119-s2821

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2821 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 2821

 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to reform the H-1B 
 nonimmigrant visa program, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 September 16, 2025

 Mr. Banks introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
 referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to reform the H-1B 
 nonimmigrant visa program, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``American Tech Workforce Act of 
2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds the following:

    (1) The H-1B nonimmigrant visa is a program that is being 
 used to supplant United States workers with inexpensive foreign 
 labor.

    (2) Sixty percent of H-1B nonimmigrant visas are assigned 
 wage levels that are substantially below the local median wages 
 for their relevant occupations.

    (3) The ability to hire non-United States workers at wages 
 substantially below median wage levels, adjusted for locality 
 and occupation, clearly disincentivizes the hiring of United 
 States workers.

    (4) In 2024, the 8 companies receiving the most initial 
 approvals for H-1B nonimmigrant visas were Big Tech companies, 
 including Amazon, Meta, Google, Microsoft, and Apple, which 
 continues a 10-year trend.

    (5) The Optional Practical Training Program, which was 
 established without explicit congressional authorization--
        (A) was expanded by the Obama Administration for 
 student visa holders who have completed their studies 
 and earned a degree in a science, technology, 
 engineering, or math field to provide greater benefits 
 to Big Tech companies;
        (B) allows such student visa holders to work in the 
 United States for up to 3 years, while waiving their 
 employer's payroll tax withholding obligations with 
 respect to such workers; and
            (C) functions as a tax break and significant 
 incentive for employers not to employ United States 
 workers.

SEC. 3. TERMINATION OF OPTIONAL PRACTICAL TRAINING PROGRAM; EMPLOYMENT 
 AUTHORIZATION TO TERMINATE AFTER COMPLETION OF COURSE OF 
 STUDIES.

    (a) In General.--

Section 274A

    (h) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a) is amended by adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (4) Prohibition of employment authorization for certain 
 aliens who are no longer engaged in full-time study in the 
 united states.--
 ``
        (A) Termination of optional practical training.--
 The Optional Practical Training Program authorized 
 under 

section 214.2

    (f)

    (10)
            (ii) of title 8, Code of 
 Federal Regulations, is terminated.
 ``
        (B) In general.--Notwithstanding any other 
 provision of law, an alien who is present in the United 
 States as a nonimmigrant described in 

section 101

    (a)

    (15)
        (F)
            (i) may not be provided employment 
 authorization in the United States through the Optional 
 Practical Training Program, or any successor program. 
 Any employment authorization for a nonimmigrant 
 described in 

section 101

    (a)

    (15)
        (F)
            (i) shall terminate 
 upon the completion of the nonimmigrant's course of 
 studies and may not be extended beyond such date of 
 completion.''.

    (b) Transition Rule.--Every application for Optional Practical 
Training by a nonimmigrant described in 

section 101

    (a)

    (15)
        (F)
            (i) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101

    (a)

    (15)
        (F)
            (i) ) that is 
pending on the date of the enactment of this Act shall be denied and 
any fees paid in conjunction with any such application shall be 
refunded.

SEC. 4. OTHER PROVISIONS REGARDING H-1B NONIMMIGRANT APPLICATIONS.

 

Section 212

    (n) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1182

    (n) ) is amended--

    (1) in paragraph

    (1) , by amending subparagraph
        (A) to read 
 as follows:
 ``
        (A) The employer is offering, and will offer 
 during the period of authorized employment, an annual 
 wage to the H-1B nonimmigrant that is not less than the 
 greater of--
 ``
            (i) the annual wage that was paid to the 
 United States citizen or lawful permanent 
 resident employee who performed identical or 
 similar work to the work to be performed by the 
 H-1B nonimmigrant during the 2-year period 
 immediately preceding the date on which the 
 employer filed such application; or
 ``
            (ii) 
            (I) $150,000, if offered during the 
 1-year period beginning on the date of the 
 enactment of the American Tech Workforce Act of 
 2025; or
 ``
            (II) for any 1-year period beginning on 
 July 1 after the period described in subclause
            (I) , the sum of--
 ``

    (aa) the amount specified in 
 subclause
            (I) ; and
 ``

    (bb) such amount multiplied by 
 the cumulative percentage change in the 
 Consumer Price Index since such date of 
 enactment.''; and

    (2) by adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (6) A visa issued to an H-1B nonimmigrant pursuant to a petition 
filed by an employer pursuant to paragraph

    (1) shall be valid for a 
period not to exceed 1 year if any part of the work assigned to such H-
1B nonimmigrant will be performed at a third-party worksite.
 ``

    (7) An H-1B nonimmigrant visa may not be issued if any part of 
the work assigned to the H-1B nonimmigrant for the beneficiary of the 
applicant will be performed at a third-party worksite unless such 
assignment--
 ``
        (A) is specific and nonspeculative; and
 ``
        (B) continues for the entire work period requested in the 
 petition.
 ``

    (8) In issuing an H-1B nonimmigrant visa or granting such status 
to an alien during a fiscal year, petitions from employers shall be 
approved by prioritizing petitions that offer higher compensation rates 
above petitions that offer lower compensation rates, regardless of the 
order in which such petitions were filed.''.

SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

 Nothing in this Act, or in the amendments made by this Act, may be 
construed to authorize any Federal agency to grant work authorization 
to any alien through any program that has not been authorized by an Act 
of Congress.
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