A Republican congressman is advocating for a permanent $100,000 H-1B visa requirement through legislation after a court invalidated President Donald Trump’s executive action on the matter. Rep. Mike Kennedy of Utah emphasized the need for Congress to implement the H-1B reforms, stating that his PROTECT Act aims to prioritize American workers in the visa program. The proposed legislation, if enacted, could have significant implications for Indian technology professionals, who are major recipients of H-1B visas.
Kennedy’s bill, named the Prioritising Resources for Our Citizens and Talent Act (PROTECT Act of 2026), aims to revamp the H-1B program, which allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers for specialized roles. The legislation proposes that employers pay H-1B workers a minimum of $100,000 annually or the wage of a comparable U.S. worker, whichever is higher. Additionally, it seeks to give preference to visa petitions offering higher salaries and impose stricter regulations on workers at third-party worksites. The congressman stressed that the legislation is designed to reduce the hiring incentives for foreign workers over American workers.
The congressman argued that the H-1B program has deviated from its original purpose of addressing workforce gaps in the U.S. labor market. Kennedy highlighted that the program, instead of filling genuine skill shortages, has been misused to replace qualified American workers with cheaper foreign labor. He expressed concerns that the current program is discouraging American workers from pursuing careers in STEM fields, posing a threat to national security. The proposed legislation includes exemptions for certain healthcare professionals, such as physicians and nurses, under specific conditions where efforts to recruit American workers have failed.
The H-1B program, established by Congress in 1990, was intended to assist U.S. employers in filling specialized roles that require advanced skills. Notably, Indian nationals constitute a significant portion of H-1B recipients, making any alterations to the program’s eligibility criteria and wage requirements of great interest to India’s technology sector and professionals seeking employment opportunities in the U.S.
