Full Speed Ahead for OPT

Here is one of Norm Matloff's great articles:

As I reported here in June, the Programmers Guild filed a lawsuit against the federal government, seeking an injunction against the Dept.

of Homeland Security decision to extend the Optional Practical Training component of the F-1 student visa. Though the legislative intent of OPT was to give foreign students a chance to acquire practical work experience before returning to their home countries, in recent years the international students have used OPT as a holding pattern while waiting for an H-1B visa. The DHS decided to extend OPT eligibility from the 12 months specified in the statute to 20 months, in order to give the students more chance to become H-1Bs. PG objected that this would bring harm to its members, and that DHS had exceeded its authority. See http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/Archive/OPTLawsuit.txt

The judge in the case has now rejected PG's request for an injunction, primarily on the grounds that PG lacks legal standing to sue. This of course is always the easy way out for a judge, as it allows them to avoid addressing serious fundamental issues, in this case the issue of the adverse impact the H-1B program has on American workers. But the judge really went through contortions to rule on the basis of standing, in my view.

In her nine-page written opinion, Judge Hochberg claims that PG "seeks relief that no more directly benefits Plaintiffs than it does the public at large." In other words, the judge is asserting that the H-1B program, about 40% of whose participants work as programmers, doesn't affect U.S. programmers any more than it affects, say, American insurance agents, whose profession is not open to H-1Bs. This is absurd.

Even more absurd is the judge's statement that "even if there was a nexus between Plaintiffs' injury and DHS action, the injury still is not `irreparable' to qualify for injunctive relief because it is economic harm compensable in damages." This is downright bizarre. The judge cites case law in support of her statement, yet that case in question involved a worker who had been fired. The court in that instance refused to grant the worker's request for injunction against his discharge, on the grounds that the worker could sue his employer for monetary damages. Obviously, that is not the situation here, as members of the PG cannot sue DHS for monetary damages, nor can they sue employers of H-1Bs, as H-1B law does not require employers to give hiring priority to Americans. I'm sure some of them wish they could sue this judge.

Norm

Not the Best and Brighest? Say it ain't so, Joe!

(Shamelessly stolen from Norm Matloff, but I don't think he'd mind...)

To: H-1B/L-1/offshoring e-newsletter

CIS has just published a new article by me, titled "H-1Bs: Still Not the Best and the Brightest." The title alludes to an earlier article I wrote for CIS, in which I had done some preliminary statistical work showing that most H-1Bs are ordinary people doing ordinary work, not the geniuses claimed by the industry lobbyists. In the present article, I present much more direct statistical analysis along these lines.

Here I use a market-based approach to show that:

1. The vast majority of H-1Bs are not of outstanding talent.

2. This is also true when the data are broken down by occupation.

3. This is also true for almost all prominent tech firms that were analyzed.

4. Contrary to the constant hyperbole in the press that “Johnnie can’t do math” in comparison with kids in Asia, the workers from Western European countries tend to be more talented than those of their Asian counterparts.

Please note the the implications of my article applies just as much (actually more) to the employer-based green card system as to H-1B itself. This is a crucial point, as there are proposals in Congress (rumored to be considered seriously by Congress in May) to expand both the H-1B and green card programs--both of which expansions would adversely impact job opportunities and wages for U.S. citizens and permanent residents.

You can read the article at

http://www.cis.org/articles/2008/back508.html

Norm

More on Microsoft

The third video in the series...

Bill Gates and the H-1B Visa, Chapter 3

Reasons why the H-1B visa cap will increase

1. H-1B opponents have no clout
2. The Gates effect
3. There is grass root support for the H-1B visa
4. The H-1B lottery is a big problem for tech firms
5. Congressional support for visa

The above five reasons come from Patrick Thibodou here.

1. Congress won't see through Bill Gates' misleading testimony.
2. Congress doesn't want to know these truths anyway, as they don't want to jeopardize the lavish campaign contributions Congress receives from the tech industry.
3. The Programmers Guild and many other critics of the H-1B program are diluting whatever influence they have (which Thibodeau correctly points out is limited compared to the huge clout wielded by the tech industry) by focusing on the second-sourcing issue (in which a firm hires H-1Bs and then rents them out to other firms).

The remainder come from Professor Norm Matloff here.

Finally, support for American workers in a TV ad

I was jolted to attention when it came on, even though I was working on my computer and the TV was only playing in the background. A wife tells her husband, "You didn't get the job, did you?"
and the husband replies something to the effect of: "No, they were only hiring foreign workers."

This gives a new slant to the term "reality TV." It doesn't get much more real than this to the millions of us out here that have experienced this FOR REAL. And we have been below the radar screen until now, like being invisible. Here's a link for you to see the ad yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cNnK2M4OTs


Brought to you by the Coalition for the Future American Worker

http://www.americanworker.org/

We feel your pain -- but not too much

As Norm Matloff says, the depression of salaries shows there is no shortage of technical workers as the industry shills claim there is -- it is all just a sham. Here the collaborators in the sham admit so much for all to see. Does their arrogance mean that they don't fear any repercussion? Have things gone that far? Or is confession good for the soul even for these shameless destroyers?


http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56744

excerpt:

"The cover article in the current issue of the Council on Foreign Relations magazine Foreign Affairs asserts globalism has harmed even well-educated workers in the U.S., creating a gap between the "haves" and "have-nots" greater than any time since the 1920s.

......

Scheve and Slaughter argue that under the globalization policies pursued by the Bush administration from 2000 to 2005, "Even college graduates and workers with nonprofessional master's degrees saw their mean real money earnings decline."

They conclude average earnings for 96.6 percent of all U.S. workers fell between 2000 and 2005, due largely to globalism."

Its money, money, money, stupid!

A new study from the Center for Immigration Studies shows how, far from the being a source of highly skilled labor, the H-1B program now operates mainly to supply U.S. employers with cheap workers. Analysis of data from the Department of Labor shows that very few H-1B workers are ''highly skilled,'' and that their wages are well below those of comparable U.S. workers.

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!!!

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.