Check out Norm Matloff

Norm Matloff is one of the foremost critics of the H1B program. Check out his
background below, and check out his material by going to the sidebar on this blog under “Friends of American Workers” and take the Norm Matloff link. The following was excerpted from Dr. Matloff's website.

Dr. Norman Matloff is a professor of computer science at the University of California at Davis, and was formerly a professor of mathematics and statistics at that university. He is a former database software developer in Silicon Valley, and has been a statistical consultant for firms such as the Kaiser Permanente Health Plan. He has published numerous research papers in computer science and in theoretical and applied statistics, in fields such as parallel processing, data security, data mining, computer networks, and statistical regression analysis. He is the author of one textbook in computer science and another in statistics.

Dr. Matloff also writes about social issues such as immigration, affirmative action, and age discrimination. He has served as an expert witness in litigation regarding age and racial discrimination in the software industry. He has presented invited testimony to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on a number of occasions, and his advice has been solicited by the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. State Department, as well as the State of California Little Hoover Commission. His writings on immigration have been used as course materials at Stanford and Cornell Universities.

Prof. Matloff is particularly interested in the U.S. of foreign labor in the U.S. computer industry. His article in the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform on the H-1B work visa, written at the invitation of the journal, is the most comprehensive (99 pages, 300+ footnotes) academic work available on the H-1B issue. Another invited article concerned the relation of H-1B to age discrimination in the computer industry appeared in the California Labor and Employment Law Review, a publication of the California State Bar Association; click here to download the article.

More egregiously, why don't we see THIS reported in the US media:

From India eNews:
"Overall, a total of 358,734 temporary visas were issued to Indians in US fiscal 2006, a 14 percent increase from the previous year, Kaestner said, adding that during the same period over 30,000 immigrant visas were also granted to Indians."

I want to make this very clear...I am NOT a xenophobe.

However, I know from personal experience at one of my clients that a small Indian software firm was (and is still probably) using B-1 (Visitor) visas to bring their offshore workers to the United States for work purposes. When I pointed this fact out to the client, their attorneys advised them to send these workers back to India because of the questionable legality of this practice by the Indian firm.

However, I now wonder how many of the 358,734 temporary visas that were were issued to Indians during FY 2006 were B-1 visas that are being misused in similar fashion...

The Arrogance of Wipro

Azim Premji, the chairman of Wipro, one of the largest of the India body shops, recently let loose this blast against workers in the US on the issue of outsourcing:

It's a method of competitiveness. Currently, I think it's a non-issue because the talent is not available in the U.S. So what jobs are we depriving people of?

This is a borderline racist statement. Where is the "fair and balanced" media on this one?

Source: http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/54624.html

Thanks to Rob at www.JobDestruction.com

Senator John Cornyn

(Beginning of a rant)

As an Austinite, I can't tell you how much anguish my own Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) has caused. When you think of back stabbing, sell out politicians, this man should come to mind. He has no concept of patriotism or what it means to be an American. He sells out American (and legal resident) workers at every turn. He is the chairman of the "Friends of India" caucus, the only caucus to that represents a foreign country in the Senate.

In case you didn't know, a caucus is a subgroup of Senators, like a special club, whose focus is on furthering some interest. In this particular case, its the interests of the Indian government and its largest companies, like Tata, Infosys, and others. These are body shops that take jobs away from legal residents and citizens of this country.

He makes a half-hearted attempt to redeem himself by being sort of opposed to illegal immigration. But then he'll turn right around and throw it all away in a frenzy to import workers. For example, he is one of the main proponents of the SKIL bill, which is a disasterous bill taking aim at decimating the science and engineering workers in this country. Just this month, he tried to sneak the passage of the SKIL bill through the back door of Congress. Fortunately pressure from workers got a few other Senators to block his measure (for now).

He'll be back. So will his legislation. What a pitiful excuse for an American. What a coward.

How H-1Bs and L-1s Avoid Paying Taxes

1. A company in India (in this case Leading Edge) hires someone that will become an H-1B.
2. Leading edge subcontracts them to a bodyshop like TATA or Syntel.
3. TATA gets them a job at an American company.
4. Leading edge deposits the pay check directly into the employees Indian bank account.
5. The H-1B is given a living allowance that is free of all U.S. taxes.
6. TATA also supplies them with housing so a minimum amount of money is transferred to the US.

