This diary on the FP covered Jeff Session's opposition to not only DACA and Dreamers but also the H-1B program, which provides work visas to qualified professionals (recent college graduates and those who have worked in their chosen industry).
It shouldn't be surprising, I suppose, that this is a topic that brings out many different perspectives, some of which I am frankly shocked and saddened, but not entirely surprised, to find on DK. Here is mine on the subject.
Yes, there are companies which fire all their US-based staff and replace them with H-1B workers.
Yes, some companies pay their H-1B workers much less than the prevailing wage and make them sign contracts where they can't change jobs.
Yes, not all H-1B visa holders are the best and brightest. I have had to work with several people whose skills and competencies have led me to internally question just how their company was able to get them a visa. Most of them were also on short-term H-1B visas, 6 months or less.
Yes, if you are here on an H-1B visa and your employer fires you or you get laid off, or you decide to find another job, you have approximately 30 to 45 days to find a new employer who will sponsor you for a visa before you have to leave the US and return to your home country.
Yes, the maximum duration of an H-1B visa is 6 years (3 years with 1 renewal).
I don't think anyone would argue that the existing program should be kept as-is without any changes. I certainly feel that changes are needed.
So what should the solution be?
Some people believe that the H-1B program should be abolished, and employers required to hire only American citizens.
Others say that the H-1B program should be reformed and turned into a pathway to citizenship. To some extent, this is already possible - once you have been a H1-B visa holder for some period of time (typically 1 year or more), many companies will start the paperwork for the green card process. But it is a very long process, with waiting times of at least 5 years and up to 10 years or more depending on your country of birth and educational qualifications. Not to mention that your application is always subject to review or denial by the USCIS, which definitely adds a lot of uncertainty to the process. And during the last stage, you are encouraged not to leave the US at all to avoid casting doubt on your intent to stay which would result in a denial.
(On a personal note, my own application for a green card took almost 7 years and involved at least one rejection and subsequent appeal, followed by a period of about 3 years where I was basically confined within the US and Canada)
What do I think?
I think that the perceived intent of the H-1B program depends on each person's own views: Do you believe that the US is a land of opportunity for everyone, or that the US is not a place for everyone to try their luck; we need to take care of our own?
Aside: It's interesting to note that some quarters which vociferously oppose the H-1B program on the grounds that American workers are being displaced, are at the same time fine with having migrant agricultural workers, or other blue-collar positions open to foreign workers. If they want to be consistent, they should either advocate for the H-1B program to have the same protections or advocate that other non-immigrant visa categories (e.g. H-2B) be eliminated, and be much stricter on undocumented immigrants and those who overstay. But somehow you don't see them advocating that.
The H-1B program should be changed in a few ways:
- Separate out the short-term H-1B visas from the longer-term H-1B visas. The short-term H-1B visas are the ones that by and large give the program a bad name. Companies use them for bringing in foreign workers to quickly learn from their American colleagues who they will be replacing when they return back (offshoring), or if they are an outsourcing "factory" (I won't name names, but those in the tech industry probably know of at least one or two).
These short-term visas should have a much smaller quota than the longer-term visas.
- Encourage longer-term H-1B visa holders to put down roots in the US. Right now, because of how long it takes to get a green card it's hard for someone to feel attached to the US in any particular way, when at any minute you could have your application denied or hit the 6-year limit (if you're eligible to proceed further in the green card process because your priority date is current (meaning that your application was filed before the priority date), your employer can renew your visa in a series of 1-year extensions, but only as long as your priority date remains current).
The per-country quotas for green cards should be more dynamic, such that the USCIS can adjust based on trends instead of being artificially limited by laws that may no longer reflect reality.
Doing it this way also allows H-1B visa holders to feel that they're contributing to their own retirement via Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid deductions, even if they can't take advantage
of them right now - this is a unspoken sticking point for those who want to stay long-term in the US but haven't gotten a green card or become citizens yet.
- Recognize that the H-1B program, for all its flaws, is far preferable to a company closing down its US operations and outsourcing everything to another country. H-1B visa holders still have to pay income tax, including FICA, which directly benefits everyone as a whole.
It's better to have foreign workers and professionals in the US, to help the US remain a global powerhouse while the government and companies adjust themselves to the new realities of global labor; it is an open question whether Congress as it is currently constituted would be willing to do anything about it, but really the ball is in their court.
With some reforms, the H-1B program can be made into something that fulfils the overarching goals that America has always had for itself: being a country where you can succeed through both your own efforts as well as those around you, and recognizing that not everyone has the same chances in life and needs help - and there is nothing wrong in helping them.
Finally, on a personal note, when I first got an H-1B visa, I worried about whether I was taking an American's job away from them. But coming to the US to live, work and stay provided me with a lot of perspectives on democracy, equality for all, the uniqueness of American culture without the prisms of Friends, Seinfeld, Jerry Springer and others, the importance of promoting the general welfare and many other concepts that are American and/or liberal. I know for a fact that my views have changed at least once since I first came to the US. I think it's a fair deal, for someone to find out about the values that make America the place to be, and perhaps have their own views and mindsets changed - to affect either America or their home country positively.