Debating H-1B visas: A ruse exposed

[OhioChick]

An ingenious new analysis exposing the myriad of myths about foreign engineers and scientists -- and the supposed labor tech shortage -- is another reason for a temporary moratorium on immigration.
Norman Matloff, computer science professor at the University of California, Davis, had a simple premise: Follow the money. If foreign workers truly are the outstanding talents that some American employers insist they are, they would be paid accordingly.

But by computing the ratio of salary to prevailing wage stated by the employer, Mr. Matloff discovered that the alien worker typically is just of average talent.

Most foreign workers work at or near entry level (described by the Department of Labor as something like an apprenticeship), countering industry claims that key innovators are being hired, the study indicated.

This is crucial, since unscrupulous companies are pressuring Congress to expand the H-1B work visa and employment-based green card programs.
The study, "H-1Bs: Still Not the Best and the Brightest," is available online, thanks to the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, D.C.

In this less-than-ideal economy, it's an ideal time to have a cooling-off period for foreign workers so the best and the brightest Americans can determine fact from fiction about the mythical powers of entry-level aliens entering the U.S.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/archive/s_565513.html

[jody]

1. Out-sourcing jobs or in-sourcing labor are both about increasing corporate profits. n/t

[OhioChick]

2. You got it....

Corporations are finally begin to admit this fact...."cost cutting measures."

[Phred42]

3. By REDUCING Wages and Bennifits to AMERICANS

[Alcibiades]

4. Its also about smashing the power of labor in the marketplace

Because these foreign workers have their residency tied to their employment at a given employer, there's little room for them to negotiate for better wages, working conditions and benefits. This may, in part, account for the lower than expected wages of these workers. They may actually even be the best and the brightest, but the H-1B system does an end run around the US labor market by restricting the ability of these workers to seek employment elsewhere.

Immigration, both legal and illegal, is being used as a tool to smash every standard of human decency in our labor force, throwing US workers out of jobs and creating a hyper-exploited helot class of foreign workers. We need a more sensible and sensitive immigration policy that secures equal protection for everyone, not one that is just a tool for the bosses to use against workers.

[babylonsister]

5. Kick. nt

[antigop]

6. Thanks for posting. Kudos to Norman Matloff for continuing to expose the truth. n/t

[primavera]

7. Consider the source

The Center for Immigration Studies is the self-described "think tank" branch of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a rabidly anti-immigration group which heads a consortium of anti-immigrant affiliates, among whose number are included white supremacist organizations. FAIR and CIS are both listed as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center and they receive their funding from the ultra right-wing Scaife Mellon Foundation and the Pioneer Fund, a nazi eugenics foundation dedicated to carrying on the good work of Joseph Mengele. FAIR and CIS were the principal architects of California's infamous Prop 187 and, more recently, Arizona's Prop 200. CIS is notorious for producing some of the most warped disinformation out there on the subject of immigration. No scholar is ever able to reproduce their "findings," because they use totally skewed methodologies to arrive at the conclusions which best serve their political agenda. Most of their "studies" are commissioned, in which they tell the author the conclusion s/he needs to reach in advance, rather like Fox News. They're also famous for push polling, asking survey respondents directed questions like "Would you prefer to see immigration laws enforced, or would you prefer to see the country overrun with illegal immigrants and the American economy and way of life completely destroyed?" They then publish their miraculous finding that 99% of respondents prefered strict enforcement policies towards immigrants.

None of this is to say that there are not valid criticisms of the H-1B program, but the source you're quoting is extremely disreputable and anything they say should be viewed with considerable suspicion.

[OhioChick]

8. Do you have any links

to support your thoughts?

[MountainLaurel]

9. Here's a good summary from SPLC

On what KevinJ is reporting:

http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=93

[primavera]

10. The SPLC link MountainLaurel cites is a good starting point

It's a little old, but provides a good general background. SPLC publishes a regular series called Intelligence Report, which frequently includes updates on FAIR and CIS and other hate groups. There are also a few right-wing monitoring organizations, such as Right Web, which publishes profiles on FAIR and its affiliates (http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1452.html). Finding a whole lot of information on the subject is not easy and takes some digging, as CIS takes considerable pains to conceal their right-wing affiliations in order to preserve their guise as a credible "think tank." But if you look at their board of directors and tax returns and compare them to those of organizations like FAIR and American Patrol, you'll find the same names and funding sources keep coming up from organization to organization. In Arizona, for instance, FAIR circulated a pamphlet advocating for Prop 200, and advised people with questions to call a certain phone number. CIS' name was never mentioned, but the number on the pamphlet was CIS' phone number. So the connections are cleverly concealed, but are there if you're willing to do some digging.