Congress moves to restore H-1B hiring, reversing wage protections
H.R. 7859 — Welcoming International Success Act · Filed by Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) · 4 cosponsors · Introduced Mar 5, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill voids a September 2025 presidential proclamation that restricted entry of certain nonimmigrant workers (including H-1B visa holders) and bars the federal government from spending money to enforce it. The bill would restore the ability of employers to hire foreign workers under the H-1B program at whatever wage levels the proclamation had restricted.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative function is to void a proclamation restricting nonimmigrant worker entry and wage protections, directly reversing labor-market restrictions on foreign hiring. This is a straightforward deregulation of immigration-linked employment policy.
What the text implies
- Restores H-1B hiring without the wage-floor protections the proclamation imposed, potentially enabling wage suppression in tech and skilled professional sectors.
- Removes federal enforcement mechanism for the proclamation, meaning no agency resources are directed to monitoring or enforcing the restrictions that were in place.
- May increase labor supply in high-skill sectors, affecting domestic worker bargaining power and compensation in fields like software engineering, data science, and IT consulting.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill benefits employers seeking to hire foreign workers and foreign nationals seeking U.S. employment, but may harm domestic workers competing for the same positions, particularly in tech and skilled sectors where H-1B visas are concentrated. The wage-level restrictions in the original proclamation were intended to protect domestic worker compensation; removing them may suppress wages in affected fields.
Who stands to gain
- technology companies
- consulting firms
- staffing agencies specializing in H-1B placement
- multinational corporations with U.S. operations
Named in the bill
H-1B visa program, Department of Labor, Department of Homeland Security, Executive Office of the President, technology sector employers
Where it stands
4 cosponsors: 4 Democrats.
- Mar 5, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Mar 5, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (383 characters) on Aug 24, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Congress moves to restore H-1B hiring, reversing wage protections” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr7859 Report an error
The week in bills
One email, Sunday: what Congress passed, what it changed, and who paid.
One link arrives to confirm the address. It is used for this email and nothing else, and every issue carries an unsubscribe link.