How democratic we are - Reader comments at The New York Sun

Recent Blog Posts

Reader comment on:
Desperately Seeking Visas

Submitted by Voter, Jan 2, 2008 07:22

The writer of this article does not seem to be much of a believer in Democracy. She wants to take the matter of foreign work visa caps out of the hands of elected officials who have to answer to voters, and put it into the hands of an unelected beaurocracy. I know that many of "the rest of us" were seriously negatively affected during those years that the H-1B visa cap went up to 195,000. Basically, it threw a lot of skilled U.S. citizens out of work, and displaced many others from their professions. While 150,000 may not seem like much when compared to the total U.S. workforce, but that is not the valid comparison. The valid comparison would be 150,000 to the total U.S. workforce in the Department of Labor's STEM "shortage occupations" (e.g.computer programming, engineering) which are the occupations that the vast majority of H-1B visa holders obtain visas for. The reality is that fields like IT application development are flooded with H-1B guest workers, primarily from India.

The current the visa cap is actually much more than 65,000, and only people who are doing a bit of propagandizing use this number only. I believe the full count according to US Citizensip & Immigration Service is:

1,400 nationals of Chile;
5,400 nationals of Singapore;
20,000 with master's and doctor's degrees from US colleges and universities;
58,200 with "bachelor's degrees or equivalent experience" from anywhere in the world;
unlimited visas for those employed by non-profit research outfits;
unlimited visas for those employed for local, state and federal research;
unlimited visas for those employed by US colleges & universities.

And L-1 visas are unlimited.

The current law is not written with any meaningful H-1B labor protections for U.S. citizens. Only "H-1B dependent" employers must try to recruit American workers - these are employers with at least 15% of their workforce on the H-1B.

It is routine to post job ads in obscure listings in an attempt to circumvent the law. Here is a video of one immigration attorney describing just how to avoid hiring annoyingly expensive American workers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCbFEgFajGU

Here is a report on H-1B consultants selling the visas to the highest bidder:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOqOxYr4F18

Here is Senator Bernie Sanders arguing in support of his legislation to curb H-1B abuse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR9QdQIKqMc

Here is a report on how high-skill guest worker visas are currently hurting rather than helping keep jobs at home:
http://www.sharedprosperity.org/bp187/bp187.pdf

Note: Comments are screened, and in some cases edited, before posting. We reserve the right to reject anything we find objectionable.

Other reader comments on this article

Comment	By	Date
GuildY/ ZazonY wrote: "Alan Greenspan, March 2007"If we open up a significant window for skilled workers, that would suppress the... [MORE]	suppress TOP EARNER wages	Jan 30, 2008 12:57
Asking the Department of Labor to regulate the number of visas and green cards to issue is like asking a... [MORE]	No visa for you	Jan 15, 2008 02:30
GuildY/ ZazonY wrote: "Alan Greenspan, March 2007"If we open up a significant window for skilled workers, that would suppress the... [MORE]	Little empirical evidence!	Jan 8, 2008 17:57
Kathy Robertson: "When there are millions of Americans out of work due to outsourcing, why do we need to bring... [MORE]	Data	Jan 7, 2008 12:17
S. Kolger wrote: "every other type of white-collar jobs stop getting offshored to India" (1) New H-1Bs account for .07% of... [MORE]	Data	Jan 7, 2008 12:13
The people who are finding rising wages and full employment in the IT sector are definitely moving in different social... [MORE]	S. Kolger	Jan 5, 2008 09:46
Kim Berry (President, Programmers Guild) wrote: " ..." IEEE USA is IEEE's policy wing, supported mainly by annual assessment paid by... [MORE]	IEEE USA's Proposal	Jan 4, 2008 12:10
GuildY/ ZazonY wrote: "Alan Greenspan, March 2007"If we open up a significant window for skilled workers, that would suppress the... [MORE]	Really!	Jan 4, 2008 12:04
H1-B petitions approved vs H1-B workers------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) From How many H-1B visa workers? Counts vary VALLEY EMPLOYERS AMONG TOP USERS By... [MORE]	Never Mind!	Jan 4, 2008 10:24
Kathy Robertson wrote: "When there are millions of Americans out of work" The unemployment rate in IT sector is a whopping... [MORE]	Just Do It!	Jan 4, 2008 10:10
It is well known within the tech industry that the primary reason that companies are so much in love with... [MORE]	Clearing Smoke Bombs	Jan 3, 2008 20:36
Kathy Robertson: "Companies are LYING about a shortage because they want to bring in cheap labor" Repeat something loud and long... [MORE]	Rhetorical Rhapsody	Jan 3, 2008 18:27
Kathy Robertson: "Companies are LYING about a shortage because they want to bring in cheap labor" A Dec 2005 Center for... [MORE]	Dis Information	Jan 3, 2008 18:23
S. Kolger wrote: "when American workers are no longer required to train their H-1B replacements" (1) From The Grassley Visa Tax... [MORE]	Train H-1B Replacement?	Jan 3, 2008 10:19
Bruce de la Vega wrote: "B. Lindsay Lowell and Harold Salzman at the Urban Institute that the USA is over-flowing... [MORE]	Caveat	Jan 3, 2008 10:06
Your article is well spiced because you hit the hammer on the nail.thanks [MORE]	moradeyo afeez	Jan 3, 2008 03:22
Background: U.S. STEM Workforce Shows No Sign of Impending Shortages http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB1505/index1.html "The pool of S&E-qualified secondary and postsecondary graduates is several times... [MORE]	Dana Rothrock	Jan 2, 2008 19:01
As "former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor", Ms. Furchtgott-Roth certainly knows that DOL is knowingly rubber-stamping labor... [MORE]	Kim Berry	Jan 2, 2008 16:21
"Allowing the Labor Department to adjust legal immigration every quarter to match U.S. need for foreign labor would help America... [MORE]	Bruce de la Vega	Jan 2, 2008 13:40
"labor certification from the Labor Department... requires the prospective employer to affirm that he has determined that no American workers... [MORE]	Bruce de la Vega	Jan 2, 2008 13:29
It boils down to this: WE CANNOT TRUST THE GOVERNMENT TO ENFORCE THE LAW OR TO EXERCISE DISCRETION IN A... [MORE]	TheReallyRightGuy	Jan 2, 2008 12:52
I hate the arcane nature of bureacracy and public policy. However, because we need to protect our sovereignty and regulate... [MORE]	Ken	Jan 2, 2008 16:38
There is a principle of economics that, in a free market (which we do NOT have) there can be neither... [MORE]	Bruce de la Vega	Jan 2, 2008 18:05
This is fine as far as you have gone. However... Let's give the Department of Labor more lattitude. Perhaps they could... [MORE]	Rev. Stephen M. King	Jan 2, 2008 12:28
When there are millions of Americans out of work due to outsourcing, why do we need to bring in temporary... [MORE]	Kathy Robertson	Jan 2, 2008 09:16
If you listen to the CEO/CFO/HR people at the large companies looking to import workers a half way intelligent person... [MORE]	Gene	Jan 2, 2008 13:41
Instead of a well thought-out analysis of the issues, we get a rehash of all of the old arguments Big... [MORE]	S. Kolger	Jan 2, 2008 08:39
The writer of this article does not seem to be much of a believer in Democracy. She wants to take...	Voter	Jan 2, 2008 07:22

Reader comment on:Desperately Seeking Visas

Other reader comments on this article

Comment on Desperately Seeking Visas

Reader comment on:
Desperately Seeking Visas