Susan Collins: “I rise to introduce the H-1B Visa Fraud Prevention Act of 2007. Many American businesses rely on the H-1B visa program.…”

“I rise to introduce the H-1B Visa Fraud Prevention Act of 2007. Many American businesses rely on the H-1B visa program. When employers can demonstrate that there are too few U.S. workers to fill particular positions with defined education and skills standards, the program allows temporary, non-immigrant workers to fill vacancies in engineering, sciences, medicine, health, and other specialties. The program is of considerable benefit to our economy. Unfortunately, there has been a long history of some unscrupulous employers attempting to abuse the H-1B program. Last fall, the Portland Press Herald newspaper in Maine printed a three-part series resulting from its in-depth investigation of H-1B abuses. The newspaper found evidence of shell companies filing applications for H-1B visas in Maine, but no evidence of H-1B visa holders actually working for those businesses in Maine. One company rented office space in Portland for a year and submitted at least 160 H-1B and green-card applications on behalf of foreign workers, but the building manager never saw anyone there, and was asked to forward all mail to an address in New Jersey. This legislation will help detect and prevent the kind of fraud identified by the Portland Press Herald.”