H-1B cap routinely exceeded

Date: Monday, January 29, 2007 2:56 PM

<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1630 -- 1/29/2007 >>>>>

The yearly cap on H-1B visas is 85,000. It used to be 65,000 until Congress
passed that 20,000 increase in the omnibus spending bill of 2004.

Well folks, if you thought the above statement is true, then you haven't
been watching Lou Dobbs lately!

As we all know the government ignores most immigration laws and the H-1B
cap is no exception. The CIS routinely exceeds the legal cap for H-1B and
what's worse is that they get away with it. We aren't talking small numbers
either.

This is from the Lou Dobbs transcript below:

That's 85,000 visas a year. But the United States Citizenship
and Immigration Service approved 116,927 applications in 2005.
It approved 130,497 in 2004.

Please keep in mind that H-1B visas are additive because they last 3-6
years, so this is how many new H-1B visas we have at the end of 2005, at
least according to official figures:

116,927

+ 130,497

247,424 (total non-exempt visas for 2004-2005)

Roughly a quarter million NEW American jobs were lost to H-1Bs in a two
year period. The reason I emphasize NEW is that the count doesn't include
the total number of exempt visas that were issued. In total, there were
approximately 800,000 H-1B visas holders that were already in the U.S. by
the end of 2003.

To find out more about exempts, click this link:

http://www.jobdestruction.info/ShameH1B/H1BFAQs.htm#AreH-1BsExempted

So who, you may ask, is responsible for this scandalous mismanagement of
the H-1B visa program? In a classic case of passing the buck, the USCIS
claims that they only issue the visas but it's the State Department's
responsibility to approve the petitions. Dobbs didn't say it, but I'm sure
they State Department would say the same thing in reverse.

This isn't the first time the H-1B cap has been exceeded either. In 1999
the INS approved 21,888 H-1B petitions in excess of the fiscal year 1999
cap. This is where it gets even better -- the INS hired KPMG to straighten
out the mess. Ironically KPMG hires huge numbers of H-1Bs, so essentially
our government hired H-1Bs to fix the H-1B system. Clever, huh?

Hint: You can use the LCA database to see the KPMG applications.

Apparently the H-1Bs at KPMG did a great job of fixing the process because
in the year 2000 about 10,000 visas over the cap were issued. Sen. Charles
E. Grassley (R-Iowa) told the director of Homeland Security's Citizenship
and Immigration Services that he is discouraged that the will of Congress
is being ignored. Grassley's proclamations sounded tough but he did nothing
about it and never followed up by demanding reforms.

To read more about these visa overruns go to the archive and read the
following newsletters:

2005-03-29 DHS Unilaterally Issues 10000 More H-1B Visas.txt

2003 01-06 Some History of the H-1B Cap.txt

2002 05-12 ITAA vs. AFGE.txt

A video clip of that Lou Dobbs show can be seen by clicking either of these
links.

http://www.forthecause.us/ftc-video-CNN-VisaCapsIgnored_070126.wmv

or

http://americanpatrol.com/WMV/070126-Dobbs-Bush-Traitor-Trash.wmv

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0701/26/ldt.01.html

Aired January 26, 2007

DOBBS: The United States citizenship and immigration service finally
released its report to Congress on the H1B guest worker visa program. But
Congress still hasn't seen fit to release that report to the public,
perhaps because the numbers are much higher than the government has
authorized.

Bill Tucker reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The number of H1B visas an
existing guest worker program for skilled workers is capped by Congress at
65,000. Another 20,000 foreign students who graduate from American
universities with advanced degrees are also eligible for the visa.

That's 85,000 visas a year. But the United States Citizenship and
Immigration Service approved 116,927 applications in 2005. It approved
130,497 in 2004.

The reports in 2004 and 2005 were not released until November 20th of last
year. A release date that activists find disturbing.

JOHN MIANO, ATTORNEY: I think it's odd that it occurred after the election.
Somewhat suspicious that while there were bills pending to have an H1B
increase, that the information about the actual numbers of H1B visas was
not available.

TUCKER: A spokesman for USCIS admits the reports were late, but he calls
the oversight "honest," explaining that in the transitions from INS to the
Department of Homeland Security they neglected to file the reports.

"We notified the oversight by a member of Congress. They quickly produced
the reports."

Some critics see a pattern.

RON HIRA, ROCHESTER INST. OF TECHNOLOGY: There's been a pattern by the
administration to -- to keep, you know, this data that they don't
particularly want out bottled up, and we've seen this with the Commerce
Department offshoring report, and we've seen it in other areas like NASA
(ph) and the like.

TUCKER: And there is intrigue. These reports were obtained by LOU DOBBS
TONIGHT, not off a Congress Web site, not from the House Subcommittee on
Immigration, but off the Internet, where activists are distributing them by
e-mail. (END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCKER: The reports are real. USCIS acknowledges publishing the reports and
giving them to Congress in late November. But USCIS says it's not their job
to distribute the reports to the public, that's up to Congress.

And, you know, Lou, it may serve in the congressional interests to not make
the report widely available to the public, because there are some
disturbing facts in that report, and Congress is about to take up debate on
doubling that program again sometime this next couple of months.

DOBBS: Well, if they are going -- permitting -- I mean -- I mean, it's just
mind-boggling. The program is under such intense criticism.

TUCKER: Right.

DOBBS: Just allowing employers to go over by 40 percent over the quotas,
more than that, in point of fact, 40 to 70 percent, without effect -- the
USCIS does not explain why it's not enforcing it, doesn't have the
information, and is holding information back. And now Congress as well?

TUCKER: It gets better, actually, Lou, because when you talk to USCIS, they
say, "It's not our responsibility to issue the visas. That falls to the
State Department. We just approve the petitions."

DOBBS: And the relationship, of course, between the petition and the -- I
mean, this is -- if the American people have not figured out that there is
a corporatist agenda at work in this administration and throughout the
bureaucracy, then I don't know what more we could possibly report.

And this Congress, whether Democratically controlled or not, has an
absolute responsibility to ask, why aren't immigration laws being enforced?
Why aren't the laws passed by this Congress being enforced? And the
American people need to ask why does neither Congress nor the executive
branch fulfill their duties, their constitutional duties?

It is remarkable what is happening in this country. It is on the verge of
tragic.

Bill Tucker, thank you very much.

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