America First Legal Files Petition to End Foreign Physician Visa Monopoly and Put American Medical Graduates First

America First Legal (AFL) filed a formal petition asking the U.S. Department of State to end what it describes as a nearly 50-year regulatory monopoly that allows non-U.S. medical graduates to fill U.S. residency positions. The group argues that thousands of qualified American medical graduates are left without residency slots each year, while thousands of international medical graduates enter the same federally subsidized system. AFL says residency is the gateway to physician licensure and practice, so applicants who don’t match may never pursue their chosen profession. The petition also challenges the “physician shortage” rationale, claiming the current system removes American graduates from the domestic workforce and perpetuates the shortage it cites.