Sen. Tom Cotton introduces legislation to limit H-1B visas for college and university workers

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) has introduced the Colleges for the American People Act, limiting H-1B visas for workers at colleges and universities, Breitbart reported in an exclusive. These types of visas have received more scrutiny over the perception that they displace American workers in favor of foreign workers.

Cotton introduced the legislation Thursday after Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) sponsored the bill in the House. The CAP Act would limit higher education institutions to 65,000 such visas annually, the same limit as other types of businesses.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of white collar workers are brought to the U.S. under the program.  They sometimes replace Americans, who then must train their foreign counterparts, and Cotton thinks it’s time to curb that practice in colleges and universities.

College and universities shouldn’t get special treatment to bring in more woke administrators and professors from around the world. https://t.co/Va7Ks7WOds

— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) July 31, 2025

Closing a Loophole

Cotton believes it’s time to close the loophole in higher education with the CAP Act. “College and universities shouldn’t get special treatment to bring in more woke administrators and professors from around the world,” Cotton pointed out in a statement.

“In addition to securing our southern border, it’s also past time to fix our broken legal immigration system. Getting rid of this loophole is a good place to start,” the Arkansas lawmaker added.

Tiffany made a similar point about the House’s version of the bill with its focus on prioritizing employment for Americans over foreign workers. “Instead of importing foreign labor, American universities need to invest in developing their own students for roles in leadership and teaching,” Tiffany asserted.

“The CAP Act makes sure American graduates get those opportunities,” he added. It’s no surprise that academic institutions and companies hire foreign workers is because they are cheaper to employ than American workers.

According to a Journal of Business Ethics report published in September 2024, H-1B visa workers earned 10 percent less than American citizens in the same roles, which points to a financial incentive for companies. Democrats love the program because it’s another excuse to import more foreign workers and muddy the illegal immigration debate. Regardless of the supposed benefits, the program isn’t necessarily what’s best for Americans.

Ongoing Problem

This is not the first time the situation with H-1B visas has come under scrutiny for its negative impact on the American worker. Vice President JD Vance railed against Microsoft and other Big Tech companies that were lobbying for additional visa employees while laying off thousands of American workers.

“You see some big tech companies where they’ll lay off 9,000 workers, and then they’ll apply for a bunch of overseas visas. And I sort of wonder; that doesn’t totally make sense to me,” Vance said at a business conference.

According to an earlier Breitbart report, Microsoft applied for up to 6,000 H-1B visa workers just after that layoff occurred, suggesting it might have been an effort to replace Americans. “That displacement and that math worries me a bit,” Vance added.

Microsoft responded to the allegations, stating that the layoffs had nothing to do with favoring foreign workers, as some of those who lost their jobs were H-1B visa workers, Newsweek reported. Notably, the company did not say how many of those laid off were foreign workers under the H-1B visa program.

American companies should prioritize Americans for employment, even if it affects their bottom line, because it is the good corporate citizenship that they’re always touting. Closing the loophole for higher education institutions goes a long way to signaling that the practice should face limits wherever it’s done.