H1-B Visas: Helping to Destroy the Middle Class
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR9QdQIKqMc (A video by an immigration law firm on how to "game" the hiring process to ensure that an "expensive" American isn't hired instead of a cheap foreign worker imported via H1-B)
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj_9m8ht0s8 (H1-B visas hurting high-tech education)
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCbFEgFajGU (Independant Senator Bernie Sanders proposing a bill to reform H1-B to make it honest and fair)
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW-mNolbdik (H1-B visas are not issued to the "best and brightest," but rather randomly)
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhGG2O2jaCU (how the immigration "reform bill" is sneaking in a huge increase of the H1-B visa program)
Many people who are not tech workers are not aware of America's H1-B visa program. In short, this is a program to allow companies who are unable to find competent American employees to "import" them from overseas, giving these employees temporary citizenship (a visa) in return for the promise of employment.
Sounds fair, right? If there's no Americans qualified for the position, why shouldn't companies be able to seek workers in other nations?
No. The reality, as these clips show, is that H1-B is contributing to a massive "brain drain" in the American economy. Companies are claiming that there is an enormous talent shortage in the American high-tech labor pool, at the same time that they're using that as an excuse to demand the ability to "import" more workers from other nations.
The thing is, there is no labor shortage. The corporations simply don't want to pay the prevailing wages to American laborers, and see that they can use the H1-B "loophole" to save a few bucks. The problem is that this is creating a shortage of truly available employment in America for high-tech workers. This is "outsourcing."
Some see no problem in this; usually the ones who see no problems either don't fully understand the magnitude of the issue, or stand to directly benefit. Some falsely claim that complaining against H1-B visas is "racism" -- but this is a crock. I work alongside mostly foreign-born U.S. citizens with no problems. In theory, they earn roughly the same wages as me and have the same talents. Foreign-born U.S. citizens would suffer equally as a result of H1-B visa abuse. It's not about racism.
Some think that this is just a factor of "competing in the global market." Maybe, maybe not. Corporations are notoriously short-sighted. There is a saying that applies here -- "penny wise, pound foolish." Meaning that it is foolish to cost yourself more money in the long run just to save a small amount now; yet publicly traded companies are notorious for doing just that because they are beholden to the short-term demands of the stockholders to always dividends, rather than focusing on the long-term interests of the nation and economy that they flourish in. And maybe that's their right -- to focus on profits. But it's the right and duty of the government to focus on America's best interests, and the H1-B program is certainly not in the best interests of this nation. Sadly, our government is completely selling out on this.
This H1-B policy is indeed very pound foolish. The American technical education landscape is falling behind; not because Americans are stupid or lazy (in fact a study I read a year or two ago found that Americans work harder -- as measured by hours worked per week -- than citizens of almost any other nation). No, our educational system is failing because our young people are not stupid -- they see friends and peers graduating in high-tech with an expensive 4- or 6-year degree... and waiting tables. They understand that it's getting to the point where it's not profitable for the average, non-superstar worker to work in high-tech. So many don't even pursue scientific and technical careers -- instead they pursue the proven moneymakers of business or legal degrees. This all contributes to a massive high-tech "brain drain."
And lest you think that this problem is only high-tech's issue, consider that if the H1-B floodgates are opened -- and this is something that Bush (deeply in the pockets of big business) is sneaking into his "immigration reform" bill -- no industry will be safe from decimation by cheap, underpaid imported labor. Work in construction? There's no real reason, from the point of view of the company that pays you, why a talented construction worker from Islamabad couldn't be imported to replace you at half your wages. And yes, the travel and H1-B process costs money, but probably not 1/2 your salary over your career -- and that's what they'd stand to save. Work in creative arts? You are eminently outsourceable. No American job is safe.
No, your job is at risk too. In fact the entire so-called "American way of life" -- which depends upon a healthy, vibrant middle class -- is at risk here. We are at war with special interests that would decimate this middle class, in order to line their own pockets.
I'd ask that you keep things like this in mind when you vote.