Sponsors (13)
The bill shifts many jobs and short‑term administrative burdens back toward U.S. workers and government by sharply restricting nonimmigrant hiring and status changes, but it does so at the cost of stripping legal pathways and protections for many immigrants, imposing heavy costs and staffing shortfalls on employers and public agencies, and risking long‑term harm to U.S. innovation, universities, and vulnerable populations.
U.S. workers (including middle‑class and federal employees) face reduced competition for certain jobs because the bill sharply limits new H‑1B and other nonimmigrant work authorizations and bars some categories from federal hiring, which may preserve some domestic job and wage opportunities in the short term.
DHS and consular adjudicators may see simpler, more uniform adjudications (fewer categories, fewer exceptions, and narrower H classifications), which could reduce some administrative complexity and variability for immigration officers and contractors.
A narrowly defined set of immigrants — those with approved pre‑enactment adjustment petitions adjudicated within one year, refugees, and certain timely‑adjudicated asylum applicants — retain a path to lawful permanent residence, protecting some pending cases from the new restrictions.
Skilled foreign workers and employers: the bill drastically restricts H‑1B access (three‑year hiring pause, cap cut to 25,000, elimination of the lottery, prioritization by very high wages, shorter maximum stays, and large per‑petition fees), shutting off major legal hiring and immigration pathways for tech, research, and specialized employers.
Noncitizens currently in the U.S. lose in‑country adjustment and many change‑of‑status options, and pending employment authorization documents (EADs) and adjustment‑based work rights are rescinded or time‑limited, forcing workers to stop work or leave the country and creating immediate income and staffing shocks.
Employers across private and public sectors face significant higher hiring costs and staffing shortages (new $100,000 petition fee, banned federal hiring of certain nonimmigrants, loss of student work authorizations), which will raise operational costs, delay projects, and likely slow innovation and economic growth.
Based on analysis of 9 sections of legislative text.
Immediately halts H‑1B visa issuances for three years, narrows H‑1B eligibility and stays, adds a $100,000 employer fee, ends derivative H status, and restricts work authorization, adjustment, and change‑of‑status rules.
Official title: To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for a pause on the issuance of H-1B visas until certain limitations on the issuance thereof are implemented.
Introduced April 22, 2026 by Eli Crane · Last progress April 22, 2026
Immediately bans issuance of new H-1B visas for three years and imposes permanent, broad limits on nonimmigrant employment, work authorization, and change-of-status rules. It reduces annual H‑1B caps and maximum stays, creates a $100,000 employer fee for H‑1B petitions, ends derivative H visas for spouses/children, blocks federal agencies from petitioning or hiring certain nonimmigrants, and eliminates many pathways to work authorization and adjustment to lawful permanent residence. The bill rewrites several Immigration and Nationality Act provisions to convert prior discretionary authorities into categorical prohibitions: it bars many employment authorizations for students, exchange visitors, and other temporary status holders; forbids any change from one nonimmigrant classification to another; and makes all amendments effective on enactment.