Republican Presidential candidate Marco Rubio defended his position on increasing the number of foreigners allowed into the U.S. on H1-B visas, but tried to add some new conditions.
Florida Senator and Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) defended increasing the number of H-1B visas, but argued for reforms to prevent undercutting wages and abuse of the programs at Wednesday’s part two GOP presidential debate on CNBC.
Rubio was asked about his support for increasing the number of H-1B visas and criticism by Senator Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) that the visas are used to undercut hiring and wages for American workers. Rubio responded that if a company does so, they should never be allowed to use the program ever again.
He further said that he isn’t only calling for increases in visas, but also for reforms, such as requiring companies to advertise jobs for 180 days, “prove that you’re going to pay these people more than you would pay someone else, so that you’re not undercutting by bringing in cheap labor.”
Right now, current restrictions on H1-B visas are rarely enforced so it stands to reason adding more rules will do little to stem the tide unless those rules are enforced.
