Posted on 11/09/2015 6:48:30 PM PST by markomalley
A representative for legal immigrants in the U.S. grilled the Department of Homeland Security for holding an immigration ombudsman event without representing the interests of displaced American workers or of legal immigrants already in the states.
“All that you talked about, every subject matter was how to get more people from outside,” Aman Kapoor, president of Immigration Voice, told the panel of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services representatives during a filmed Q&A session. “When are you going to talk about the rights of people who are already here?”
The session was part of an annual event held recently by the USCIS Ombudsman’s office, ostensibly so government representatives and stakeholders could get together and work to improve immigration services.
According to Kapoor, the only “stakeholders” present were those who stand to profit from the exploitation of imported guest workers, and they spent the bulk of their time that day discussing how to bring in more.
“Is there anybody here who represents American workers — any organization?” Kapoor asks in the video, getting just one affirmative response from someone in the crowded room. He represents about 100,000 workers in the U.S. legally who are waiting for green cards.
“I didn’t hear a word about displacement,” he adds. “I didn’t hear a word about rights. Immigrant rights. I didn’t hear a word about exploitation and abuses of immigrants when they come over here, and they are waiting in decades long back-log.”
Foreigners who come to the U.S. on temporary work visas such as the H-1B cannot legally remain in the country if they are fired or if they switch employers. And they’re likely to accept less pay than a comparable American worker. Many put up with this treatment for years as they wait for their green card application to go through.
Their near-infinite patience makes them an easy target for U.S. businesses looking to cut costs, and gives them a sizeable competitive advantage over American workers that can result in their displacement. That’s a win-win for U.S. businesses, which are incentivized to lobby for a longer green card approval process.
“Eight years they are working for the same employer,” Kapoor tells the panel. “Even Saudi Arabia doesn’t have this requirement,” he continued, drawing laughter from the room.
“This is not a laughing matter,” he says.
One of the panelists interjects: “I appreciate your comments. They’re very apropos and we understand the frustration that’s there.”
“No, I don’t think you understand,” Kapoor responds. “Because then you invite people — If you look around this room everybody is a lawyer or somebody who profits from this business of getting more people from outside.”
Businesses including Disney, Southern California Edison and Catalina Marketing have brought in hundreds of guest workers on H-1B visas to replace laid off American workers, allegedly to cut costs. DHS is working with the Department of Labor to investigate some of these abuses.
A spokeswoman for USCIS told The Daily Caller News Foundation in an emailed statement the Ombudsman “interacts with a wide range of stakeholders interested in its mission, which is to assist individuals and employers with problems they are having with USCIS,” and said the Ombudsman conducted 100 engagements in the past year.
“The Annual Conference offers a forum for robust and open dialogue between government and stakeholders to share a variety of viewpoints, including those expressed by Mr. Kapoor (who has presented on a panel at our conference in the past),” the spokeswoman added.
Jeh!, nothing to see here.
Instead of the old Bolshevik slogan, “Workers of the World Unite” we should use “American workers and taxpayers unite against the freeloaders and foreigners”.
“Foreigners who come to the U.S. on temporary work visas...as they wait for their green card application to go through.”
TEMPORARY work visas not meant to be a means to PERMANENT green card.
And that title is deceitful. Foreign nationals working in America are not American workers.
Employers post “jobs” with a laudry list of skills and years of tode skills, and post a laughable salary for what they saythey have to have,
And then either nobody is qualified for it or the few who could wont work for the deliverately low amount,
So then they get to do what they wanted all along, hire an h1b who does not have all the years and skills for the trumped up position,
And pay a lot less.
Thats what is going on here.
Every company doing that needs to be sued under RICO by everyone who didn’t get one of those fake listings.
Anyone there to represent Americans at all?
Nope.
ping
Simply not having to pay the federal taxes employers must pay for hiring Americans is truly a multi billion dollar tax dodge. That’s the real reason for creating the stem crisis a few years ago. Our own govt hires foreigners and dodges the same taxes..
I can’t even remember.. Is there an exemption for employers of visa holders for Obama are?n That model kicks in full force in 2016.. I would take care of any health problems before the end of this year. At some point a lot of employees may lose coverage.
DHS conducting an H1-B “How to” session with lawyers and bidness in the quickest way to infest this country with people their own countries don’t even want - for fun and profit.
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