Overview

• Rep. Tom Tiffany introduced the Colleges for the American People Act on July 24 with Rep. Andrew Clyde as co-sponsor.
• The bill would repeal the statutory exemption that currently allows U.S. colleges and universities to hire unlimited H-1B visa holders outside the 65,000-plus-20,000 cap.
• Existing university H-1B holders would remain exempt from the new cap when applying for extensions but new hires would count toward the annual limit.
• The legislation has been formally referred to the House committee and awaits further review and debate.
• The move follows DHS proposals to implement a wage-weighted lottery and other integrity measures aimed at prioritizing higher-paid H-1B applicants.