U.S. Representative Greg Steube has introduced the EXILE Act, which seeks to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act by terminating the H-1B visa program. According to Steube, Indians are the predominant recipients of H-1B visas, which he argues displaces American workers in favor of foreign labor, particularly from India. Steube shared data to highlight that Indians are taking away the jobs from Americans.
H-1B nonimmigrant visa program allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations, defined by statute as occupations that require highly specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s or higher degree in the specific specialty, or its equivalent.
The H-1B visa program has been under fire from various sources, including US lawmakers, the American workforce and the MAGA community. The primary criticism of the H-1B visa program is that U.S. companies exploit it to hire foreign workers at lower wages, neglecting American workers.
H-1B Visas for Indians
Steube’s EXILE Act aims to amend Section 214(g)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184) by ending the H-1B visa program. According to Steube, more than 80% of recipients of H-1B visas are Indian or Chinese nationals, with priority given to younger workers.
A Pew Research Center analysis found that Indian recipients had become the majority of H-1Bs, particularly in the last ten years. According to federal data from fiscal 2024, 71% of H-1B applications that were approved that year were from Indians, while nearly 12% were from Chinese nationals. By contrast, the share of all other nations was far smaller.
Indian skilled workers obtained 72.3% of H-1B visas issued from October 2022 to September 2023, as reported by the Indian government to the Rajya Sabha in February 2025.
In his statement supporting the EXILE ACT, Steube shared some examples of how the H-1B visa program has disadvantaged American workers. The H-1B visa program has prevented more than 10,000 U.S. physicians from accessing residency programs by facilitating the arrival of more than 5,000 foreign-born doctors.
Further, he shared the example where more than 16,000 Microsoft employees were displaced following the approval of more than 9,000 H-1B visas in 2025.
FedEx’s utilization of the H-1B resulted in the shuttering of more than 100 facilities across the United States, and Disney’s laying off 250 employees in 2015, only to replace them with foreign workers brought in via the H-1B visa, were highlighted by him.
Steube has also been critical of Indian’s grabbing most of H-1B jobs. In 2014, Southern California Edison fired 540 workers while their replacements were brought in from two Indian outsourcing firms that utilized the H-1B visa program, added Steube.
“Prioritizing foreign labor over the well-being and prosperity of American citizens undermines our values and national interests. Our workers and young people continue to be displaced and disenfranchised by the H-1B visa program that awards corporations and foreign competitors at the expense of our workforce. We cannot preserve the American dream for our children while forfeiting their share to non-citizens. That is why I am introducing the EXILE Act to put working Americans first again,” said Steube.
H-1B 2027 Cap season
The EXILE Act has been introduced at a time when the USCIS has announced the opening and closing dates for the H-1B 2027 Cap season initial registration.
The new wage-based selection process, which has already been introduced, is in favour of highly paid foreign workers and is actually against the low-paid, low-skilled overseas worker force.
Further, a new rule requires US firms to pay $100,000 for every H-1B petition filed, thus making the hiring process of foreign workers expensive for American companies.
The EXILE Act seems to have been introduced quite late. Both the new wage-based selection process and the $100,000 petition fee aim to discourage U.S. firms from hiring foreign workers unless they are highly skilled and can contribute to the American economy without displacing U.S. jobs.