A Republican House lawmaker on Wednesday introduced companion legislation for two Senate bills that would encourage the Obama administration enforce standing immigration laws and reform a visa program to ensure Americans are not being replaced by cheaper foreign labor.
Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., introduced the ICE Agent Support Act, and the American Jobs First Act, in the lower chamber, both identical to bills introduced earlier this month by GOP immigration hawks Sens. Jeff Sessions of Alabama and presidential candidate Ted Cruz of Texas.
“It is unconscionable that American workers are being laid off after training their foreign replacements. Congress must stop importing cheap foreign labor and start reforming an abused system that greatly diminishes opportunities for American citizens; the American Jobs First Act would do just that,” Brooks wrote in a statement released Wednesday.
The American Jobs First Act would implement a minimum salary for H-1B employees, including non-citizens, in order to ensure U.S. citizens are not being passed for jobs because foreigners are willing to work for lower wages.
Sen. Cruz applauded Brooks’ duplicate bills. “This legislation sends a clear signal of support to the ICE agents who risk their lives on a daily basis to enforce our nation’s immigration laws, and I am grateful for Rep. Brooks’ collaboration on this important initiative,” Cruz said in a statement.
If enacted, the ICE Agent Support Act would require Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to establish a number of criminal investigator positions in ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Division.
