Need Volunteers for Congressional Inquiry

Need Volunteers for Congressional Inquiry

Date: Tuesday, March 21, 2006 1:10 PM




JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

March 21, 2006 No. 1442


The House Judiciary Committee is looking for a few people that would
testify about how they were harmed by H-1B. Contact Mike Gildea of the
AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees (DPE) if you want to testify.
I know many of you on this mailing list don't have the money to travel to
Washington DC to testify because if you are a victim of H-1B you are
probably unemployed. The AFL-CIO may be willing to help some key
individuals with travel expenses SO PLEASE, contact Gildea if you are
willing to go to Capitol Hill to enlighten those morons in Congress.

This newsletter also has two documents from the AFL-CIO DPE. One is a
letter to the Senate Judiciary and the other is a summary of an alternative
to the Specter bill by Frist. The Frist proposal is probably just as bad.

As most of you know, the AFL-CIO has been consistently supporting H-1B,
guest worker visas, and amnesty. The DPE doesn't necessarily reflect the
views of the entire AFL-CIO so it's important that you don't get them
confused. The unions aren't necessarily of one mind, and fortunately those
at the DPE are on our side. Hopefully one day the views of the DPE will
reflect the majority of the AFL-CIO.

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The Immigration Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee has confirmed
that it will hold a public hearing on H-1B visas on Thursday (a.m.) March
30.

The Committee is interested in finding at least one or more worker
witnesses who have been laid off as a result of H-1B. I am attempting to
assist the Committee in this search.

As with earlier successful hearings on guest worker visas and off-shore
outsourcing with terrific witnesses such as Sona Shah, Pat Fluno and
Natasha Humphries, we are looking for workers who can articulate a
compelling case against H-1B because of their personal experience.

Please circulate this e-mail and let me know if you have any such case
histories. I would need a brief e-mail summary of their situation as well
as contact information. Whomever you suggest must be willing to be a public
witness at this hearing. Expenses will be paid for by our organization.

Please feel free to contact me by e-mail or by phone.

Phone: (202-638-0320, ext 22) with any questions.
Email: mgildea@dpeaflcio.org


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


March 15, 2006

Senate Judiciary Committee
U.S. Senate
224 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator:

Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution defines the specific powers
reserved to the Congress so that it might "...provide for the common
defense and general welfare of the United States." It is hard to imagine
how the so-called "guest worker" provisions contained in the immigration
bill currently pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee could protect
the "general welfare" of America's working families in any way, shape or
form.

In our opinion, the guest worker provisions contained in this draft bill-as
the AFL-CIO had stated in previous correspondence-is an unconscionable
giveaway of domestic job opportunities. The massive, new H-2C program would
create a gigantic pool of unlimited, easily exploitable foreign workers who
would not only displace American workers but as well serve to drive down
wages, working conditions and living standards. No meaningful protections
would be in place to protect domestic or foreign workers alike from
economic abuse. It is truly unfathomable as to why the Committee appears to
be hell bent on repeating the sordid history of past Congressional mistakes
from Bracero to the H-1B debacle.

The bill also proposes unwarranted expansions in the poster child program
of bad immigration law-the H-1B. Among the most egregious provisions:
" Mandates a retroactive increase to 195,000 from the current 65,000 H-1B
visa cap (exclusive of existing exemptions) for the years of 2004-2006, in
effect allowing for a one time visa grab by employers of nearly 400,000
visas!
" Increases the 65,000 visa cap to 115,000-a 60% hike!
" Requires an automatic 20% annual hike in the new cap whenever the visas
are exhausted, thus establishing a new annual cap for each successive year.
This in effect rips the lid off of any meaningful annual visa limitation.
" Adds still another open-ended exemption from the cap for any foreign
national that has an advanced degree in science, technology, engineering or
math from anywhere on the planet. At least the previous exemption authored
by the committee restricted such visas to foreign graduates of U.S.
institutions and limited it to 20,000 annually.

Taken together, within one year over 600,000 new foreign professionals
could flood the U.S. market, the result of which would be to inflict
serious economic harm on highly skilled, well educated American workers. We
view that outcome as well as the underlying proposal as ridiculous in the
extreme.
Initially, Congress intended that programs like H-1B would be limited in
number and duration sufficient to ameliorate the consequences of spot labor
shortages. Since existing statutory "safeguards" are laughable and agency
enforcement inept, this bill completes the metamorphosis of H-1B into a
long term, out of control mechanism that does little else than to wreak
economic havoc on our professionals while indenturing workers from abroad
seeking real economic opportunity.

Finally, we feel compelled to briefly address changes proposed in the
student visa program. Student visas were originally intended to allow
foreign students to come to the U.S for one purpose-education. Changes
proposed by the bill would put tens of thousands of foreign students in
direct competition with our own undergraduate and graduate students for
full and part time job opportunities. For our own, many U.S. students need
those jobs to pay their way through school, to help pay off thousands of
dollars in education loans and in many situations to gain the skills and
experience necessary for a successful career. The challenges confronting
them should not be made more onerous because of changes in the student visa
program. The new F-4 visa for those pursuing an advanced degree in math,
engineering, technology and physical sciences coupled with the impact of
H-1B will in fact work in tandem to discourage American students from
pursuing an education in these so-called shortage disciplines. Simply
stated, their job opportunities will be limited both before and after
graduation and their wage prospects diminished by foreign workers who,
studies have shown, are paid far less than the prevailing rate.

