A new bill has been introduced in the US Congress to end the H-1B visa program, an issue that has repeatedly come up since President Donald Trump won the 2024 election.
The ‘Ending Exploitative Imported Labour Exemptions Act or EXILE Act’ has been introduced by Republican representative Greg Steube from Florida, with the lawmaker saying that corporations have repeatedly abused the H1B visa system and imported cheaper foreign labour into America.
The EXILE Act bill, if passed, would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act by ending the H-1B visa program.
“Prioritising foreign labour over the well-being and prosperity of American citizens undermines our values and national interests,” Steube said in a statement.
“Our workers and young people continue to be displaced and disenfranchised by the H-1B visa program that awards corporations and foreign competitors at the expense of our workforce. We cannot preserve the American dream for our children while forfeiting their share to non-citizens. That is why I am introducing the EXILE Act to put working Americans first again,” the statement added.
What is the EXILE Act?
According to Greg Steube’s office, the EXILE Act would amend Section 214(g)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to end the H-1B visa programme entirely.
According to the bill, the number of H-1B visas would be reduced to zero at the beginning of the 2027 financial year and in every subsequent year. This would effectively bring the programme to a complete end rather than phasing it out over time.
If the bill is enacted, firms would no longer be able to submit petitions for H-1B visas once the cap is eliminated.
Steube said that the EXILE Act is a must, as more than 80 per cent of H-1B recipients are Indian or Chinese nationals, with employers often preferring younger workers.
He further added that the EXILE Act would put an end to the H-1B programme that has disadvantaged American workers.
“Our workers and young people continue to be displaced and disenfranchised by the H-1B visa programme that awards corporations and foreign competitors at the expense of our workforce. We cannot preserve the American dream for our children while forfeiting their share to non-citizens,” the Republican said.
He further listed how the H-1B programme has put Americans at a disadvantage, citing how it has prevented more than 10,000 US physicians from accessing residency programmes by facilitating the arrival of more than 5,000 foreign-born doctors.
What would the ending of the H1B visa program mean for Indians?
The H-1B visa program is a path to the US for many Indians seeking to live out the American Dream. Many of today’s tech leaders have once held H-1B visas. Satya Nadella, the chairman and chief executive of Microsoft; Sundar Pichai, the chief executive of Google and its parent company, Alphabet; and even the top Republican ally, Elon Musk, all came to the US on the same program.
India was the largest beneficiary of the H-1B visa program in 2025. 70 per cent of the 730,000 H-1B visa holders are from India. In 2024, 71 per cent of the 400,000 H-1B visas approved went to Indians. China was a distant second at less than 12 per cent.
These figures clearly show that Indians are a big beneficiary of the H-1B visa programme and that if the Exile Act were to be passed, it would eliminate this method for Indians to gain entry to the US.
