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Immigration reform may be stalled in the House, but that didn't keep the Department of Homeland Security from taking small steps to make the U.S. a more attractive place to work for highly skilled foreigners.

DHS proposed two new rules, one that would allow spouses of some workers with H-1B visas to work in the U.S., and another that would allow specialty occupation professionals from certain countries to remain in America longer.

Under the first rule, spouses of H-1B visa workers who are seeking lawful permanent residence in the U.S. would be granted employment authorization. American employers use H-1B visas to employ foreigners with specialized skills in areas such as science, engineering and computer programming. Only 85,000 of these visas are approved every year - a cap business groups would like to see increased. In many cases, employers petition DHS for immigrant visas for H-1B visa workers, which allow them to become lawful permanent residents.

The second proposed rule would allow specially occupation professionals from Chile, Singapore and Australia to work in the U.S. beyond their visas' initial expiration date.

'These steps will help the U.S. maintain competitiveness with other countries in our efforts to attract the best and the brightest high-skilled workers from around the world to support companies here at home,' said Alejandro Mayorkas, deputy secretary of DHS. 'Businesses continue to need these high-skilled workers, and these rules ensure we do not cede the upper hand to other countries competing for the same talent.'

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said the proposed rule changes would hurt American workers.

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