Senator Schmitt urges tighter H-1B, PERM rules favoring American workers

A senator named Eric Schmitt says companies in the United States might be hiring workers from other countries instead of Americans.

He thinks the rules for doing this are too old and easy to take advantage of.

There is a special process called PERM that companies use when they want to hire a foreign worker for a permanent job.

Before the government says yes, companies have to prove they tried to hire Americans first.

The senator says the rules still ask companies to put ads in newspapers, but people look for jobs online now.

He wants companies to post jobs on the internet and keep a record of every American who applies.

He also wants companies to tell American workers who were just fired about the open jobs.

The senator asked the Labor Department for more information about the H-1B and OPT programs.

He is worried that some companies are not playing fair.

The government will look into these rules to decide what to do.