As of last week, there have only been 13,500 requests for H-1B visas since the federal government opened up the application process on April 1. The visas, which are issued to high-skilled workers in fields that experience a worker shortage, are capped at 65,000 per year and are usually completely grabbed up in the first few weeks.
With more than 15 million jobless Americans, the federal government has closer scrutinized foreign worker visa requests. Tech companies have relied less on high skilled workers from abroad, and instead, have tried to hire Americans to fill open jobs.
An immigration panel set up by the Brookings Institution and Duke University has advocated that the current "diversity" visa lottery be abolished, tighter restrictions be placed on family-based immigration, and that workplace verification be required before any amnesty is considered.
Sen. Chuck Grassley has sent a letter to Citizenship and Immigration Services, asking the department's director to hold employers accountable for extensive fraud and abuse in the H-1B visa program. H-1B visas are issued to high-skilled workers and an internal assessment last year found the fraud and abuse.
The U.S. government is seeking nearly $5 from a New Jersey tech firm indicted for H-1B visa fraud. Vision Systems of South Plainfield is accused of using an Iowa-based shell company to underpay H-1B workers.
The British government's independent Migration Advisory Committee has recommended the government cut the flow of skilled migrant labor by 10% to protect British jobs
Reporter Lee Howard was recently recognized by the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists for his reporting on H-1B visa abuse by the Pfizer Corporation. Howard is a reporter for the New London Day in Southern Connecticut, and Pfizer's corporate headquarters are in New York City with a large research and development office in New London.
The United States government is pursuing a visa-fraud case against a New Jersey IT company and will submit as evidence a report that will show the number of foreign tech workers using H-1B visas outnumbers the number of unemployed American tech workers.
"One of President Obama's highest policy priorities is making America energy independent. The president has correctly observed that our reliance on others for essential energy needs is both a source of weakness and an impediment to the development of new technologies that would also strengthen our economy and help the environment.
"Around this time each year, thousands of foreign students graduate with science and engineering degrees from U.S. universities. Many are eager to stay in America and contribute to the U.S. economy.
So does the United States welcome them with open arms? No, the government tells thousands of them to hit the road — and take their sought-after skills and brainpower to countries and companies that compete with the USA.
Talk about a self-defeating immigration policy...."
Senator Chuck Grassley, along with Sen. Dick Durbin, introduced legislation to reform the H-1B and L Visa programs. The U.S. issues 65,000 H-1B Visas annually to high-skilled foreign workers in fields where there is a worker shortage. L-1 Visas are issued to employees of foreign companies and allows them to work in the United States for three years.
When Congress passed the economic stimulus package in February, the bill included a provision restricting companies that utilize TARP money from hiring foreign workers. The measure was meant to protect American workers, but several Wall Street firms are still hiring foreign workers and simply moving their jobs oversees.
The H-1B filing period for fiscal year 2010 began on April 1, but after nine days, only 62,000 applications for the 65,000 have been filed. Last year, 163,000 applications were filed. H-1B visas are given to high-skilled workers from foreign countries usually in the fields of tech, health care and business.
Jiverly Wong, who murdered 13 people in Binghamton on Friday, reportedly was an ethnic Chinese immigrant from Vietnam who seethed from his difficulty in assimilating to America. Does this provide evidence of something about Chinese immigrants, or Vietnamese immigrants or immigration policies? No, not any more than if Wong had been one of the immigrant valedictorians or Silicon Valley inventors that we see noted constantly in the media and on the floor of Congress.
A delegation of Indian CEO's visited the White House this weekend and were assured that there would be no new restrictions on H-1B visas unless unemployment numbers get worse. The current H-1B program allows for 65,000 visas to be issued annually to high-skilled workers in tech and medical fields. Employers have to show that there are no available American workers to fill the jobs, but critics say the current program is riddled with fraud.
Despite rising unemployment numbers and thousands of layoffs, several tech companies are preparing applications for more H-1B visas. The same companies that are laying off American Workers will now be asking the federal government permission to hire more high-skill foreign workers.
The Senate adopted by voice vote an amendment to the economic stimulus bill sponsored by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). The amendment prevents businesses who receive stimulus funds from hiring foreign H-1B workers for one year.
According to a Business Week article, Microsoft posted a policy proposal on Barack Obama's transition website on Jan. 5 requesting that his administration remove the caps on visas for high-skilled foreign workers. The company announced just 17 days later that it was planning to eliminate 5,000 jobs as well as contract jobs.
An investigation by the Associated Press revealed that major U.S. banks brought in foreign workers for high paying jobs while laying off American workers at the same time. The investigation revealed that a dozen banks requested visas for 21,800 foreign workers over a six year span with an average annual salary of more than $90,000.
In a letter addressed to Microsoft last week, Senator Charles Grassley asked the company to layoff foreign workers before laying off skilled American workers. The letter came in response to a report last week that said the company would be laying off approximately 5,000 workers.
A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) report made public last week by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) discovered significant evidence of fraud in the H-1B program. USCIS found outright fraud or technical violations in 21% of 246 H-1B applications reviewed. However, as Professor Norm Matloff notes in a corresponding blog, while the fraud discovered in this study is significant, the loopholes in the H-1B program push its “abuse” rate to nearly 100%.
Last week, a Riverside, Calif. man was arrested for allegedly filing almost 1,000 fraudulent documents with the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in an effort to obtain H-1B visas for illegal aliens, according to an ICE press release. The elaborate scheme described by ICE, which is similar to the type of fraud perpetrated under the employer-based visa programs that Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) ...
Rep. Chris Cannon (R - Utah) was defeated in the Republican primary in Utah's 3rd district. While considered a staunch conservative on many issues, Rep. Cannon is known for being pro-immigration and has sponsored many bills to allow more foreign workers to enter the United States. Americans for Better Immigration gives Rep. Cannon a C grade based on his immigration voting record. Rep.
