Wednesday, December 27, 2006

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.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

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

Friday, December 15, 2006

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.

Monday, December 11, 2006

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

Saturday, December 09, 2006

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!!!

Friday, December 08, 2006

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.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

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?"

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

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

Monday, December 04, 2006

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.