United States bill seeks up to USD 250,000 penalties for serious H-1B violations

A Republican lawmaker has introduced legislation that would raise penalties for serious H1B visa violations to as much as 250000 extend some employer sponsorship bans to at least 10 years and sharply increase fines for immigration document fraudRep Beth Van Duyne of Texas announced the H1B Visa Fraud Crackdown Act on Monday saying existing penalties were too small to deter employers from abusing the programmeThe legislation HR 10643 is cosponsored by Republican Reps Brian Babin Pat Fallon Brandon Gill Keith Self and Pete Sessions all of TexasWhen a business can lie to the government and push American workers aside for cheaper labor and the worst it faces is a 5000 fine many view that as the cost of doing business Van Duyne saidThe H1B Visa Fraud Crackdown Act changes the penalties American jobs should go to American workers and fraudsters should face real accountability for their actionsThe bill would raise the maximum civil penalty for covered willful H1B violations from 5000 to 100000 Van Duynes office said those violations could include lying about the job being performed or underpaying an H1B workerFor violations involving the willful displacement of US workers the maximum civil penalty would increase from 35000 to 250000The statutory changes are contained in the twopage legislation introduced in the HouseEmployers found responsible for serious willful violations would also face longer periods during which they could not sponsor H1B workersThe minimum sponsorship ban would increase from two years to five years for serious willful violations For violations that also involve displacement of US workers the minimum ban would increase from three years to 10 yearsThe legislation would separately impose substantially higher penalties for immigration document fraudFor covered violations penalties currently ranging from 250 to 2000 would increase to between 1000 and 10000 per document For violations following a previous order fines would rise from the current 20005000 range to between 20000 and 50000 per documentVan Duyne linked the legislation to allegations of H1B fraud in North TexasHer office said Homeland Security Secretary Mullin had confirmed that as of June nearly 60 per cent of H1B employer fraud investigations nationwide were concentrated in the North Texas regionVan Duynes office also said Labor Department Inspector General DEsposito visited North Texas in August and found nearly 500 instances of likely H1B visa fraud in a single building It said no one answered the door at addresses he visited where an H1B application had been approvedThose figures were presented by Van Duynes office and were not contained in the text of the legislationIm thankful for the Administrations quick response Van Duyne saidAmerican workers should not lose opportunities because an employer is willing to break the law to get cheaper labor If a business decides it makes more economic sense to break the law and kick American workers to the curb they should feel major pain for undercutting our economy and our hardworking employeesThe measure is proposed legislation and has not become law It would have to clear the House and Senate and be signed by President Donald Trump before the higher penalties could take effectThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever