The H-1B visa program, which permits American companies to employ foreign workers, is back in the spotlight. There is a new twist to the story as opposition to the foreign worker program, which replaces American workers with foreign workers, grows. A Republican proposal has been floated that seeks to eliminate the H-1B visa exemption for higher education employees in US universities.
H-1B visa
The H-1B program currently has a cap of 65,000 visas, with exceptions for higher education and other specific groups, including an additional 20,000 visas that can be granted to individuals who hold master’s degrees or higher.
Rep. Tom Tiffany’s “Colleges for the American People Act of 2025” (CAP Act) proposes to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act, requiring foreign nationals to apply for an H-1B visa within the 20,000 visa cap.
“Too often, universities exploit an H-1B visa loophole to hire unlimited foreign workers instead of Americans. Today I introduced the CAP Act with Rep_Clyde to end this abuse. It’s time to put American talent first.” Tiffany said on X.
“The CAP Act ensures our institutions invest in the people they are meant to serve and ends the backdoor hiring practices that undercut American workers,” added Tiffany.
The proposal would not be retroactive, so current H-1B visa holders at universities could still apply for their extension. The CAP Act legislation is co-sponsored by Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Georgia.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has received sufficient petitions for the H-1B visa caps for fiscal year 2026. USCIS data shows that as of 2019, there were just under 600,000 H-1B visa holders.
H-1B Visa Program
The H-1B visa program is being targeted from other fronts, too. Recently, a proposal has been sent to the White House to establish a wage-based allocation process and select the H-1B candidates based on their wages – the higher the salary offered by the US firm, the higher the chance of getting an H-1B Visa. This means the chances of a low-wage foreign worker getting an H-1B visa will diminish.
The proposed rule aims to allocate restricted H-1B cap numbers to higher-skilled, higher-valued, or higher-paid foreign workers, rather than allowing cap numbers for lower-skilled or lower-paid positions.
Analyst Amanda Goodall, using the X handle “@thejobchick” has once again posted on the mis-use of H-1B visa program impacting American workers. Amanda posts – What’s happening at Microsoft should scare every working American. The layoffs. The memo. The H1B requests. @JDVance, @RepMTG and countless others that realize that our labor market situation is waving a red flag.
Hardworking Americans are being replaced, repackaged, or pushed out… while companies claim ‘headcount is unchanged.’ Companies should be able to grow and profit, but not by putting American workers in the corner.”