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H-1B Visas a Symptom of Special-Interest Influence in D.C.
Loopholes mean that each H-1B worker here is a proxy for even more jobs lost
December 28, 2011
About John Miano:
John Miano has been a fellow with the Center for Immigration Studies since 2008 and his area of expertise is in guest worker programs, particularly in how they affect the technology work force. Miano has a BA in mathematics from the College of Wooster and a JD from Seton Hall University. Miano is also the founder of the Programmers' Guild, an organization committed to advancing the interests of technical and professional workers.
Over the previous year, the United States lost 19,740 computer jobs, 107,200 engineering jobs, and 243,870 science jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In spite of massive job losses, industry has managed to use up the entire quota of H-1B visas, most of which went to foreign workers in these fields. It is likely over 100,000 H-1B visas were given out this year.
In most of America, these grim figures would end any debate on the need to import more cheap foreign labor. In a Washington that is completely beholden to lobbyists and industry campaign cash, they find ways to look the other way. As GOP Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia says, "This [H-1B] is a very important issue for the high-tech executives who give the money."
[Rep. Tim Griffin to Introduce High-Skilled Immigrant Bill.]
D.C. is filled with mills that produce bogus studies to provide Congress with rose-colored glasses that deprive reality. Some studies spin H-1B workers as "entrepreneurs." Others make absurd job claims, such as that each H-1B worker creates six additional jobs (Do the math here: With around 100,000 H-1B visas a year, that would make H-1B the single largest job creation factor in the economy.)
In fact, the opposite is true. The largest users of H-1B visas are foreign offshoring companies. They use H-1B visas to provide on-site support for projected moved to other countries. In that model, each H-1B worker here is a proxy for even more jobs lost.
In spite of a long parade of damning audits on the H-1B program, Congress has done nothing to clean up the mess. Deliberate loopholes in the law allow employers to replace Americans with lower-paid H-1B workers. Working in the computer industry, I have witnessed employers openly replacing hundreds of Americans with cheaper worker on H-1B visas.
[Chamber of Commerce, Bloomberg Push Immigration Reform.]
H-1B supporters rarely forget to remind the public that the statute requires H-1B workers to be paid "the prevailing wage." They invariably forget that, 20,000 words later, the statute redefines the term "prevailing wage" in such a manner that an employer can legally pay a software engineer in Edison, N.J., $34,133 a year less than the median wage.
How is it possible that Americans can be fired in their own country, be replaced with foreign workers, and Congress does nothing for decades? H-1Bs, bailouts to Wall Street, and subsidies to politically connected business are all symptoms of the same problem: a government that is controlled by special interests that are antithetical to those of the American people.
- Mort Zuckerman: 5 Sure-Fire Ways to Create More Jobs.
- How the Economy Would Change Under Newt Gingrich.
- U.S. Tourism's 'Lost Decade' Cost Some 500,000 Jobs.
- Other Arguments
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No — The use of the programs for cheaper labor is substantial and growing
RON HIRA, Associate Professor of Public Policy at Rochester Institute of Technology and Research Associate with the Economic Policy Institute
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No — Thirst for cheaper guest workers is pushing a generation of Americans away from tech fields, enlarging the void
DANIEL STEIN, President of the Federation for American Immigration Reform
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No — H-1B should return to goal of recruiting the best and brightest from around the globe
NORM MATLOFF, Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Davis
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Yes — H-1B visas are one of our best tools to attract international brain power
TAMAR JACOBY, President of ImmigrationWorks USA and Fellow at the New America Foundation
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Yes — The American economy is losing out on people who could launch whole new companies and product lines
JOHN FEINBLATT, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Chief Policy Adviser and Director of the Partnership for a New American Economy
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#712001344
Yes — Reform H-1B, but don't ignore legitimate needs of American employers
JASON DZUBOW, Immigration Attorney at Dzubow, Sarapu & Pilcher, PLLC
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No — America is unique because it turns newcomers into Americans
BRUCE A. MORRISON, Former Chairman of the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Immigration, Claims, and International law
Reader Comments Read all comments (19)
jobs4us of WA 10:53AM March 26, 2012
Bob of MA 10:13PM January 18, 2012
Dave Holden of CA 5:36PM January 04, 2012