H1-B Visa Politics

by Don Burnett

A Politcal Aside.. Please grant me your indulgence, but I feel this is a very important issue..

It seems like everyone in the world has a point of view in the world when it comes to high stakes immigration issues like H1-B Visas.. I normally don't dive into politics, but it's very obvious that the current program is broken.

Original intent of the program:

Bring high-tech workers and talent over to U.S. companies where needed to bolster our companies availability of skilled workers..

This is a very noble idea..

According to a report I viewed on CNN's Lou Dobbs program, the reality of this program is being subverted. Due to a high demand for this limited program the current administration has wen't to a lottery program to award these. In doing so there is little oversight to check these folks qualifications so in short the following things are happening.

1) Unskilled workers non holding advanced degrees are being awarded these Visas because there aren't proper checking into the backgrounds due to the implementation of the current "lottery" system. This does not follow the intent of the original programs or the law.

2) Certain industries are taking advantage of this program to import unskilled labor and paying them less that top dollar wages and paying them less than the people already here are getting for the same work.

CNN according to a report I seen surveyed workers awarded these H1-Bs over the past few years and has found that the intent of the program and the entire program hasn't been doing what it's supposed to.

I read a really great blog called "Better Living through Software" by Joshua Allen at Microsoft, who has been following a new bill by Senators Durban and Grassley in which he says  "Senators Durban and Grassley are now sounding the alarm over H1-B Visa applications, claiming that big evil Indian outsourcing firms are scamming the system to move American jobs overseas."

He really isn't seeing the other side of this story. It's obvious that Grassley and Durban are responding to a new bill by Senator's Lieberman and Hagel that would remove limit caps on the number of H1-Bs awarded in this country. That bill is a recipe for disaster if indeed the problem that CNN's Lou Dobbs program is alleging is anywhere near fact.

Putting no limits on a "lotteried" program that doesn't check the qualifications of it's applicants is a HUGE mistake. We need oversight built into any bills that would remove limits onto how many people could enter the country with this type of Visa, so we know that skilled workers originally intended for the program are the ones getting in and U.S. companies aren't taking advantage of this to import a non-skilled labor force and then pay these people less money that what they'd pay people already here that do the same job. That is what's apparently happening.

I would say that both bills before congress are not well written bills and should incorporate more oversight. I am not against removing caps on these Visas if it's indeed benefiting high-tech companies working INSIDE our country and not bringing a flow of people in who shouldn't be getting these visas. It's time we all stopped being partisan about this and do what's right for the nation and reform these program and demand better oversight and overhaul on the existing program to make this work for us, not against us. Both bills need better language and better oversight.

Joshua and I do seem to agree on one thing, the Senators are not doing their jobs and bowing to corporate interests over the interests of the American people as usual here..

I don't really want to use this blog as a "bully pullpit", but we all need to communicate to our government that they need to do something to fix what's really going on here.. It seems like both approaches of both bills don't really address the real problem and that's the current administration of the program. I don't feel this is a partisan issue it's government not working as usual because someone's trying to shortcut and circumvent aims and goals of a noble program that should be bringing us deserving "talent".