Seventeen individuals and organizations, including universities and businesses, have filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Labor, challenging its recent Interim Final Rule on wages related to H1B visas.
The lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday alleged that the poorly drafted and incorrectly issued rule did not comply with the rules of procedure for rule making and is substantially arbitrary, incorrect and irrational.
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The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialized occupations that require theoretical or technical experience. It is the most sought after among IT professionals in India.
“Rising prevailing wages will clearly not benefit US economic growth or any worker; study after study has shown that H-1B visa holders create jobs in the US,” said Jesse Bless, director Federal Litigation Board of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). , he claimed. The regulation, he said, has caused immediate and unnecessary harm to all corners of the economy, including academic institutions, nonprofits, hospitals, startups and small businesses.
“Frankly, the last thing we need during a pandemic (COVID-19) and economic turmoil is a rule based on a false and incorrect understanding of the American market and workforce. This will impede our economic recovery, not improve it,” Bless said .
Earlier this month, the Labor Department released a rule to properly identify salary levels for H-1B holders and other foreign labor programs, which the White House says will improve the quality of H-1B workers and better reflect the wages paid to employees with similar jobs. workers in the United States.
The rule will limit an employer’s ability to replace workers with cheap foreign labor and will help ensure that wages are not suppressed by the presence of low-cost foreign workers, the White House argued. Among those who have sued are Purdue University, University of Michigan, University of Denver, Chapman University, Bard College, International Institute of New England, Information Technology Industry Council, Arizona State University, Scripps College, Northern Arizona University, Indiana University , Study Mississippi, Dentists for America, Physicians for American Healthcare, and Hodges Bonded Warehouse.
Jeff Joseph, Senior Partner at Joseph and Hall, in a statement claimed that dealing with the Labor Department often feels like “The Hunger Games.” “Everyone is required to play, but no one knows that rules and regulations are constantly changing. This is not a game. The fact that the rule was enforced without thinking about the destructive impact it would have on industries and the economy illustrates how Disconnected is this administration regarding the symbiotic relationship between legal immigration and the economy, he said.
The days of the federal government blatantly ignoring the law in its rulemaking are over, said Charles Kuck, managing partner at Kuck Baxter Immigration. America’s universities, employers, and healthcare systems can no longer sit still and watch as America’s immigration system is dismantled by a nativist administration and in violation of federal law, he said. Aside from the blatantly illegal way the Labor Department removed this rule on economics, its basic premise is also totally wrong, claimed Greg Siskind, founding partner of Siskind Susser.
The affected workers are in occupations with extraordinarily low unemployment. And as we show in the complaint, these outstanding immigrants are doing critical work for the benefit of everyday Americans, whether it’s providing critical research to cure disease, making our country globally competitive, bringing medical and dental care to rural Americans or caring for the elderly in our country. citizens, he said.
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