H-1B article in the Tucson Citizen
H-1B article in the Tucson Citizen
Date: Saturday, April 21, 2007 11:49 AM
<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1677 -- 4/21/2007 >>>>>
H-1B has an immense impact on Arizona workers and yet it has received scant
attention in the local media. The strategy of Arizona business interests
who use H-1B has been to win the debate by not having one. We have had a
news blackout on the issue since the inception of the H-1B visa in 1990.
I was recently interviewed by Claudine LoMonaco of the Tucson Citizen.
That's actually the first time an Arizona reporter has talked to me since I
got into the H-1B issue in 1998!
Her article is better than most of the immigration related articles I have
seen in the Tucson Citizen. That newspaper is very biased towards open
borders and LoMonaco is infamous for her support of illegal immigration and
open-border liberalism. What little reporting the newspaper has done on
H-1B usually consisted of regurgitated idiotorials written by
CompeteAmerica.
Considering the venue, the article is better than I expected, even though
most of it is the usual sob stories and hyper-frenetic shortage shouting.
Unfortunately the article has an erroneous use of the Congressional GAO
report on H-1B. I explained to LoMonaco in much detail that there are often
big differences between the prevailing wage rates that companies are
required to pay H-1Bs and the market rates that comparable Americans earn.
I'm not sure she understood me or perhaps she just chose to ignore me, but
either way it didn't stop her from portraying the wage issue as an
enforcement issue. I am disappointed that I told her about the GAO study
and explained to her its contents, and then she blew the wage issue off by
quoting an irrelevant statement that more than 99 percent of employers
complied with regulations.
Perhaps LoMonaco failed to read the entire GAO report but at least looked
at it. What she didn't say about the report is what's important. For
instance:
"Some employers said that they hired H-1B workers in part because
these workers would often accept lower salaries than similarly
qualified U.S. workers."
So, how are H-1Bs being underpaid if 99% of the employers complied with
regulations? The answer is simple -- employers can be fully compliant with
regulations and still underpay H-1B workers. As the GAO explained:
"Some employers said that they hired H-1B workers in part because
these workers would often accept lower salaries than similarly
qualified U.S. workers; however, these employers said they never
paid H-1B workers less than the required wage. "
The system is riddled with loopholes that allow employers to exploit H-1Bs
and underpay them. If you are curious how employers manage to comply with
the law and yet underpay their imported foreign workers, this link to the
Programmers Guild is a good place to start:
"How to Underpay H-1B Workers"
http://www.programmersguild.org/archives/howtounderpay.htm
Perhaps LoMonaco should have used quotes from the aptly named document from
the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General - "The DOL
Department of Labor Certification Program: The System is Broken and Needs
to be Fixed", 1996."
http://www.oig.dol.gov/public/reports/oa/pre_1998/06-96-002-03-321s.htm
"The LCA program is intended to provide U.S. businesses with timely
access to the "best and the brightest" in the international labor
market to meet urgent, but generally temporary, business needs while
protecting U.S. workers' wage levels. We found that the program does
not always meet this purpose."
LoMonaco quoted employers who warn of dire catastrophes if they don't get
their fix of H-1Bs. When we were talking she seemed to think the mere fact
that the yearly H-1B cap has been reached is proof that there is a shortage
of American workers. Obviously she talked to high-tech industries and the
cheap labor lobby before she called me!
I noticed she didn't quote one of my best answers, so I'll add it here as
best as I remember:
LoMonaco: Arizona employers are scrambling to get more H-1B visas
and they are all saying there aren't enough to go around. How can
you claim that there is no shortage of workers when so many
employers tell me they can't get enough visas?
Sanchez: It's sort of like this Claudine -- let's say it's Halloween
day. One neighbor is giving out Snickers candy bars, and ten of them
are giving out fruit such as apples and oranges. Which house do you
think the kids will be lined up at?
It would be erroneous to conclude that there is a shortage of
homeowners who are handing out Halloween treats just because
you observe that kids are all going to the house that is
handing out Snickers bars.
LoMonaco: Muted chuckling.
I never got the chance to tell LoMonaco that Milton Friedman got it right
when he said that "There is no doubt that the program [H-1B] is a benefit
to their employers, enabling them to get workers at a lower wage and to
that extent is a subsidy."
You can leave comments after the article. So far there are some good ones
which gives me hope that Arizonans are starting to wake up.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/48872.php
Visa shortage hurting S. Ariz.'s high-tech firms
Bosses: Cap on foreign workers hampers growth
CLAUDINE LoMONACO
Published: 04.20.2007
Southern Arizona could lose its edge in the high-tech industry without
access to more highly skilled foreign workers, industry leaders say.
On April 2, the federal government shocked the southern Arizona business
community when it announced it would no longer accept visa applications for
foreign workers for the 2008 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.
By midday, the government had received 150,000 applications for the 65,000
available H-1B foreign-worker visas, according to the Department of
Homeland Security. It was the first day employers could apply for them.
"It's a catastrophe," said Robert Breault of the Tucson optical engineering
firm Breault Research.
