WASHINGTON _ A White House-backed plan to make it harder for Indian outsourcing companies to displace U.S. workers is moving through the U.S. House, but it's likely to hit a dead end in the Senate, where Republicans and Democrats have little interest in addressing H-1B visas outside of a bigger immigration deal.
For Democrats, the concern is fixing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects from deportation more than 700,000 young people brought illegally into the country as children and which President Donald Trump has terminated.
For Senate Republicans, reluctance to advance the House's H-1B bill reflects a desire to draft a bigger bill that reduces legal immigration by curbing diversity visas and tightening chain migration, which allows immigrants to help family members come to the United States.
The House H-1B legislation, written by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., would make it harder for Indian outsourcing companies to send high-skilled foreign workers to the U.S.
The bill has bipartisan support, a significant feat for any immigration measure in Washington. It also was unanimously endorsed by the House Judiciary Committee, noteworthy considering the wide range of ideologies on a panel that includes Iowa Republican Steve King, one of the staunchest proponents to tightening America's immigration system, and Illinois Democrat Luis Gutierrez, one of strongest advocates of keeping DACA beneficiaries in the country.
The issue has drawn more attention as Walt Disney Co., Southern California Edison and the University of California, San Francisco, have been accused of using the H-1B program to lay off American workers.
"The years of this problem becoming larger and larger has finally reached a point where Congress feels a mandate to act," Issa said.
But the H-1B issue competes for attention with other immigration matters. And Democrats are unwilling to cede their leverage to allow any legislation to move forward that could be seen as helping business groups keep their foreign workers �� or get more workers �� while letting young immigrants face deportation.
"Definitely not before DACA," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of the Judiciary Committee and one of the original co-sponsors of a Senate proposal to tighten the H-1B system. "I doubt that revisions in H-1B are likely without some comprehensive immigration deal."
During his campaign, Trump cited stories of Disney using H-1B workers to replace U.S. tech workers. In April, he signed an executive order directing federal agencies to propose changes to ensure that H-1B visas are awarded to the most skilled or highest paid applicants. In November, his administration proposed ending work authorization for spouses of H-1B workers.
The Issa-Lofgren plan focuses on the most active users of the visa program, largely technology outsourcing firms from India that send foreign tech workers to the U.S. companies such as Microsoft, Intel and Amazon.com also rely on many H-1B visas.
The plan is opposed by India's tech industry and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which says it "would hurt both workers and employers in a variety of economic sectors." But Issa and Lofgren changed requirements in their bill to ensure that U.S. technology company, such as Facebook and Qualcomm, wouldn't be affected. They would likely benefit, as more H-1B visas would be available for U.S. companies.
"Where is the fairness of the tens of thousands of tech companies, including those startups, who found themselves desperately needing these workers," Issa said. "If they had a slot, they would get a worker."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has not told Senate Democrats it's an issue he wants to work on. His staff said they had no guidance or announcements when asked about its prospects.
Staff members for Issa and Lofgren cite the bipartisan support and argue that the legislation should not be used as leverage for a comprehensive immigration package. Issa, who is not seeking re-election, said he will work with the Senate to move the legislation along and emphasized the administration's interest in the issue and the support behind it.
"I have high confidence, having met with the president, talked on this subject with both candidate and President Trump," Issa said. "I wouldn't be putting the time into this if I didn't believe that if we can get it past the Senate that it would be favorably considered and signed by the president."
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(Emily Cadei and Andrea Drusch contributed to this report.)