In conclusion, we are appalled by the fact that the Committee appears ready
to move forward on such wide ranging changes in U.S. immigration law
without so much as a minute of public hearings on the matter. No witnesses
called, no expert testimony heard, no impact analysis done and no
consideration of the many reforms that we and other organizations have
submitted in the past to the Committee relative to the H-1B program.

In light of this and the serious substantive deficiencies in the pending
construct, the 22 national unions of the DPE urge you to reject any
expansion in the aforementioned visa programs, particularly H-1B-including
the Brownback amendment on nurses and physical therapists-until Congress
has first reformed it, put into place real worker protections, limited it
to a true temporary program and determined-in the context of current labor
market conditions-what the appropriate numerical parameters should be.

Thank you for your consideration of our views.


Sincerely,


Paul E. Almeida
President


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GUEST WORKER, GREEN CARD AND STUDENT VISA PROVISIONS OF FRIST SUBSTITUTE
BILL


TITLE IV - BACKLOG REDUCTION AND VISAS FOR STUDENTS AND ALIENS WITH
ADVANCED DEGREES

Section 401. Elimination of Existing Backlogs.
Section 401 reduces visa backlog waiting times by allowing the recapture of
unused visa numbers and increases the number of employment-based green
cards from 140,000 to 290,000. It also exempts immediate relatives of U.S.
citizens from the 480,000 annual cap on family-based immigration.

Section 402. Country Limits.
Section 402 increases the per-country limits for family-sponsored and
employment-based immigrants are from 7 percent to 10 percent (in the case
of countries) and from 2 percent to 5 percent (in the case of dependent
areas).

Section 403. Allocation of Immigrant Visas.
The current 480,000 ceiling on family-sponsored immigrants is redistributed
among existing family preference categories. Ten percent is allocated to
the first preference -- unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens.
Fifty percent is allocated to the second preference -- spouses and
unmarried sons and daughters of lawful permanent residents, of which
seventy-seven percent of such visas will be allocated to spouses and minor
children of lawful permanent residents. Ten percent is allocated to the
third preference -- married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens. Thirty
percent is allocated to the fourth preference -- brothers and sisters of
U.S. citizens.

Section 403 restructures visa number availability to provide additional
visas for unskilled workers (who are limited to 5,000/year right now) and
other categories where visas have not kept up with demand. The 290,000
ceiling for employment-based immigrant visas is redistributed among the
employment-based immigrant visa categories and certain modifications are
made to current categories. 15% is allocated to the first preference --
aliens with extraordinary ability, outstanding professors and researchers,
and multinational executives and managers. 15% is allocated to the second
preference -- aliens holding advanced degrees or having exceptional
ability. 35% is allocated to the third preference -- skilled workers and
professionals. 5% is allocated to a re-designated fourth preference -
investors. 30% is allocated to a re-designated fifth preference -- other
workers performing labor or services (previously included in third
preference).

Section 404. - Relief for Minor Children
Section 404 amends the immediate relative category to allow the children of
spouses and parents of U.S. citizens to obtain legal status and travel to
the United States with their families.

Section 405. Student Visas.
Section 405 extends foreign students' post-curricular Optional Practical
Training (and F-1 status) to 24 months. It also creates a new "F-4"
student visa for students pursuing an advanced degree candidates studying
in the fields of math, engineering, technology or the physical sciences.
The new visa would allow eligible students to either to return to their
country of origin or remain in the United States for up to one year and
seek employment in their relevant field of study. Once such a student
received such an offer of employment, the individual would be allowed to
adjust status to that of a legal permanent resident once the alien paid a
$1,000 fee and completed necessary security clearances. Eighty percent of
this fee would be deposited into a fund for job training and scholarships
for American workers, while twenty percent of the fee would go toward fraud
prevention.

Section 406. Visas for Individuals with Advanced Degrees.
Section 406 exempts from the numerical cap on employment-based visas aliens
with advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering, or math, and has
worked in a related field in the US during the 3 year period preceding
their application for adjustment of status. It also exempts immediate
relatives of aliens who are admitted as employment-based immigrants from
the numerical limitations of 203(b). Finally, it increases the available
visas numbers for H-1B non-immigrants and provides an exemption from the
numerical limitation aliens who have earned advanced degrees in science,
technology, engineering, or math. The numerical limitation is also
supplemented with a flexible limitation that is set according to demand for
foreign high-skilled workers.

Section 407. Medical Services in Underserved Areas.
Section 407 permanently authorizes the current J-1 visa waiver program.
Under this program, participating states are allocated 30 J-1 visa waivers,
which enables them to waive the 2 year home residency requirement for
medical students and physicians who serve in "medically underserved areas"
upon completion of their J-1 program. The program has been reauthorized
twice before and is now set to expire on June 1, 2006.


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