I have been reading Daily Kos extremely regularly for over five years now. I barely ever participated in discussion, preferring to read posts, diaries and comments. I don't think I've posted over ten comments during the entire time I've been here. For the most part, I tend to agree with the content posted here. Every now and then something gets posted that I disagree with, but someone here inevitably responds to it and presents the opposing viewpoint.
Nobody did in this case though. There is a diary on the recommended list that targets the receipients of TARP funds by pointing out that they have hired H-1B (non US-residents working in the US on a visa) employees. While the post doesn't single out H-1B holders for criticism, there seems to be some sort of disdain for those of us that ARE H-1B employees. Which is why I feel compelled to stand up for myself, and other H-1B employees living and working in the US.
So while not technically an H-1B employee, I am in the process of applying to be one. Let me include some background so as to provide some perspective. I have grown up in a number of different countries, including in the Middle East, where I went to international schools with students from all over the world, including the US. I visited the US a lot anyhow, because of extended family I have here, so it has never been unfamiliar territory to me. I spent four years doing undergrad at the University of Texas at Austin as an international student, graduating just last month with a degree in Business. I received an offer from a fairly well known company (that I would prefer not to name, for privacy reasons). I am still on a student visa (F-1), on which I can work in the US for one year after graduating. During this time my employer would need to file for an H-1B for me, which it is doing. So while I am technically not on an H-1B yet, I hopefully will be soon.
As an H-1B employee, my employer would be paying me a certain salary, which would otherwise have gone to a US citizen in my position. This seems to be the major gripe commenters in the aforementioned post have. Let me just say that yes, I am not a US citizen. But I am living here, paying rent to a US-based landlord. As a salaried employee, I will be paying taxes to the IRS at the exact same rate as any US citizen. Money I save will be put in a US-based savings account, which serves to capitalize a US-based bank. Money I use for consumption will be spent on US-based businesses, or at the very least, a business operating in the US (as it stands, I do all my grocery shopping at HEB and get gas from a nearby Valero). The same as any US citizen in my position, really.
But I'm not a US citizen.
Does that matter?
I don't think I stole anyone's job. I competed with other students who were just as qualified as I was, during the job recruiting process in my final semester at UT Austin. I attended the same interviews. And I was extended offers on my own merit, not because offering me a job has some sort of "outsourcing" benefit to the company.
As an H-1B employee, my employer would be required by law to pay me the same salary/wages as any citizen in my position. It does not stand to gain financially by hiring me. In fact, there can be legal fees as high as $5000 involved with filing an H-1B petition, so it's even more expensive for my employer to hire me.
And this is true for almost every other H-1B employee hired by an American company. Companies go through a lot to make sure that we get our visas. They incur legal expenses, and face the possibility that a visa may not even be issued (as has been happening lately, with the number of applicants far exceeding the 65,000 yearly visa cap).
Some might question my right to even work here, as a non-citizen. I would expect that from the likes of Hannity or Limbaugh, but at Daily Kos I have come to expect a more inclusive environment. The general consensus here as far as illegal immigration goes is for some path to legalization. How about those of us with legal status?
I came here to get an education I couldn't get elsewhere. Having lived in multiple countries anyhow, integration was simple for me. In fact after a year, people wouldn't realize I wasn't from here until I told them. I chose to stay on here after receiving a couple of job offers because I felt that it was the best option I had. I have worked on campus and paid taxes to the IRS. The money I earn now will go back into the US economy in some way or form.
While the H-1B system may not be perfect, that's not the point of this post. The point is that we are real people too. We are not 'stealing' your jobs. If we land these jobs, it's because we have competed with you on your terms. Companies that hire us do not stand to gain financially by hiring us. We are in fact a potential liability to them!
There is nothing wrong with being an H-1B employee.