https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/2026/05/18/protect-job-from-foreign-workers-opinion/90051568007/

My bill to pause the H1-B visa will protect American workers | Opinion

The visa program that allowed foreign workers to fill jobs when no qualified American worker was available must be reformed. The End H1-B Visa Abuse Act will help protect those American workers.

Paul Gosar

For The Republic

For decades, Washington elites and multinational corporations have sold the American people a lie about the H-1B visa program. Americans were told the program existed to fill temporary labor shortages with highly specialized workers when no qualified American could be found. That may have been the original promise, but today the H-1B system has become something entirely different: a pipeline for replacing American workers with cheaper foreign labor while corporate executives reap larger profits.

That is why I proudly joined Congressman Eli Crane, R-Arizona, and several of my colleagues in introducing H.R. 8443, the End H-1B Visa Abuse Act of 2026.

This legislation is built on a simple principle: American jobs should go to American workers first.

How does the H-1B visa system work?

The current H-1B system is badly broken. Large corporations have learned how to manipulate loopholes to import lower-cost labor instead of investing in our own citizens. Too many Americans have experienced the humiliation of being forced to train their foreign replacements before being shown the door. Wages are suppressed, opportunities shrink and young graduates are told there are “worker shortages” while qualified Americans struggle to find jobs in their own country.

Enough is enough.

The End H-1B Visa Abuse Act imposes a three-year pause on new H-1B visas while reforming the system to put American workers first. The bill reduces the visa cap, eliminates loopholes, replaces the random lottery with a wage-based process, raises salary requirements to $200,000, bans staffing agency abuse and requires employers to prove they cannot find qualified American workers before hiring from overseas.

Most importantly, the legislation restores the program’s original purpose instead of allowing it to operate as a corporate outsourcing pipeline inside the United States.

How do foreign students get to stay in the US after graduation?

One of the most important provisions in this legislation is ending the Optional Practical Training program, better known as OPT — a deeply flawed scheme I have fought against for years.

The OPT program was never authorized by Congress, yet unelected bureaucrats expanded it anyway. Under OPT, foreign students can remain in the United States and work for years after graduation, effectively bypassing the legal limits Congress established for H-1B visas. What was originally presented as temporary practical training has evolved into a shadow guest-worker pipeline benefiting multinational corporations at the expense of American graduates.

Even worse, the federal government actively incentivizes employers to hire OPT workers over Americans. Companies employing OPT participants are exempt from paying certain payroll taxes, including Social Security and Medicare contributions, for several years. That means foreign labor under OPT can cost employers significantly less than hiring an American worker with identical qualifications.

Think about how outrageous that is.

How will the End H-1B Visa Abuse Act help Americans?

Young Americans spend years studying engineering, science, technology, mathematics and medicine. They take on enormous student debt, work hard and do everything society tells them to do to succeed. Yet many discover the system has been rigged against them from the start because corporations can save money by hiring foreign workers through visa loopholes.

That is not fairness. That is economic sabotage.

For years, I have led the fight to eliminate this unlawful and anti-worker program because our government should never reward companies for replacing American citizens with cheaper foreign labor. I first introduced legislation to end OPT during the 116th Congress and have consistently supported efforts to challenge the program.

Predictably, the political left and their allies in corporate America are already attacking this legislation. They claim industries like health care, engineering and technology would collapse without endless access to imported labor. That argument is dishonest and insulting to the hardworking Americans already serving in those professions and to the next generation preparing to enter them.

There is no shortage of talent in Arizona or across America. We have talented students, nurses, technicians, engineers and medical professionals who simply want a fair opportunity to compete. The real problem is that too many corporations have become addicted to cheaper labor instead of investing in recruitment, training, retention and competitive wages for American workers.

If an employer truly cannot find qualified Americans after offering fair pay, that is one thing. But too often, corporations use H-1B visas and OPT to avoid recruiting, training, and fairly compensating American workers.

America should prioritize Americans

For years, politicians in both parties told Americans they must accept stagnant wages and shrinking opportunities because “global competition” demanded it, while the elites promoting those policies avoided the consequences as working families paid the price.

The America First movement rejects that failed ideology.

Every country prioritizes its own citizens. America should do the same.

Congress now faces a clear choice: continue allowing corporations to manipulate the system while American families fall behind or rebuild an economy that rewards Americans instead of replacing them.

know where I stand.

America First means putting American workers first. This legislation does exactly that.

Congressman Paul Gosar is a Republican representing Arizona’s Ninth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.