Senator Rick Scott has introduced a bill that would charge employers a $10,000 fee for filing a claim to the Department of Labor (DOL) to sponsor a foreign worker for a green card, saying his proposal would give American citizens a “fair shot at the American Dream.”
A “PERM,” short for the Program Electronic Review Management certification form, are what companies file to the DOL claiming that there are no “able, willing, qualified and available” Americans for a job, in order for them to hire non-citizens.
According to immigration visa consultant firm Lighthouse HQ, getting a PERM is the “first and most critical stage in many employment-based green card applications.”
Despite the fact that the labor certification of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) requires employers to place job advertisements in newspapers in the area of intended employment to alert U.S. citizens of the opportunity, some employers create a loophole by intentionally placing ads in low-circulation papers.
Scott’s “American Hiring Transparency Act,” introduced on Tuesday, would hand a $10,000 fee to businesses that go through this process. Half of that money would be deposited into a new “PERM Fee Account,” while the other half would be deposited into the U.S. Treasury’s general fund.
Funds deposited in the PERM Fee Account would be directed at supporting the administering of the PERM process, enhancing labor market testing tools like USAJOBS.gov, and modernizing systems that help ensure that Americans have a fair chance at competing for jobs.
“American workers deserve a fair shot at the American Dream,” Scott told Breitbart News in an exclusive statement. “Instead, many have been forced to watch jobs they are qualified for get raffled off overseas to someone willing to accept a substandard wage – all with the U.S. government’s blessing.”
“That’s not acceptable,” the Florida senator continued. “A good job is the cornerstone of the American dream, and federal policies should always put American workers first. That’s why I’m introducing this bill.”
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
