If you want to know how the Republican-controlled House will stand on the H-1B visa program in 2023, look to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). In 2013, Cruz sought to increase the base H-1B cap from 65,000 to 325,000 or by 500%.
"This measure would effectively address the needs of our nation's high-skill workforce," he said at the time.
But just two years later, Cruz reversed course. He joined former Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) in a bill that would raise the minimum H-1B visa salary to $110,000 and prevent employers from hiring H-1B workers for two years after a layoff.
By 2015, it became hard for Cruz and many other lawmakers to dismiss the problems with the H-1B program.
"The mass layoff of American workers at Disney, Southern California Edison and many other companies -- who were then forced to train their foreign replacements -- underscores that our political system has failed in its duty to protect our own people," Sessions said in announcing the legislation.
The Cruz and Sessions plan to raise H-1B minimum salaries to $110,000 is now backed by nearly 160 U.S. House members, who are all signers of the Republican Study Committee's "Blueprint to Save America." The plan from the conservative caucus includes ending the H-1B visa lottery, which is used today to distribute visas over the 85,000 annual allotment, and replacing it with a distribution system that allocates visas based on salary offering -- with the highest salaries assured a visa.
But even if Republicans control the...
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