Abuse of Foreign Workers
a review
December 1999

In 1986 a reform (IRCA) was enacted into law, imposing sanctions on employers who hire "unauthorized aliens".  Unauthorized aliens are not necessarily illegal, as was in my case (although New Jersey State authorities failed to understand it).  Unauthorized aliens are like slaves, they are simply persons who are either permitted or not permitted to work for a particular employer !

However, when it comes to a court of law they usually pretend it was "at will employment."  Hypocrite judges would favor the domestic greedy employers over a helpless and exploited alien, nevermind the real circumstance.  It is absolutely wrong to consider the provisions of the INA regarding temporay workers as "at will employment."  However, the law has a loophole that enables slavery when it concerns non-citizens.

In my opinion, this is merely a nasty trick of the greedy employees and their comrades to sustain the "Slavery of the 20th Century".

Summing up the Year 1999

Now it is believed that the new H-1B cap will be hit earlier this year than in any year (since caps were imposed on H-1B visas under the 1990 Immigration Act).

The INS has maintained an unprecedented stance of silence regarding H-1B usage for this fiscal year.  Why?  In previous years, the INS would release H-1B numbers on a monthly basis to help the public make appropriate plans.  According to the American Immigration Lawyers Association - AILA - the INS implies the H-1B situation has been "a mess" [sic]. People expect now the numerical cap to be reached as early as the end of January.  The INS however has ordered its Service Centers not to approve any new H-1B petitions submitted after October 25, "in an effort to equalize the processing times between Service Centers."

In a letter to INS Commissioner, Doris Meissner, Sen. Abraham criticized the Service.  He reported inter alia that several companies whose H-1B usage was made public said the INS inflated their numbers by two to four times, arguing that the numbers used had never been accurately counted.  Senator Abraham expressed his doubt that it was within the statutory authority of the INS to make the decision to compensate for one year's mistake by removing available visas allocated to the next year.  The INS however has not indicated how it would treat the overcount yet.

In mid-November, Congress recessed for the year without passing any major immigration-related legislation.  On the table there are pending the following three issues: (1) Raising the H-1B cap; (2) Reorganizing the INS; and (3) Repealing Section 110 which would require the INS to establish an automated system to track the arrival and departure of all foreign nationals to and from the U.S.