High-Tech Worker Visas

Once again, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) asked for unanimous consent from the Senate this week to pass the Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act, S. 386 in the Senate and H.R. 1044 in the House, that would lift per-country caps for employment-based green cards, but Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) objected. Sen. Durbin used his objection to introduce new legislation, the RELIEF Act, which would substantially increase the number of green cards issued each year, including clear the existing backlog of employment-based green cards over five years.

In addition to bankrolling the conservative lobbying "fly-in," tech giants such as Google are pushing for amnesty in other ways.

The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) has written a letter to members of the U.S. Senate asking them to oppose the immigration bill, S. 744. Specifically, IFPTE opposes the Schumer/Hatch amendment that passed during the Senate Judiciary Committe mark-ups earlier this month. The Schumber/Hatch amendment would increase the annual numbers of H-1B Visas.  

As the Senate Judiciary Committee prepares to review the guest-worker provisions of the Gang of Eight's amnesty bill, a national association consisting of electrical and electronics engineers is urging Congress to leave the H-1B visa quotas alone. The IEEE issued a statement on Monday to reject amendments that would further increase the number of H-1B visas issued each year and amendments that would weaken worker protections.

An op-ed written by Clemson Professor Mark Thies and published in the Greenville News says the number of U.S. students enrolled at Clemson in STEM fields is up 60 percent over the past five years. Furthermore, he says that one-third of STEM graduates aren't working in the field and starting salaries within the field have remained flat since 2010.

The Texas firm Dibon Solutions has been indicted by federal authorities for using the H-1B visa system to create an as needed" work force. The papers filed by the federal government detail the scam, saying the tech firm recruited foreign workers and sponsored them for H-1B visas but required them to provide consulting services to third-party companies in other locations.

A group of eight Senators today announced the outline of an agreement they reached on immigration-law changes that substantially mirrors the failed 2007 attempt to amnesty illegal aliens and increase foreign-worker numbers. The Senators’ proposal includes a legalization of illegal aliens currently residing in the United States, higher levels of legal immigration, mandatory employment verification, and a new guest worker program.

During consideration of H.R. 6429, a bill that would replace the Visa Lottery with green cards for foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges or universities with an advanced degree in a STEM field, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) raised a motion to replace the bill with another version that would increase foreign worker visas with no offsets. The House, however, voted, with bipartisan support, to keep the existing version of the bill, with the visa offsets, intact.

The House-version of the Senate's Startup Act 2.0 was introduced by a group of Members from both sides of the aisle today. The bipartisan group of House members behind the bill includes Republicans Michael Grimm (N.Y.), Kevin Yoder (Kan.), Devin Nunes (Calif.) and Robert Dold (Ill.) and Democrats Loretta Sanchez (Calif.), Russ Carnahan (Mo.) and Jared Polis (Colo.).

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who also serves as Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter Monday to the State and Homeland Security departments, raising questions about Boeing's use of B-1 visas to bring Russian contract engineers into the country.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote an op-ed that was published in The Daily Iowan calling for fixes to the nation's visa system that would help make it easier for American college graduates to find jobs this spring.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who serves as the Ranking Member of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, sent a letter to Pres. Obama telling him that Jennifer Wedel's story of her unemployed engineer husband is not an isolated case, but a wider, national issue. Sen. Grassley has consistently fought for unemployed high-skilled workers by writing legislation that would rid the H-1B program of known 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.