another noteworthy CIS study debunks H-1B myths

Date: Saturday, June 21, 2008 1:49 AM

<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1880 -- 6/20/2008 >>>>>

Another great CIS backgrounder has just been published. John Miano's paper
follows the one by Norm Matloff last month.

http://www.cis.org/node/222
H-1B Visa Numbers: No Relationship to Economic Need By John Miano, June, 2008

http://www.cis.org/articles/2008/back508.html
H-1Bs: Still Not the Best and the Brightest By Norman Matloff, May 2008

Bill Tucker did a great report on the Lou Dobbs show using material from the
Miano paper. You can watch it on youtube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhIPLkKol5Y

Be sure not to miss when Dobbs talks about the lawsuit to stop the DHS
extension of Optional Practical Training (OPT). There is somewhat of a
disconnect in the report because Miano was interviewed but nobody mentioned
that he is one of the lawyers helping with the lawsuit. A preliminary hearing
is scheduled for July 7th. Read the IRLI press release at:
http://www.irli.org/press_release_5292008.html

John Miano, for those of you who don't know, used to be a programmer.
Because of the bad situation in the job market he decided to go to law school.
What is about to happen in the courts is truly the revenge of the nerds.

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

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0806/19/ldt.01.html

Up next, some in Congress want to make it even easier to hire cheap foreign
workers instead of Americans. That's Bush administration regular policy, but
we'll have a special report on what's going on now. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: Well, business and political elites in this country repeatedly claim
that the H1B foreign worker visa program must be expanded to meet the growing
demand for more technology workers, but there's evidence tonight that the
number of H1B visas issued by the government is outpacing by a considerable
margin job growth.

As Bill Tucker now reports, that means companies are cheap foreign labor
because that foreign labor is cheaper than American.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the two years from 2003 to
2005, about 125,000 new computer jobs were created in this country. During
that same job, more than 98,000 H1B visas were issued for computer workers.
That was enough to fill 78 percent of the jobs created. Leaving only about
27,000 jobs for American workers. That's a conclusion by a report from the
"Center of Immigration Studies" after an analysis of government data. The
center which lobbies for tighter immigration policy concludes there's no
relationship between the program and economic need. And it says the picture is
worse for engineers.

JOHN MIANO, CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES: In 2005, the United States lost
3,200 engineering jobs. In the same year, we imported over 12,000 engineers
H1B engineers. How do you argue with numbers like that?

TUCKER: The high-tech industry continues to argue it's short skilled workers
and that the program needs to be doubled add the very least from the official
cap of 65,000 visas a year.

ROBERT HOFFMAN, COMPETE AMERICA: These are job opening just within 5,000
companies in the U.S. economy. There 120,000 skilled job openings. It is not
in any company's interest to leave jobs unfilled.

TUCKER: According to the National Science Foundation, in 2005, we graduated
271,000 students with bachelors and masters degrees in science and engineering
who were citizens or legal residents.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCKER: And for the more than 18,000 foreign students who graduated from
American universities, the Department of Homeland Security gave them a nice
graduation present earlier this year. DHS doubled the length of time that
foreign students can stay and work in the country after graduation to two and
a half years. A lawsuit challenging that action is scheduled for preliminary
hearing on July 7, Lou, so we'll see what happens with that.

DOBBS: Yes, I still see Bill Gates standing before the committee chaired by
Senator Ted Kennedy over a year ago. The only witness, the only member in the
committee with Bill Gates saying, I need an infinite number of worker
advisories, H1B visas. The absurdity and to watch the way Congress just sort
of fawns over him and (INAUDIBLE) and says, it doesn't really matter what
happens to the voters, to our constituents, to working men and women in this
country, just so you satisfy the corporate and political elites in this
country.

Such balderdash. It's ridiculous.

Thank you very much. Bill Tucker.

Eight of the top 20 companies requesting H1B worker visas last year were based
in India. Did I say that? Yes, I did.

Those firms want to bring cheap labor from India to the United States so they
can outsource middle class jobs to those workers here -- so they don't have to
go to all that trouble of sending them all the way to India. The H1B visa
program is one of 10 guest worker programs that this country already has in
place. I know you're thinking, George W. Bush, the president of the United
States, was saying, we need a guest worker program. But we actually have 10 of
them already.

Ten, Mr. President -- 10 of them, as we've been reminding you for the past
year.

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