West Virginia Congressman Riley Moore is leading a charge against foreign worker visa programs, which he argues unfairly disadvantage American laborers and are being used to replace them in skilled positions. Moore, a Republican, told Fox News Digital that he believes the H-1B visa program is a "scam" and that a significant number of his Republican colleagues in Congress share his concerns and support abolishing it.
Moore's criticism centers on the H-1B visa, which is intended for foreign nationals in specialty occupations requiring theoretical or technical expertise. Companies use these visas to hire workers from abroad, with prominent users including Amazon, Cognizant, Infosys, IBM, and Microsoft. However, critics argue that companies are not required to prove they could not find a qualified American worker for the role, leading to the displacement of U.S. workers.
"Essentially, we shipped all our manufacturing jobs overseas and people were told to 'learn how to code,'" Moore stated. "Well, now they're being replaced with the H-1B visa workers on the coding jobs as well. So when is the American worker actually going to get a win here?"
He pointed to recent layoffs at Microsoft, where the company's Xbox division cut 1,600 jobs while the parent company had already secured over 2,200 H-1B visas for the year. Moore contends that the notion that H-1B workers are more skilled is a "complete fallacy" and that they are often hired for lower pay, creating what he calls a "rigged market against American workers."
"This is not free market capitalism at all, because the government is handing these out and also setting the levels of how many H-1B visas are going to be issued," Moore said. "This is all controlled by the government, and it's obviously big corporate lobbyists that are pushing for more H-1B visas. This is not an exercise in the free market."
Moore also criticized the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, which allows foreign students on F-1 visas to work in the U.S. after graduation, often serving as a bridge to H-1B visas. He believes these programs, alongside H-1B, undermine American workers, including recent college and trade school graduates who may face unemployment or underemployment despite significant debt.
While the H-1B visa is typically limited to three years, extensions are possible, and holders can pursue permanent residency. Data indicates that a substantial percentage of H-1B visa holders eventually obtain green cards through employment-based pathways, potentially leading to U.S. citizenship.
Moore expressed confidence in growing support for his cause within Congress. "I'm certainly not the lone voice in this," he told Fox News Digital. "I might be the loudest. Some people are quietly talking about it, but I have had many, many of my colleagues here in Congress come up and talk with me since I've started talking about this and thank me for speaking up."
Previous attempts to curb the use of H-1B visas, such as an executive order by former President Donald Trump that imposed a $100,000 fee on certain applications, were struck down by federal judges who ruled that such actions constituted taxes, a power reserved for Congress.
Moore's core argument is the need to protect American labor. "The American worker is the only worker on the planet that has to compete with labor from all over the world inside their own borders," he stated. "We're the only ones. It doesn't make any sense to me at all, and we're putting all of our young people in a disadvantaged position."