Rubio: Increase Number of H-1B Visas, But You Need Reforms To Ensure They Aren’t Undercutting Wages and Prevent Abuse

Florida Senator and Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio defended increasing the number of H-1B visas, but argued for reforms to prevent undercutting wages and abuse of the programs at Wednesday’s part two GOP presidential debate on CNBC.

Rubio was asked about his support for increasing the number of H-1B visas and criticism by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) that the visas are used to undercut hiring and wages for American workers. Rubio responded that if a company does so, they should never be allowed to use the program ever again.

He further said that he isn’t only calling for increases in visas, but also for reforms, such as requiring companies to advertise jobs for 180 days, “prove that you’re going to pay these people more than you would pay someone else, so that you’re not undercutting by bringing in cheap labor.”

Rubio added that the “best solution” is better training of Americans to do tech jobs and greater vocational education in the US, but that in the interim, tech companies are taking centers to Canada instead of the US.

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