Florida Republican Congressman Greg Steube has introduced a new bill in the US House of Representatives to end the H-1B visa program by 2027. The bill, called the “Ending Exploitative Imported Labour Exemptions (EXILE) Act,” proposes reducing the annual H-1B visa cap to zero starting in fiscal year 2027. The H-1B program currently allows US companies to hire skilled foreign workers in fields such as technology, healthcare, engineering, and research. This is the second recent attempt to end the program, after another similar bill was introduced earlier this year. At present, the US issues 85,000 H-1B visas each year, including 20,000 reserved for people with advanced US degrees. However, universities and nonprofit organizations are not subject to this cap. It is still unclear whether the new bill would affect those exemptions. According to recent data, Indian nationals receive the majority of H-1B visas, making up about 71% of approvals, followed by Chinese nationals at 12%. Congressman Steube said the program hurts American workers and that his bill aims to protect US jobs. The proposal comes as the H-1B system is already facing changes, including a wage-based selection process and a new $100,000 fee for certain new visa applications.
