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Homeland Security Being Pressured on H-1B Visa Program Problems

Senators Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., are pressing Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano for answers to long-standing problems in the H-1B visa program. The letter comes on the heels of a recently released Government Accountability Office report that details the processes by which employers bring in foreign workers and describes the shortcomings in administrative oversight to make sure the program is not abused.  

According to Grassley the H-1B visa program is riddled with loopholes and is in need of serious reform.  Grassley is the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Durbin, the Assistant Senate Majority Leader, is a senior member of the committee, which has jurisdiction over immigration policy.

Grassley and Durbin have long argued that American workers should be given first consideration by companies looking to import foreign workers.  The program lacks sufficient controls to ensure that employers are abiding by the rules set forth in the program and that the program oversight is fragmented and restricted.