Durbin has been advocating for H-1B reforms for almost a decade.
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) on Friday wrote a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to speed up the promised H-1B visa reform before the end of the month.
Durbin has been advocating for H-1B reforms for almost a decade. He expressed his disappointment as White House is not implementing the reform even after the new administration completed six weeks.
The Senator from Illinois has repeatedly introduced legislation for H-1B reforms. He introduced a bipartisan bill with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) this year that gives priority to employers that pay higher wages and give employment to workers with advanced science and engineering degrees from the US universities.
In his letter, Durbin asked President Trump to implement the same method and crop this year’s visa applications through an executive order.
“If you do not take action in the next few weeks, outsourcers will secure the right to import tens of thousands of low-wage foreign guest workers to replace American workers,” Durbin’s letter read.
Durbin hasn’t directly discussed immigration policy with the White House before this and he is aware of the awkward position he’s putting himself in by calling for a crackdown from a Republican President, the Economic Times reported.
The letter also accuses President Trump for poisoning the immigration debate with “cruel and un-American” policies.
Earlier, lobbyist Bruce Morrison, who helped create the H-1B program as a member of Congress, also asked Trump administration to do something about this year’s H-1B lottery system. Morrison met Trump’s transition team and discussed the issue in detail.