Foreign Labor Influence
Multiple government agencies and private sector entities administer and enable visa and green card programs. Below is a breakdown of key actors:
Government Agencies
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS): Approves employment-based visa petitions (e.g., H-1B, L-1, EB-2, EB-3) and processes green card applications.
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): Oversees SEVIS compliance for foreign students and I-9 audits for employment verification.
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP): Manages visa entry at ports of entry.
- U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)
- Reviews PERM labor certifications, requiring employers to prove no qualified U.S. citizen is available for green card-sponsored roles.
- Manages prevailing wage determinations and employer attestations.
- Led by Acting Secretary Julie Su (as of August 2025, per DOL).
- U.S. Department of State
- Administers nonimmigrant and immigrant visas via consulates and embassies.
- Runs the Diversity Visa Lottery and manages annual green card caps.
- Issues final visas after USCIS approval.
Private Sector Enablers
- Large Corporations: Utilize H-1B, L-1, and EB green cards to reduce labor costs, filing thousands of visa petitions annually (e.g., Amazon: 10,000+ H-1B approvals in 2024, USCIS).
- Immigration Law Firms: Draft job postings to meet PERM and H-1B requirements while minimizing U.S. citizen applications.
- Third-Party Staffing Agencies: Sponsor non-citizen workers, sometimes under questionable conditions, to meet visa demands (e.g., Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services).
- Lobbyists & Trade Groups: Groups like Compete America and NASSCOM lobby for higher visa caps, citing “labor shortages” to justify foreign hiring.
Foreign Labor Timeline
The foreign labor pipeline has evolved through key legislative and regulatory milestones, shaping its role in the U.S. economy:
- 1952 – Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)
Established H-1 visa for temporary workers with “distinguished merit and ability,” precursor to modern H-1B (8 U.S.C. § 101(a)(15)(H)).
- 1965 – Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments
Introduced H-2 visa for temporary agricultural and non-agricultural workers, addressing labor shortages (e.g., H-2A for agriculture, H-2B for seasonal jobs).
- 1990 – Immigration Act of 1990
Created H-1B visa, capping it at 65,000 annually, and established employment-based green card categories (EB-1 to EB-5).
- 1998 – American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act
Increased H-1B cap to 115,000 (later adjusted) and introduced prevailing wage requirements to protect U.S. workers (DOL).
- 2002 – Homeland Security Act
Transferred visa oversight to DHS, enhancing USCIS and ICE roles in H-1B and green card processing.
- 2004 – H-1B Visa Reform Act
Added 20,000 H-1B visas for U.S. master’s degree holders and tightened labor condition application (LCA) rules (DOL).
- 2015 – H-1B Controversy and Scrutiny
High-profile cases (e.g., Disney replacing 250 U.S. IT workers with H-1B hires) sparked debate over wage suppression and displacement (NY Times 2015).
- 2020 – Trump Administration H-1B Restrictions
Raised prevailing wage requirements and tightened H-1B eligibility to prioritize U.S. workers, partially reversed in 2021 (DOL, USCIS).
- 2024 – Record H-1B Approvals
USCIS approved 579,000 H-1B petitions, with 70% in tech roles, and 370,000 H-2A workers supported agriculture (USCIS, DOL 2024).
Foreign Student Enrollment
Foreign student enrollment has grown into a significant economic sector, often bypassing H-1B caps and labor protections through F-1 and OPT/CPT programs.
Timeline: Evolution of the Foreign Student Pipeline (F-1, J-1, OPT, STEM OPT)
- 1952 – Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)
Established the F-1 visa for academic students, enabling temporary study in the U.S.
- 1961 – Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act (Fulbright-Hays Act)
Created the J-1 visa for cultural and academic exchanges, including scholars, researchers, and trainees.
- 1990 – Immigration Act of 1990
Introduced Optional Practical Training (OPT), allowing F-1 students 12 months of work post-graduation.
- 2002 – Homeland Security Act
Transferred student visa oversight to DHS and ICE, launching SEVIS to track F-1 and J-1 students.
- 2008 – STEM OPT Extension
Extended OPT from 12 to 29 months for STEM degree holders to retain “critical talent” (DHS).
- 2016 – Final Rule: 24-Month STEM OPT Extension
Replaced 17-month STEM OPT with a 24-month extension, allowing up to 36 months of work authorization for F-1 STEM graduates, uncapped and bypassing H-1B restrictions (DHS).
- 2019 – Peak Enrollment
U.S. hosted 1.095 million international students, with 223,000 on OPT, the second-largest foreign workforce program after H-1B (IIE Open Doors 2019).
- 2020–2023 – OPT as Work Pathway
Universities marketed OPT/STEM OPT as a labor pipeline, with DHS reinforcing student-to-work transitions.
- 2024 – STEM OPT Expansion
Expanded eligible STEM fields (e.g., data analytics, environmental engineering), increasing OPT participation to 250,000 students (DHS, SEVIS 2024).