Chip Roy

Although the bill hasn’t been enacted yet, the Texas congressman’s intent behind introducing such a legislation is to replace the H-1B lottery system with a wage-based selection process, prevent companies that have recently conducted layoffs from hiring H-1B workers, and end the use of the ‘specialty occupations’ visa category as a pathway to permanent residency. If implemented, the American White-Collar Worker Jobs Act will also eliminate the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program to prioritise employment opportunities for American STEM professionals.

The bill’s rollout comes at a time when Indians, who have dominated H-1B approvals in the US in recent times, are facing increased vitriolic rhetoric. Although top officials from the Trump administration, including US State Secretary Marco Rubio, have downplayed the rising anti-India hate on social media, new surveys and emerging MAGA narratives suggest otherwise.

Without directly targeting Indians or any other diaspora community relying on the H-1B visa program, even the US Department of Labor has repeatedly raised allegations of “rampant abuse” of the visa classification to replace American workers with “cheap” foreign employees.

What is the American White-Collar Worker Jobs Act?

A 14-page document explaining the rationale behind the unnumbered legislation states that the bill has been introduced to “reform the H-1B process, and for other purposes.” Once enacted, it will be cited as the “American White-Collar Worker Jobs Act of 2026,” pushing employers to “demonstrate good-faith efforts to hire American workers first,” as quoted in an official press release from Rep. Chip Roy’s office this week.

Groups like the Immigration Accountability Project, Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), Citizens for Renewing America are already rallying in support of the bill.

The Texas politician states, “For its nearly forty-year history, the H-1B visa has been abused, allowing employers to routinely sideline American STEM workers in favor of cheap foreign labor, while masking layoffs and wage suppression as ‘shortages.’ It’s time to end this lottery-based pipeline and replace it with a system that prioritizes merit, enforces real wage standards, and puts American white-collar workers first.”

Roy’s bill builds on another piece of legislation titled ‘End H-1B Visa Abuse Act of 2026,’ which Rep. Eli Crane introduced in April 2026. It proposed a three-year pause on H-1B visa issuances, in addition to implementing significant reforms to the program.

Suggested reforms listed therein included reducing the annual H-1B cap from 65,000 to 25,000 and eliminating existing exemptions; replacing the lottery system with a wage-based selection system; requiring employers to certify they can’t find a qualified American worker and have not conducted layoffs; setting a minimum H-1B wage of $200,000 per year; barring H-1B workers from holding multiple jobs and prohibiting third-party staffing agencies from employing them; disallowing H-1B workers from bringing dependents to the US; prohibiting federal agencies from sponsoring or employing non-immigrant workers; ending OPT; ensuring non-immigrant visas remain temporary by prohibiting H-1B holders from adjusting status to permanent residency; and requiring non-immigrants to depart the US before changing to another non-immigrant status.

Like many speaking out against the H-1B work visa program, US politicians have also vehemently opposed the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, which USCIS describes as temporary employment directly related to an F-1 student’s major area of study. In addition to Representatives Chip Roy and Eli Crane demanding that the authorities end the program in question, Congressman Riley Moore sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin in April, urging him to “take decisive action to restore integrity to the student visa system and prioritize job opportunities for American workers by ending the OPT and STEM-OPT programs.”

Trump admin’s rules impacting H-1B visa program

In May, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) revealed a sizeable 38.5% drop in “properly submitted” applications for the 2027 H-1B allocation, with numbers falling from 343,981 in fiscal year 2026 to 211,600 in 2027. The agency, which manages immigration applications and benefits within the US, also established that it was “closing the door” on low-skilled and low-wage workers.

Since stepping back into office, Donald Trump has vowed to make necessary changes to legal pathways, promising immigration, while striking down illegal ones altogether, as part of his ‘Make America Great Again’ strategy. Consequently, he has enacted major overhauls to the H-1B program, including the introduction of a mandatory $100,000 fee for any new visa application.

Prior to that, the US State Department implemented new social media screening measures, demanding H-1B applicants and their dependents switch their social media profiles to public for government screening. The move significantly set back the rate of visa appointments, forcing many to remain stuck in their home countries while their employment status in the US was left in limbo.

On top of that, the Department of Homeland Security amended the H-1B work visa selection process to prioritise the allocation of visas to higher-skilled and higher-paid foreign nationals, effective February 27, just in time for the FY 2027 H-1B cap registration season. The creation of the new “weighted” lottery system marked a consequential departure from the original random process, which gave every beneficiary the same chance of being selected, regardless of their skill or pay level.

In a more recent shake-up, the Trump administration announced a new policy memorandum, stating that foreign nationals applying for Green Cards must do so from outside the US. Marking the reversal of a longstanding pattern, the change is expected to impact thousands of temporary visa holders, including H-1B employees and F-1 students, who are currently in the US and hoping to acquire an adjustment of status to permanent residency.

“Nonimmigrants, like students, temporary workers, or people on tourist visas, come to the U.S. for a short time and for a specific purpose. Our system is designed for them to leave when their visit is over. Their visit should not function as the first step in the Green Card process,” USCIS stated. However, it simultaneously emphasised that adjustment of status requests would be reviewed on a “case-by-case basis,” as officials determine whether a foreign national warrants the “extraordinary form of relief.”