This tidbit came from JobDestruction.com

Treason Abounds

As if it weren't treasonous enough to give away other American jobs to foreigners, now the
Department of Defense wants foreigners to work on sensitive defense projects!
What a way to give away the defense of our country.
To see some of the comments on this proposal (not much is mentioned except for
reducing badging and other requirements, so don't expect the proposal to mention foreigners
working on sensitive projects) follow these instructions, which worked in October.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
To View the Comments follow ALL of these instructions:
1) Go to this page: http://www.regulations.gov/
2) Select the radio button for "All Documents (Open and Closed forComment)"
3) Go to the Agency drop down list and Select "Defense AcquisitionRegulations Systems"
4) Go to the Document Type drop down list and select "All Document Types"
5) In Keyword field type the case number you would like to view. Type in"2004-D010" without quotes.
6) Select the radio button for "Any Word"
7) Click on the Submit button
8) Click the documents listed in the Views column.
9) Happy viewing!!!

SKIL Bill

SKIL bill

Even as I post this, one of the biggest pro-business immigration increases is being rammed down the throats of American citizens and residents in the form of the SKIL bill. This ghastly piece of legislation is being brought to you curtesy of Microsoft and all the politicians that money can buy. It has been engineered by my own senator John Cornyn (R-TX), who also is the chair of the Friends of India, the only "country-based" caucus in the Congress.

If you are a scientist or a high tech worker, you probably can kiss your career goodbye. Do yourself a favor and tell your kids to go for something else (shoe salesman, fast food worker, etc).

Long live the American dream.

Our Do-Nothing Congress

The 109th is now known as the Do-Nothing Congress, 2nd worst to the 80th Congress of 1948.They are a shame and a disgrace to all working Americans, considering their compensation and benefits...They have averaged working ONLY three days a week, and NO substantial legislation has been passed this year - except the disastrous SKIL bill that they are trying to sneak past us right now.

I like this quote by Thomas Jefferson:
"If the present Congress errs in too much talking, how can it be otherwise in a body to which the people send one hundred and fifty lawyers, whose trade it is to question everything, yield nothing, and talk by the hour?"

45% of Indian H-1B Petitions are Frauds

William Yates of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) stated that the INS did a study of 3,247 cases referred to an American Consulate in India. He said that "they were unable to verify the authenticity of close to 45% of the claims made on the petitions. Twenty-one percent of the work experience claims made to the INS were confirmed to be fraudulent in this investigation.

House Immigration Subcommittee Holds Hearing on H1B Visa Fraud - Tech Law Journal May 6, 1999

A Rare Slip of the Tongue

Moments of honesty from pro-immigration forces are rare. This is one of my favorites, from Joel Steward, "Legal Rejection of U.S. Workers," Immigration Daily, April24, 2000; available at: http://www.ilw.com/articles/2000,0424-Stewart.shtm

When employers feel the need to legalize aliens, it may be due to a shortage of suitable U.S. workers, but even in a depressed economy, Employers who favor aliens have an arsenal of legal means to reject all U.S. workers who apply.

I bet Joel was thrashed mercilessly by the pro-immigration forces for this slip of the tongue.

RIP, Milton Friedman

I never was much of a fan of the ultra-free-market thinkers, but I'll always remember Milton Friedman, the Nobel economist who died this month at 94, for enraging the so-called "free market advocates" in 2002, saying

There is no doubt that the [H-1B] program is a benefit to their employers, enabling them to get workers at a lower wage, and to that extent, it is a subsidy.

Lou Dobbs' "War on the Middle Class"

Lou Dobbs just came out with the book "War on the Middle Class" ). This modest sized book basically presents what amounts to a progressive's view of things such as: our government's disdain for workers, the failure of the press, lobbyists, and how things really work in goverment. Although I quibble with a few minor things, like some of his discussions of the press, this book is right on the mark, if you think American citizens and legal residents are "getting the shaft."

This book pulls together a lot of threads touched upon in his nightly CNN broadcast. I highly recommend this book and will be giving it out in stockings this coming holidays.

You can read reviews of it here

NyTimes (registration required)
The Perfect System
Washington Post
Wikipedia

Amazon carries it.

Proponents of offshoring and importing cheap foreign labor, including President Bush, keeps harping on the fact that Americans are NOT properly educated for today's technology jobs.

I say it's pure Horse SH*T!

Lets talk about education...
I am college-educated, with Bachelor and MS degrees in business.

In my experience as an insider at a large US-based multinational company, we were giving on-the-job TRAINING to the imported Indian workers.

Make no mistake, the education button is about justifying cheap foreign labor. I'll update this posting soon with some links to back up this statement.

Here's one for you:
The American Council on Education now says that it is a BAD thing that the U.S. colleges and universities are losing market share of international students to other countries.

