A new federal rule could significantly raise wages for foreign workers and ignite a broader fight over the future of high-skilled immigration.
The U.S. Department of Labor has opened a 60-day public comment period on a proposed rule that would increase required wages for employers hiring foreign workers through programs such as H-1B visas and permanent labor certifications.
The proposal, published in the Federal Register, would adjust how “prevailing wages” are calculated, raising the minimum salary levels employers must pay foreign workers to better align with U.S. worker wages, according to the agency.
As of Monday, March 30, 52 public comments had been submitted. The Dallas Express was unable to review those comments through the Federal Register system, as it could in other rulemakings, and reached out to the Department of Labor for clarification, but did not receive a response.
Under the proposal, the department would shift wage benchmarks upward across all four experience levels. Entry-level wages would move from the 17th to the 34th percentile of the wage distribution, while the highest tier would rise from the 67th to the 88th percentile.
The DOL entry in the federal register said that the changes are necessary to prevent employers from underpaying foreign workers and disadvantaging Americans. The department said the current system “often allows employers to pay alien workers significantly less than what similarly qualified U.S. workers earn,” and argued the revision would “restore balance, fairness, and public confidence” in the system.
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer stated that the rule is intended to ensure foreign workers are paid “wages that reflect the real market value of their labor” and to curb what the administration described as abuse of visa programs.
The proposed rule follows a directive in a 2025 presidential proclamation from Donald Trump, which alleged the H-1B program had been used to replace U.S. workers with lower-paid foreign labor.
Supporters of stricter wage rules point to economic research suggesting a pay gap between foreign and domestic workers. A working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research found H-1B workers earned about 16% less than comparable U.S.-born workers after adjusting for key factors, according to prior reporting by The Dallas Express.
Critics argue that the new rule could overshoot its goal and make it harder for businesses to hire the talent they need.
The changes could raise required wages by roughly 21% to 33%, depending on experience level, and increase average salaries by about $14,000 per worker, according to the Department of Labor’s analysis. Some analysts say the methodology behind those increases is flawed and designed to produce higher wages.
The rule “does not meet” the definition of a prevailing wage and instead creates a standard “well above” market rates, while warning employers may be forced to raise pay beyond sustainable levels or leave jobs unfilled, according to an analysis by Forbes.
“A significant concern with the proposed wage rule is that it would force employers to either increase their pay scale to well above market and what current economic conditions allow or leave critical positions unfilled because they are unable to tap into the high-skilled foreign national workers they need to supplement their U.S. workforce,” economist Kevin Miner said, per Forbes.
Yet some of the industries that rely most heavily on H-1B visas have elevated unemployment rates. Roughly 1/4 of computer engineering, as well as computer science majors, are unemployed or underemployed, according to the latest data from the New York Federal Reserve.
The impending rule would preserve the use of private wage surveys in some cases, a provision the department’s press release said would maintain flexibility for specialized labor markets while allowing oversight to prevent abuse.
The proposal is the latest development in an ongoing policy clash over the H-1B program. Lawmakers have introduced competing bills ranging from expanding the visa cap to eliminating the program, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The Department of Labor said the rule would not take effect until after the public comment period closes on May 26 and a final version is published, a process that could take several months and potentially face legal challenges.
