H1B Legislation is Unconstitutional

Family Injustice ^ | 10/25/02 | Kim Berry

[FlyingA]

Main Family Injustice Site

http://www.familyinjustice.com/h1b/

[FlyingA]

1641.2 in reply to 1641.1

I say: bring it to the mainstream! I have acknowledged the need for companies to cut costs, but this is ridiculous. This is completely boneheaded on the part of politicians, especially Sen. Feinstein, et.al. Some won't like me for this, but I have a feeling that more Dems. support H1-B than Republicans. But I'll be fair: I also think that the margin between the two parties is pretty small.

[FlyingA]

Another Intersting Site on Voting and the Numbers

http://www.numbersusa.com/interests/hightech.html

[dirtboy]

d) The disproportionate use of H-1B by Indian companies and hiring managers demonstrates that the legislation has been implemented in a discriminatory manner

This is a VERY, VERY loaded statement - it is basically the logic used by proponents of affirmative action. India produces a tremendous number of computer science professionals - so of course they are going to be over-represented by H1B.

Hey, I agree that H1B is being abused, and the pretext for H1B is a lie. However, IMO it is NOT unconsitutional, whereas your argument on this specific point is promoting an unconstituional concept of a reverse racial quota.

[FlyingA]

The fourteenth amendment of the constitution declares, “no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law.”

a) The provision which only protects American workers from displacement by nonimmigrants if the employer is deemed “H-1B dependent” denies equal protection to Americans who work for non H-1B dependent employers

In 1998, the 105th Congress passed and President Clinton signed into law the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act ("ACWIA"), which increased the H-1B visa cap from 65,000 (where it had been since 1990) to 115,000. [2] ACWIA also added a prohibition against laying off U.S. workers, but only on employers that use a high percentage of nonimmigrant workers.

Congress defined “high percentage” in 8 U.S.C. 1182(n) as “H-1B dependent employer,” where nonimmigrants earning less that $60,000 per year comprise at least 15 percent of the employer’s equivalent staff.

In doing so, Congress created two classes of American workers – those who are subject to layoff and replacement by H-1B workers, and those who are not. Congress has not provided a compelling state interest in sustaining these unequal classes, has not explained how the 15 percent cutoff is not arbitrary, and has failed to provide adequate layoff and displacement safeguards for the majority of Americans who do not work for H-1B dependent employers.

Where there is a significant encroachment upon personal liberty, the State may only prevail upon showing a subordinating interest which is compelling. Bates v. City of Little Rock (1960) 361 U.S. 516, 524

[B4Ranch]

Can You Change America? Part 2

[dirtboy]

In doing so, Congress created two classes of American workers – those who are subject to layoff and replacement by H-1B workers, and those who are not.

Congress has passed laws that create multiple classes of employees in many, many other ways. There are laws, for example, that do not apply to businesses with fewer than 25 employees, and those have not been struck down by SCOTUS or federal appellate courts. I think the best attack against H1B is to simply demonstrate that the underlying pretext is a lie - that there is a shortage of IT workers, therefore we need to allow tens of thousands of foreign IT workers into the country - and build public outrage against H1B so that Congress either curtails the program or kills it. But if you are waiting for SCOTUS to strike down H1B on equal protection grounds, you're gonna have a long, long, long, long wait.

[boris]

I am not a lawyer.

I hate unions.

I hate illegal immigration.

However, the implicit assumption that you have a "right" to a job--and that that "right" is a good (like property) which can be "defended" is idiotic.

Your employer can fire you at his pleasure.

You can quit and find a better employer.

Deal with it.

--Boris

[doc30]

Just to give some people a sense of optimism, the cry that American IT workers are being diplaced by non-Americans has been heard by the INS and the DOL. I am an H1B holder (research in Chemistry, not IT) and learned something interesting from my company's HR department. FOr 2002, there were 195,000 H1B's available, and at this time 65,000 have gone unfilled. THe INS and the Department of Labor are scrutinizing H1B applications from the IT sector very closely and are rejecting a greater number. If you want to know more about who is sponsoring H1Bs, the Dept of Labor website is the best place to go. THere is a section for H1B disclosure. THis is the site:

http://edc.dws.state.ut.us/casesearch.asp

It is searchable by state, employer and job function.

[FlyingA]

ALl good Points. I appreciate your various views on this subject.

dirtboy,B4Ranch, Boris,DOC30

FlyingA

[Wolfie]

Does anybody really believe that "constitutional" is even a consideration anymore?

[TruthNtegrity]

Well, the current Sec. of Energy (name escapes me at the moment) was a (R) Senator from Michigan, and he got thrown out of office because he was so PRO H1-B. The idiot.

If you want to see any Congress Critter's record, go to www.numbersusa.com and see it for yourself. It's not a nice picture. BTW, register and send free FAXes to those same Congress Critters whenever there is a bill that is about to create more unemployement. I, for one, was replaced by Indians, Japanese and Asians and had to find another career. My Dad would never believe that as an engineer, I became unemployable in 1994. I would like to see all the H1-B's sent home, where I believe they belong.

[FlyingA]

I am begining to wonder about this more and more.
I still have the Faith.

[FlyingA]

Rumor has it Playboy is closing its Chicago headquarters, sh***loads receiving notice today. Word is Playboy's new editor, Jim Kaminsky formerly of Maxim, is moving operations to NYC.

[FlyingA]

Latest word is that AOL HR has reserved conference rooms en masse for tomorrow, Tuesday, in Dulles VA, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Mountain View and Columbus, Ohio. Could go as high as 25 percent, with much smaller packages than ever before (used to be 3-12 months). Rumor is Columbus and California to be hardest hit.

[null and void]

I've been fully unemployed (after 3 months of part time) since early August, and have only had two interviews, and one scheduled for today.

I was displaced from my next to last job by an H1-B Indian engineer. She's good, but not as experienced as I am. I've stayed in touch and will occasionally give her a tip on process improvement.

I was displaced in my last job by an Indian H1-B, a Chinese H1-B, AND a Vietnamese H1-B. They are all good hard workers.

That being said, there are about 80,000 unemployed in Silicon Valley and 65 ads for engineers in the Sunday San Jose Mercury News. I think we can put the program on hold for a while...

[FlyingA]

Hey Good Luck on the Interview Null and Void.
AS for the displacement, I have seen allot of it too!

Check back and let us know how it goes.

Good Luck

FlyingA

[null and void]

Thanks, will do...