- Representative Eli Crane introduced a bill to pause new H-1B visas for a period of three years.
- The proposed legislation would slash the annual cap to 25,000 and eliminate the current lottery system.
- Proposals by several Republicans aim to protect American workers from corporate reliance on foreign labor.
(ARIZONA) – Rep. Eli Crane, an Arizona Republican, introduced the End H-1B Visa Abuse Act of 2026 on April 22, 2026, proposing a three-year pause on new H-1B visas and a rewrite of the program’s rules.
Crane’s bill would cut the annual cap to 25,000, raise minimum salaries, end the lottery system and tighten rules for employers that hire through the visa category. He said the measure would pause the program for three years and then restart it under stricter standards.
“Today, I introduce the End H1B Visa Abuse Act of 2026. This bill pauses the program for three years and implements significant reforms once it resumes. The federal government should work for hardworking citizens, not the profit margins of massive corporations,” Crane said.
Lawmakers filed the bill as an amendment to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. It would halt issuance of new H-1B visas for three years, require current holders to gradually exit and limit future stays to shorter terms, down from up to six years or more.
Crane’s proposal arrived amid a series of Republican-led bills that target H-1B visas, a program long defended by employers and criticized by lawmakers who argue companies use it to bring in lower-wage foreign labor. Supporters of the restrictions say the system should protect jobs for Americans first.
Critics have warned that tighter limits carry risks for U.S. businesses and talent flows, especially for Indian professionals. More than 80% of H-1B recipients are Indian or Chinese nationals, a figure that has become central to the political argument around the program.
Congress has not moved Crane’s measure beyond introduction. The bill remains in its early stages, and similar proposals filed in recent months have also stalled.
Another Republican, Rep. Greg Steube of Florida, introduced the EXILE Act, or Ending Exploitative Imported Labor Exemptions Act, on February 10, 2026. That bill would amend Section 214(g)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to reduce the H-1B cap to zero starting in fiscal year 2027.
Steube framed his proposal in stark terms. “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,” he said.
Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced the End H-1B Now Act in January 2026. That measure seeks full elimination of the visa category, with an exemption for medical professionals.
Rep. Chip Roy of Texas introduced the PAUSE Act, or Pausing on Admissions Until Security Ensured, in November 2025. It would freeze all immigration, including H-1B, and cancel Optional Practical Training, known as OPT.
A separate proposal took a different route. Sen. Charles Grassley, Republican of Iowa and Judiciary Committee chair, and Sen. Dick Durbin, Democrat of Illinois and the panel’s ranking member, introduced the H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2025, or S.2928, on September 29, 2025.
Grassley and Durbin’s bill did not call for ending the program. Instead, it would add tiered approvals that prioritize STEM, education and wages, require median wage Level 2 minimums, tighten education and licensing rules, impose three-year extension limits with six-year maximum exceptions, create a 180-day U.S. worker non-displacement requirement and add restrictions on L-1 visas.
That difference matters inside the current debate in Congress. Some lawmakers have pushed to shut the door almost entirely, while others have tried to narrow eligibility, raise wage floors and change which employers and workers get access.
Crane’s bill combines both approaches. It would stop new admissions for three years, then reopen the category with lower annual numbers and tighter standards for employers and workers.
The proposed cut to 25,000 would mark a sharp reduction from the current structure. Ending the lottery would also change the way available visas are distributed, replacing a random selection process with whatever system Congress ultimately writes into law if the bill advances.
Employers that rely on H-1B workers would face the most direct effect if Congress ever enacted the measure. A three-year pause on new H-1B visas would close off a common hiring route for companies that recruit foreign professionals, while shorter future stays would reduce how long those workers could remain.
Current visa holders would not keep the status quo under Crane’s bill. The proposal requires them to gradually exit, a provision that would alter expectations for workers who entered under rules that allowed stays of up to six years or more.
Future applicants would face a different system altogether. Lower caps, higher salary requirements, the end of the lottery and tighter employer rules would narrow access even after the three-year pause ends.
Backers of these bills have repeatedly argued that the H-1B program lets companies replace or undercut American workers with lower-paid foreign labor. That argument has become a standard part of the Republican case for restrictions, and Crane’s statement tracked that line closely by pitting “hardworking citizens” against “massive corporations.”
Business interests and immigration advocates have pushed back on that view in the broader debate, and critics see risks to U.S. businesses and talent flows. Those concerns have carried particular weight for Indian professionals, who make up a large share of H-1B recipients.
Indian and Chinese nationals sit at the center of the program’s current demographics. With more than 80% of recipients coming from those two countries, any cut, freeze or elimination proposal would fall most heavily on those applicant pools.
None of the recent bills targeting H-1B visas had progressed beyond introduction as of April 2026. That includes Crane’s bill, Steube’s EXILE Act, Greene’s End H-1B Now Act and Roy’s PAUSE Act.
That legislative record leaves Crane’s proposal in a familiar place: filed, publicized and politically clear, but far from enactment. Congress has seen a run of H-1B restriction bills in the past year, yet lawmakers have not advanced any of them.
Crane nonetheless placed a sharp marker in the debate over high-skilled immigration. His bill would not simply trim a quota or adjust wages; it would shut off new H-1B visas for three years, push current holders toward the exit and reopen the program later on narrower terms.
The fight over H-1B visas now turns on whether Congress wants to preserve the category with tougher guardrails or dismantle much of it outright. Crane chose the harder line on April 22, 2026, filing a bill that seeks to stop new entries first and rebuild the system later.
