The Gutierrez-Flake STRIVE Act would exempt from the H-1b cap anyone in any country with a master’s and higher degree in science, technology, engineering and math - obtained at any school anywhere in the world. This would open every tech job in the U.S. to upwards of one million people around the world, desperate to make any sacrifice to become a U.S. citizen, and undermining the careers of U.S. tech workers within the stagnant 3.5 million job sector.
Congressmen Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) (202) 225-8203 and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) (202) 225-2635 incorporate parts of the SKIL Act into their comprehensive immigration reform STRIVE Act. Among the provisions of their Act would be to exempt from the H-1b cap anyone in any country with a master’s and higher degree in science, technology, engineering and math - obtained at any school anywhere in the world.
We are attempting to determine how many tech workers meet that criteria, but it could exceed one million. Many "masters degrees" from India are MCA degrees, and "most MCA recipients receive an education equivalent to a bachelor’s degree in computer science."
Employers running basic classified ads will be swamped with thousands of applications from immigration agencies, bodyshops, and individuals seeking visa sponsorship. Many will be willing to forgo benefits and 40 hour workweeks for the opportunity to become U.S. citizens.
It's no exaggeration that this one Congressional Act could destroy the careers of hundreds of thousands of highly skilled Americans, and disuade the next generation of Americans from entering tech professions. (See James McMurtry perform "We can't make it here.")
First Congress tore down trade barriers, allowing America's best jobs to transfer overseas. Now they am to flood in foreign workers to fill the remaining good jobs, in a U.S. economy increasingly based on McJobs and Servants.
See www.programmersguild.org for more information
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