The cap had never been reached so quickly, and federal officials said a
lottery will determine who gets a visa. Those who do not will have to wait
another year to reapply.
Breault said his firm and many local ones like it depend on foreigners,
often with doctoral and master's degrees from the University of Arizona,
because the U.S. doesn't produce enough highly skilled workers.
Because of the visa shortage, Breault last year was unable to hire Yukika
Amma, a Japanese intern from UA's Eller School of Business and Public
Administration, when she graduated. Breault Research exports 70 percent of
its software, and he hoped Amma would help open markets in Asia.
"It decreased my potential growth," Breault said. "We're an $8 million
company and growing, but we're trying to compete with handcuffs on."
The government created the H-1B program in 1990, allowing businesses to
hire foreigners when they were unable to find American workers. The program
requires employers to pay the prevailing wage, which is the wage paid to
the majority performing similar work. The program initially had a cap of
65,000 visas, but was temporarily expanded to 195,000 in the mid-1990s to
meet growing demand from employers during the dot.com boom.
In 2003 Congress allowed the cap to return to 65,000. It has been met
earlier each year since then - first in August, then in May and now April.
Employers call the cap arbitrary and out of step with the growing economy.
Joanne Lagasse-Long, director of UA's international student programs and
services, said the cap could reduce the ability of U.S. universities to
attract "the best and brightest" from around the world.
She said that since the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. has made it harder for
international students to come to the United States and attain work visas
once they graduate.
In contrast, countries such Canada and Australia are offering more work
visas to attract students who might otherwise have come to the United
States.
"Are we going to lose our edge in our research if all of these researchers
are turning to other countries for their education?" Lagasse-Long asked.
Amma, the student Breault couldn't hire, has lost two job offers because of
visa problems and plans to return to Japan in May, when her training visa
with Toyota in New York expires.
It's frustrating, she said. The U.S. welcomes the high fees and tuition
international students pay, she said, "but once we finish school and we can
earn money, they say 'no.' That's a little unfair. We worked so hard for
our degrees."
Tuition for out-of-state and foreign students at UA is more than double the
rate for in-state students.
For the last three years, Breault has traveled to Washington, D.C., along
with about 350 other scientists to lobby congressman and senators to try to
increase the visa cap.
The effort has been futile because visas are connected to stalled
immigration reform legislation.
Last month, U.S. Reps. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.,
introduced the STRIVE ACT, which would enact comprehensive immigration
reform and make up to 180,000 H-1B visas available each year. President
Bush has said he is "strongly" in favor of more H-1B visas.
Opposition has come from people such Rob Sanchez, 52, an unemployed
electrical engineer, who wants the government to abolish H-1B visas.
"It's nothing but cheap labor," he said in a telephone interview from his
Chandler home, where he publishes the Job Destruction Newsletter, which he
distributes over the Internet.
Sanchez has petitioned federal lawmakers to do away with the visas, which
he said cost him jobs at two different firms.
"H-1Bs are flooding the labor market, and there are less and less
opportunities for people like me," he said.
Sanchez believes the program allows employers to hire foreign workers at
substantially lower rates than they might pay American workers.
But a 2006 report from the Government Accountability Office found more than
99 percent of employers complied with regulations.
Of the 956,000 applications certified for H-1B visas between January 2002
and September 2005, the GAO found 3,229 listed salaries lower than the
prevailing wage.
Gloria Goldman, a Tucson immigration lawyer, disputes the idea that H-1B
visas come cheap. Between government and lawyers' fees, companies can pay
up to $5,000 per applicant, she said.
"Certainly they're not just hiring a foreign worker because they don't want
to hire an American," Goldman said.
She called the lack of H-1B visas a "debacle."
Goldman said most of those who applied for visas this year are already in
the U.S. and many are working under a short-term training visa.
"These companies who are expecting these employees are just in limbo,"
Goldman said. "If they can't get these people, what will they do for
another year?"
David Nicholas of Call and Nicholas, a Tucson geotechnical and mining
consulting business, said H-1B visas are crucial for the mining industry,
which competes internationally for employees.
"Nobody in the U.S. wants to go into the mining field because it has a bad
name," Nicholas said.
So companies in Canada, Australia and the U.S. look for engineers from
countries with heavy mining industries such as Chile, Peru and Indonesia,
he said.
Last year, Nicholas lost a Congolese engineer after training him for a
year. The man had recently completed a master's degree at UA, but couldn't
get an H-1B visa, so he took a job in Africa.
Nicholas bristles when he hears people say the H-1B program is about cheap
wages. The Congolese engineer would have earned about $60,000, Nicholas
said. With the shortage of mining and geological engineers, competition is
stiff.
"If you don't pay them well, they are going to move on," he said.
Like many employers, Breault is watching Congress carefully and worries
about the long-term impact of the visa caps if nothing is done.
"The United States lives on its multicultural background and being able to
do the brain drain into the country," Breault said. "It lives on innovation
and entrepreneurship. And when we get dumbed down, then the U.S. economy
will be less competitive."
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