H1-B visa ban to hit Indians seeking US jobs

Date: Monday, September 08, 2003 1:56 AM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

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This article is very alarmist because even if Tancredo managed to
abolish H-1B, Indians have many other options to come into the United
States. They can use L visas or even pour into the United States by
using the wormhole created by the Singapore and Chile Free Trade
Agreement (CAFTA). There are also a number of other visas waiting for
approval such as the illegal alien amnesty bill called the "Border
Security and Immigration Improvement Act", which is sponsored by
McCain, Kolbe and Flake - and endorsed by Bush.

Tancredo's quote raises an interesting question because so far
Americans seem more than willing to sacrifice their jobs in the name of
"free-trade" and the global sharing of their wealth:

"It's going to be a question as whether or not Americans
are willing to surrender their standard of living in order
to accommodate the needs and desires of American corporations
in the high-tech sector."

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_363273,0003.htm

H1-B visa ban to hit 65,000 Indians seeking US jobs

Asian News International
Washington, September 5

Educated and highly-qualified Indians hoping to get cushy jobs in the
United States, especially in that country's software sector, may have
their dreams quashed if a legislation to ban the issue of H1-B visas is
debated and passed as law.

At present, nearly 65,000 Indians come to the United States every year
and get jobs, mostly in California's Silicon Valley, and if this ban is
enforced, immigrant analysts warn that America could face major
employee shortfalls in the hi-tech and computer- related industries

According to the legislation's chief sponsor, Thomas Tancredo, who
spoke exclusively to ANI on the issue, his sponsoring of this
legislation has nothing to do with a specific group, especially
Indians, whom he acknowledges and describes as a very hardworking
people with significant competency levels.

"What I say to them (US Congress and his constituents) is that it's got
nothing to do with India. It's got everything to do with American
workers. You are right that we have a large amount of people here from
India. Um, that's a testament to their capabilities, more than anything
else because I think there's a general understanding and a broad-based
acknowledgement of the fact that they are hard-working people with a
very significant competencies, and that they will work for less. And so
they are prime candidates for someone to import," Tancredo, a US
Republican Representative from Colorado, says.

In 2002, nearly 65,000 Indians won H1-B visas, a special permit to work
in the United States. That's about a third of the total of nearly
200,000 H1-B visas granted annually. House of Representatives
Resolution 2688 is designed to end this special immigration programme
that presently allows foreign workers to come to the US for a limited
period of time.

"It's a very simple bill. Its says that essentially we don't need this
visa category and we're going to eliminate it. "I'm the chairman of the
Immigration Reform Caucus. One of the things that we have noticed over
the past ten years especially, but more in the past few years, is an
incredible amount of fraud in this particular programme, in this visa
category," says Tancredo.

"As the economy of the world has been globalised, it becomes apparent
that what corporations are doing here in the United States anyway is
using this visa category to bring people in from other countries and
displace American workers, because foreign workers will work for less,"
he said.

"And, even though, the bill is set up so this is not supposed to
happen, it does. It happens in huge numbers. And so, that's the reason
why I think we need to eliminate it," Tancredo added.

The Republican Party leader is in no doubt that the H1-B issue is an
economic one that needs to be addressed to ensure employment safeguards
for Americans.

"Totally an economic issue. I have people in my neighbourhood, know, I
have literally thousands of my constituents who have been thrown out of
work because they have been displaced by foreign workers, who will work
for less. That's the bottom line.

That's the way it has turned out," Tancredo said.

"Now, am I supposed to just sit there and say to them, like it or lump
it? You're going to have to get used to it. Yah! You're going to lose
your house, you'll lose your way of life, and maybe you'll have to
start doing something that you for that you are not trained, such as
flipping hamburgers, but that's just the way it is. Tough, the
government isn't going to try to help you. Now, I'm not about to say
that to my constituents, I'm going to say that I'm going to try my best
to help," he adds.

"What's happening is that a lot of people are being brought here under
H1-B and L-1 visa categories, trained and then they go back and take
the job with them. My thought is that this is not a very good idea for
American workers."

"This bill does not stop that except to the extent that it does stop
someone who is coming here just for the purpose of learning just what
the trade is, to learn the ins and outs of the business and then to
take the business back, lets say to India or to any other place in the
world. It's something that we're going to have to work through, it's
very difficult," he says.

"It's going to be a question as whether or not Americans are willing to
surrender their standard of living in order to accommodate the needs
and desires of American corporations in the high-tech sector."

Immigration analysts, however, say, converting this legislation into
law is a bad idea. They argue that H1-B visas are necessary to fill
jobs where there aren't enough trained Americans, especially for the
Silicon Valley, which is home to America's high-tech and computer
industries.

Since the fall of the dotcom era in the US, the American economy has
been struggling to get back on its feet. While there are signs of
recovery, the rate of unemployment in the US remains stubbornly high,
with an estimated nine million people out of work.

What really makes this a political issue for US representatives is that
some of these workers lost their high-paying jobs two years ago, and
cannot find comparable employment, says Tancredo.

Tancredo would also like to see an end to the outsourcing of American
jobs to places like India.

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