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An excerpt from MIGRATION NEWS
Vol. 5, No. 3, March, 1998
by Philip Martin,
University of California,
Davis CA 95616
The debate over whether US high-tech companies really "need" more temporary foreign workers continued in February, with critics noting that most high-tech companies: (1) hire fewer than five percent of applicants and (2) prefer recent graduates and especially foreigners to mid-career workers who may have to be retrained. Companies say they need people with specific skills to keep projects on track; critics say that mid-career people can be retrained relatively quickly. The 1990 IMMACT introduced the H-1B nonimmigrant visa that permits foreign professionals to enter the US for up to six years. US employers initiate the admissions process by attesting that they tried and failed to find US workers, and that the foreigners are being paid the prevailing wage for the particular job. There is a cap of 65,000 H-1B visas per year, which was reached for the first time in August 1997, forcing several thousand H-1B foreigners to wait until October 1, 1997 to work lawfully. In FY98, the 65,000 limit is expected to be reached in May or June 1998. About 40 percent of H-1B visas are issued to high-tech workers such as programmers, and this industry has led the charge to lift or eliminate the 65,000 annual cap. Harris N. Miller of the Information Technology Association of America told the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 25 that there are 346,000 vacancies for computer programmers, or one vacant job for each 10 US information technology jobs. According to Miller, the "present H-1B category is ridiculous. It was set eight years ago in a time of high unemployment and well before the present, dramatic growth phase of the high-technology industry.... too many people who think this [ITAA pressure to increase the number of H-1B visas] is some sort of subterfuge to bring in a few more immigrants." ITAA has many critics. For example, the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE-USA) believes that better utilization of the current U.S. work force will allow the supply of high-tech workers to keep pace with demand. IEEE-USA maintains that comparing computer science graduates to the number of vacant jobs can be misleading, since a NSF study found that less than 30 percent of those holding high-tech jobs had degrees in computer science, while 35 percent had engineering degrees. Programming ranks are clearly dominated by young people. Six years after finishing a computer science degree, only 57 percent of computer science graduates are working as programmers. After 20 years, just 19 percent are still working as programmers. Both Sen. Spencer Abraham, R-MI, and House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) support an increase in the H-1B ceiling. The Clinton Administration on February 25, 1998 testified that any increases in the H-1B ceiling must be linked with reforms to ensure that employers try to recruit US workers and to guarantees that H-1B workers do not replace laid-off US workers: "Increased immigration should be the last -- not the first -- public policy response to skills shortages." Three aspects of the H-1B program may be tightened in exchange for increasing or removing the cap on H-1B visas: (1) no displacement--requiring US employers to attest that they have not laid off US workers in order to employ H-1B foreigners; (2) requiring employers to train US workers; and (3) reducing the duration of the H-1B visa from the current six years. The US Department of Labor notes that US employers requesting H-1B workers must simply assert that they tried and failed to find US workers, for example, employers do not have to go through a certification process in which the burden of proof is on the employer to show that he has tried and failed to find US workers. Instead, the employer attests that he tried and failed to find US workers, and then is permitted to hire H-1Bs until it can be proved that the employer is not obeying his attestation. DOL says that, in practice, the H-1B program "operates often as a probationary employment program. Employers bring workers to the United States and, if they perform well, sponsor them for permanent admission to this country. This linkage permits employers to hire foreign workers without first recruiting U.S. workers." Many of those hired on H-1B visas are foreign students who get degrees from US universities. Intel Corp.'s Michael Maibach confirmed the industry's preference for foreigners who graduate from US universities when he said "We ought to staple green cards to Ph.D. engineering diplomas... If we're going to educate them, let us at least have the chance to hire these folks and not just push them out of the country." Several high-tech companies want the quota eliminated. Jeri Clausing, "High-Tech Executives Ask for Leeway on Foreign Workers," New York Times, February 26, 1998. John Simons, "High-Tech Firms to Ask Congress to Ease Immigration Restrictions," Wall Street Journal, February 24, 1998. Robert Pear, "New Quota Weighed for Immigrant Technology Workers," New York Times, February 23, 1998. Umberto Tosi, "An interview with ITAA President Harris Miller," Tech Web. |
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