I personally don't see this as such a big problem, particularly when you consider the fact that, particularly in the case of state institutions, American TAXPAYERS subsidize a considerable amount of the educational costs, even taking into account the fact that foreign students pay out-of-state tuition. However, the highly influential professors of our colleges and universities are now upset...what a shame that they aren't concerned about educating AMERICANS.

Offshoring Haiku

American loss
Jobs gone to Asia now
Never coming back

The phrase "there are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics" has been attributed to Mark Twain, who popularized the saying in the United States - but it was probably coined by Benjamin Disraeli.

Under the "Enemies of American Workers" sidebar, please read the Stuart Anderson article for some statistics (lies).
Then, under the "Friends of American Workers" sidebar, please read what Norm Matloff has to say about the slimy Mr. Anderson.

Corporate lobbyists, spokesmen for trade groups, and industry leaders say that American workers lack the specialized knowledge necessary for IT projects these days, thus justifying the use of foreign nonimmigrant workers....

Again, I'm confused...

According to Infosys, many of the "best and the brightest" workers have non-technical degrees and receive extensive training before they are deployed to work in American companies!

I want to point out something interesting in the H-1B law. Below is paragraph H from Sec. 101. [8 U.S.C. 1101]:

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(H) an alien (i) 3a/ 3b/ (b) subject to section 212(j)(2), who is coming temporarily to the United States to perform services (other than services described in subclause (a) during the period in which such subclause applies and other than services described in subclause (ii)(a) or in subparagraph (O) or (P)) in a specialty occupation described in section 214(i)(1) or as a fashion model, who meets the requirements for the occupation specified in section 214(i)(2) or, in the case of a fashion model, is of distinguished merit and ability, and with respect to whom the Secretary of Labor determines and certifies to the Attorney General that the intending employer has filed with the Secretary an application under section 3b/ 212(n)(1), or (b1) who is entitled to enter the United States under and in pursuance of the provisions of an agreement listed in section 214(g)(8)(A), who is engaged in a specialty occupation described in section 214(i)(3), and with respect to whom the Secretary of Labor determines and certifies to the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State that the intending employer has filed with the Secretary of Labor an attestation under section 212(t)(1), or (c) 3b/ who is coming temporarily to the United States to perform services as a registered nurse, who meets the qualifications described in section 212(m)(1), and with respect to whom the Secretary of Labor determines and certifies to the Attorney General that an unexpired attestation is on file and in effect under section 212(m)(2) for the facility (as defined in section 212(m)(6)) for which the alien will perform the services; or

(ii)(a) having a residence in a foreign country which he has no intention of abandoning who is coming temporarily to the United States to perform agricultural labor or services, as defined by the Secretary of Labor in regulations and including agricultural labor defined in section 3121(g) of 3bbb/ the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, agriculture as defined in section 3(f) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(f)), and the pressing of apples for cider on a farm, of a temporary or seasonal nature, or

(b) having a residence in a foreign country which he has no intention of abandoning who is coming temporarily to the United States to perform other temporary service or labor if unemployed persons capable of performing such service or labor cannot be found in this country, but this clause shall not apply to graduates of medical schools coming to the United States to perform services as members of the medical profession; or

(iii) having a residence in a foreign country which he has no intention of abandoning who is coming temporarily to the United States as a trainee, other than to receive graduate medical education or training, in a training program that is not designed primarily to provide productive employment; and the alien spouse and minor children of any such alien specified in this paragraph if accompanying him or following to join him;
----------------------------------------------------

Now I'm really confused, since I believe that their are hundreds of thousands of American high-tech workers that are unemployed because their employers replaced them with H-1B or L-1 workers!

Highly-experienced American information technology specialists (programmers, business analysts, web designers, etc.) are rapidly approaching extinction, due to a number of reasons:

• Offshore Outsourcing
• Onshore replacement by H-1B or L-1 workers
• Age-related discrimination
• Other yet-to-be-determined factors.

This blog is dedicated to all American IT workers who have either lost their jobs are are in danger of losing their jobs because of these reasons.

I hope to enlighten American workers about with factual information and links to articles, blogs, and various web sites that back up the information that I provide in this blog.

I also hope that I can inspire other American technology workers to speak out about the abuses that they have observed in the workplace as a result of American companies' race to the bottom in the pursuit of cheap labor...after all, as the old saying goes, "You Get What You Pay For!" (or, "What Goes Around, Comes Around!").

I am also quite fond of Mark Twain quotes.

It is very interesting to read some of his quotes about our government - apparently our Congress was just as corrupt in his day as it is today:

"Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." - Mark Twain

From this point forward, I hope to let the light of day shine on the corruption in our government and the corporate lobbyists who have stolen our ability to earn a living!