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

Shipping Costs Start to Crimp Globalization

Here is an interesting NYTimes article...

The world economy has become so integrated that shoppers find relatively few T-shirts and sneakers in Wal-Mart and Target carrying a “Made in the U.S.A.” label. But globalization may be losing some of the inexorable economic power it had for much of the past quarter-century, even as it faces fresh challenges as a political ideology.

Cheap oil, the lubricant of quick, inexpensive transportation links across the world, may not return anytime soon, upsetting the logic of diffuse global supply chains that treat geography as a footnote in the pursuit of lower wages. Rising concern about global warming, the reaction against lost jobs in rich countries, worries about food safety and security, and the collapse of world trade talks in Geneva last week also signal that political and environmental concerns may make the calculus of globalization far more complex.

The Five Percent

This blog is dedicated to fighting the offshoring of jobs to other countries and the outsourcing of jobs to non-immigrant visa holders (those non-citizen, non-resident workers who come here primarily to get a job).

You would think that workers here, who pay a heavy price in lost jobs and depressed wages, would be very interested in this topic. Some might monitor email lists or groups, occasionally adding their 2-cents. Others might become full blown activists, say starting blogs, websites, or even joining groups.

The sad truth is that there is only about a 5% response rate to solicitations. That is, if I send out an email or flyer or whatever, talking about this issue, less than 5% will respond. That pitiful amount is further fractured among the spectrum of participation.

Why isn't this 50%? Does anyone care about their future (or their childrens')?

Back In The Saddle!

I'm back from vacation and rarin' to go. Anyone miss me? ;-)

Jobs Loss Tracker

Techs United has a US job loss tracker that shows which major companies are doing the most offshoring.

Hire Americans First Project

The Programmer’s Guild has started a new organization called Hire Americans First Project here. It is focused on trying to alleviate some of the negative impact that insourcing via H1-B that is impacting the job market for citizens and legal residents. Check it out.

Three Interesting Articles on H1-B

(Below is an excerpt from Rob Sanchez's Job Destruction Newsletter)


Another great CIS backgrounder has just been published. John Miano's paper follows the one by Norm Matloff last month.

http://www.cis.org/node/222

H-1B Visa Numbers: No Relationship to Economic Need By John Miano, June, 2008

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

H-1Bs: Still Not the Best and the Brightest By Norman Matloff, May 2008

Bill Tucker did a great report on the Lou Dobbs show using material from the Miano paper. You can watch it on youtube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhIPLkKol5Y

Be sure not to miss when Dobbs talks about the lawsuit to stop the DHS extension of Optional Practical Training (OPT). There is somewhat of a disconnect in the report because Miano was interviewed but nobody mentioned that he is one of the lawyers helping with the lawsuit. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 7th. Read the IRLI press release at:

http://www.irli.org/press_release_5292008.html

John Miano, for those of you who don't know, used to be a programmer.

Because of the bad situation in the job market he decided to go to law school. What is about to happen in the courts is truly the revenge of the nerds.