S 5638: Protecting American Workers Through H–1B Modernization Act.

S 5638 in plain English: This bill would raise the minimum salary that employers must pay H-1B visa workers. Specifically, it would replace the current $60,000 minimum wage floor with a requirement that H-1B workers be paid at least twice the national average wage index.

Stated purpose

To update the minimum wage requirement for certain H-1B visa workers (those exempt from the usual cap) by replacing the current fixed dollar amount with a figure tied to national average wages.

Key points

• Raises the H-1B visa minimum salary from $60,000 to at least twice the national average wage index
• Applies to employers who hire H-1B workers instead of U.S. workers

Arguments supporters make

• The current $60,000 floor has not been updated in decades and no longer reflects real wages, so tying it to a living index ensures the threshold keeps pace with the economy.
• Requiring higher wages for H-1B workers makes it less financially attractive for employers to use the visa program simply as a way to pay workers less than Americans would earn.
• The bill targets cap-exempt positions at institutions like universities, closing a loophole that critics say has allowed lower-wage foreign labor to displace qualified American workers in those settings.

Arguments opponents make

• Doubling the national average wage index as a floor could make it prohibitively expensive for universities, nonprofits, and research institutions to recruit specialized international talent they say is genuinely hard to find domestically.
• A rigid wage formula tied to a national index may not reflect regional cost-of-living differences, potentially harming employers in lower-wage areas who cannot competitively match the required threshold.
• Critics may argue the bill addresses only one narrow wage provision while leaving broader structural issues with the H-1B program untouched, making it an incomplete solution.

Tradeoffs

Raising the wage floor better protects American workers and ensures foreign workers are not used as lower-cost substitutes, but it may also make it harder and more expensive for research institutions and nonprofits to hire specialized global talent they argue is not always available domestically.

Current status in Congress: In committee.

NewsClear — neutral news & congressional tracking · Bill of the Week