Rep. Roy Introduces Legislation to End H-1B Abuse to Protect American Tech Workers

Washington, D.C. - Today, Congressman Chip Roy (TX-21) introduced the American White-Collar Worker Jobs Act of 2026, legislation which would reform the H-1B visa program by replacing the absurd lottery system with a wage-based selection process, requiring employers to demonstrate good-faith efforts to hire American workers first, and preventing companies that have recently conducted layoffs from hiring H-1B workers.

The bill also ends the use of H-1B visas as a pathway to permanent residency and eliminates the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program to prioritize employment opportunities for American STEM professionals.

The legislation builds on Rep. Eli Crane's (R-AZ) End H-1B Visa Abuse Act of 2026, which proposes a three-year pause on H-1B visa issuances followed by comprehensive reforms designed to restore the program's integrity and effectiveness.

"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," said Rep. Roy.

"An H-1B program overrun with abuse betrays the interests of hardworking Americans by allowing businesses to replace qualified employees with cheaper foreign labor. Congress should be doing everything in our power to prioritize our own citizens rather than facilitating their displacement. Rep. Roy's American White-Collar Worker Jobs Act delivers significant reforms that protect future generations instead of padding bottom lines at their expense. I'm proud to be an original cosponsor and hopeful we can build a broad coalition behind this effort," said Rep. Crane.

"With the introduction of the American White-Collar Worker Jobs Act, Congressman Chip Roy has once again demonstrated that he is a leader firmly committed to placing the interests of American workers first. When passed, the bill will effectively address many of the egregious aspects of the H-1B visa program that have not merely encouraged but enabled corporations, universities, and NGOs to displace our most productive workers with cheaper and more quiescent foreigners. Moreover, the bill will not only end STEM OPT, it will ensure that only Congress has the authority to create employment authorization programs," said Kevin Lynn, President, U.S. Tech Workers.

"Congressman Roy's American White Collar Worker Jobs Act of 2026 would help protect American workers by converting the H-1B program from a cheap labor pipeline into a functioning guestworker program for the truly skilled. The Immigration Accountability Project is proud to support this effort," said Grant Newman, Director of Government Relations, Immigration Accountability Project.

"For decades, the H-1B program has been exploited to lay off American citizens and replace them with cheap foreign labor. Congressman Roy's American White-Collar Worker Jobs Act is vital to addressing this abuse and will tighten H-1B requirements, prioritize higher-paying positions, and empower American workers to hold corporations accountable. FAIR urges Congress to act swiftly to protect American workers, stop the flood of cheap foreign labor undermining American talent, and pass this critical bill," said Joe Chatham, Director of Government Relations, Federation for American Immigration Reform.

Groups in support: Immigration Accountability Project, Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), Citizens for Renewing America.

Read the full bill text here.

Read the exclusive Daily Caller story here.