Posted on 12/7/2006, 7:20:11 PM by Old_Mil
Once again, the tech industry is putting heavy pressure on Congress to expand the H-1B visa program...
...The industry claims that it needs to import workers to remedy a severe labor shortage. Yet this flies in the face of the economic data...
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
The unfortunate reality is that no American professional can compete his third world counterpart while maintaining a first world standard of living.
No we should increase our B1-H program........
As one who has worked in the industry I agree.
No more H1bs.
While they are at it lets stop the deluge of Hi-tech jobs being moved overseas.
I lost my last two jobs to China ands India
I agree, Congress should NOT increase it.
Americans had been assured that the clock had already run out on this kind of sneak-pass play. Congress was supposed to be in town this week just to pass a Continuing Resolution to keep the federal government funded.
But tech industry lobbyists -- desperate to continue to hold down wages with foreign labor -- have stopped the legislative clock.
A near-football team of Microsoft blockers, tackles and fleet-footed lobbyists (10 of them!) roamed the Senate hallways Wednesday looking for a way score on their usual last-minute, rule-breaking, end-of-Congress style.
Many times in recent years, Microsoft and other tech lobbyists have sneaked through major increases in H-1B visas just as Con gress was leaving town.
Since being publicly embarrassed in the late 1990s by debating the merits of this kind of legislation publicly, Congress has declined to pass these H-1B visa increases in the true light of day, with standard debate and using normal procedures.
But nearly all inside staffers told us they had received assurances from congressional leaders that no sneak play would be allowed this year.
On Tuesday, Senate staffers were stunned to see Sen. Cornyn suddenly emerge as the person willing to bring shame on himself by carrying the Robber Barons' water and force his pet project ahead of all others.
We sent an email to all our members last Friday, asking for steady pressure on Senators to make sure they knew public sentiment in case something like this happened.
Then Tuesday afternoon, we got word that Cornyn was trying to ram his bill onto the Senate floor. We went to all of our members in about a dozen states with Senators who often fight for American workers against foreign labor importation. We stirred up a flurry of phone calls.
We were pleased that by late Tuesday, many of those Senators had placed "holds" on Cornyn's bill. But those holds tend to have power to only slow the process down for awhile and can be overcome if Senate leadership decides to do so. The word we had late Wednesday was that the "holds" were breaking as Microsoft's lobbyists gathered more support.
ping
Senator Cornyn has some 'splainin' to do.
...The industry claims that it needs to import workers to remedy a severe labor shortage.
------
Total BS -- it is about hiring CHEAPER labor. That is ALL that it is about. And the last thing the USA needs to do is allow more immigration....a totally unmanaged and criminal activity in this country.
The Senate tried to raise it to 110,000 in 2005 but were blocked by the House. The quota increase was rolled into the Senate Immigration Reform bill in May 06, where it still sets.
If a stand alone attempt is now being made to raise the quota, that would be clue that the Senate Reform bill of 06 will be replaced with a new/different bill.
This is how it works:
(1) A U.S. company advertises in bold letters in the local newspaper how much they are in need of technical personnel. Please come and interview with us!
(2) Applicant appears for the interview during which he will have to fill out application forms which include name, social security number and other required info.
(3) Applicant receives a form letter thanking him for his time with an apology stating that his qualifications are not what the company is looking for. (It is known that applicants have received the form letter even before going to the interview. Oops, H.R. department screwed up.)
(4) List of applicants is sent to a congressman stating that the company has gone through "great pains" in finding the qualified person to fill the position but was not successful in doing so. Please give us the necessary H-1B visas. (Here is a check to be used at your next election.)
Sincerely, blah, blah, blah
(2) Applicant appears for the interview during which he will have to fill out application forms which include name, social security number and other required info.
(3) Applicant receives a form letter thanking him for his time with an apology stating that his qualifications are not what the company is looking for. (It is known that applicants have received the form letter even before going to the interview. Oops, H.R. department screwed up.)
(4) List of applicants is sent to a congressman stating that the company has gone through "great pains" in finding the qualified person to fill the position but was not successful in doing so. Please give us the necessary H-1B visas. (Here is a check to be used at your next election.)
I agree with you. Too many of these people here already. How about educating Americans and paying them what they are worth..
I lost my last Tech Writing job to a barely literate Indian. He worked for 1/3 of my salary. He just couldn't write!
There are many brilliant people here on FreeRepublic. Why none of them ever bother posting replies on immigration threads, I'll don't know.....
Lots of people are not directly affected by H1-B visas. Those of us in the industry know what is going on, and are very concerned.
Look at it this way. If more H1B's aren't brought in to work here, then projects here will get cancelled and outsourcing will accelerate. Also, if there really aren't enough people to do the work, then those Americans doing the work here are threatened because a company may not be able to construct a sufficient team to to the projects on this side of the Pacific.
It's not much different from unions squeezing employers, then the employers shipping the work somewhere else.
Your arguments are persuasive. Falling wages are persuasive the other way.
Translation: They're lobbying for more indentured servants.
Let me amend what is said to say you make a good argument but that is not the argunment industry is making - their shortage argument is bogus.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.