H1-B Program Still Broken
by Paul McGoldrick
There are any number of ways that you can legally enter the United States, and I have always contended that most of them are not understood by citizens of this country. When you look at the history of the terrorists of 9-11, none of them appear to have entered illegally even though some were overstaying their agreed time periods. But at least none of them had H-1B visas.
It used to be that to import workers -- with some exceptions like clergy, investors, musicians, actors, etc. -- the process was quite rigorous. You had to actually advertise the positions involved and then show that the respondents were unsuitable (and you had to document it) because, let's say, you cannot train a burger flipper to be a French chef. Under the modern H-1B program all that inconvenient stuff is basically tossed out and it is a matter of the first to apply are the first to get.
There is an evident turndown in H-1B applications with only 163,200 approvals out of a Government-set limit of 195,000 in the year-ended September 30, 2001. But during the last 10 months technology has seen more than 600,000 layoffs.
I don't believe the hiring authorities in most of these companies who contend that they cannot find the talent they need from the existing work force. I do see major discrimination against age in our own industry even in the analog design arena where experience is one of the most valuable commodities available; and that discrimination is not because of the excessive price tag of those older designers: any decent analog IC designer should be pulling in at least $140 k, and many are rewarded at even higher levels.
But most of the people who are brought in on H-1B visas are in a word, cheap. Once they are here they are slaves to the company that sponsored them; they are not entitled to pay raises; they are not entitled to be paid at the same rates as the equivalent U.S. worker; they cannot change jobs. They are, in fact, slaves.
Some are enslaved even more. The worst example that I have seen is an Indian company in San Mateo (Calif.) that has a number of H-1B visas available. The Indian nationals that are brought in to the country are then "leased" to companies that need help. They are forced to multi-share apartments and they are paid peanuts for their efforts, while the company invoices at top rates. There are laws against slavery aren't there?
The H-1B visa holder who is legitimately employed by a reputable company does have the satisfaction of knowing that 18 months or so after arrival in country (any sooner then the INS considers it the original plan -- which it is) an application for a Green Card will not be frowned on. Permanent Residency may take a year or more to be approved but, in general, an applicant without a significant criminal background will obtain it. At that point the enslavement ends and the legal resident can hawk him/herself around.
But in the now officially-declared recession, what should we be doing about the H-1B program, which has already been broken from day one? Certainly all further applications should be denied and the program legally terminated. Additionally -- and probably quite callously -- I believe any H-1B visa holder who is not in a critical function, such as medicine, should be repatriated, perhaps with 3 months notice. When employers are forced to look for legal workers they may have to pay more for them but they will find them.
Let's get back in control of an immigration "system" that is
abused by employers, contractors, and individuals. Everyone needs to offer,
once again, solid proof that a foreign worker really is needed to fill a
certain position.