Senators’ concern over H-1B visa

[OhioChick]

Dayanand Edappally, 06 April 2008, Sunday

THE UNITED States (US) senators – Richard Durbin and Charles Grassley – have expressed concern over the US government’s policy of issuing 65,000 H-1B visas every year to highly skilled foreigners. In their words, “The H-1B programme cannot be allowed to become a job-killer in America…causing American workers to be unfairly deprived of good high-skill jobs here at home.”

So, they are looking for ways to curb the issuance of visas to foreigners because in their opinion, there are highly-skilled American workers being left behind, searching for jobs that are being filled by H-1B visa holders. Durbin and Grassley want to enact real reform because “it’s time to close the loopholes that have allowed this to happen.”

These senators want to restructure these visa programmes, which are facilitating the outsourcing of American jobs. American workers’ interests need to be protected at all costs. This new policy, which has not yet been taken up for discussion by the senate, smacks of narrow nationalism. Through the World Trade Organisation (WTO), it was mainly the Americans who clamoured for the opening of national boundaries to trade and commerce, fallout of which is the new impetus to immigration.

Technically qualified and highly skilled workers wish to utilise their skills and find highly paying jobs in any corner of the world. The USA is still the El Dorado to most third world countries. Workers from these countries wish to find jobs in the US and Europe. But this resistance to their efforts at the government level is enough to shatter their dreams. The United Kingdom (UK) has been an equally resistant employer.

While the first world countries want to sell their agricultural and technological products in all markets, they do not welcome workers from other countries with open arms. They place obstacles of all sorts to their immigration plans. They only want globalisation in so far as it serves to fatten their pockets. They do not want people, however, highly qualified, to enter their borders to look for jobs. This is manifestly unfair.

http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=131889

Good for Senators Richard Durbin and Charles Grassley! :applause:

From the Author: "Making a hue and cry over these visas will be equivalent to burying their heads in sand like ostriches. It is evading the issue. It is unethical."

[Juche]

1. Big business wins again

H1-b holders are paid about 20% less than US workers.

http://www.workpermit.com/news/2005_10_26/us/us_h1b_visa_holders_earn_less.htm

What is sad is that this is leading to xenophobia against Indians. I have no problem with the truly talented scientists from India or China coming here, getting paid at or above market wages, and spurring innovation that leads to business creation.

However my understanding of talking to IT workers is that by and large US businesses import average H-1B visa holders to replace average US IT workers because they earn less and are not allowed to quit.