The American press does not report promptly or accurately on these issues. This story is from the Indian press regarding the Wednesday 02/28/2007 Hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Illegal alien amnesty will be decided soon as well as the next massive invasion of cheap foreign labor.
http://www.rediff.com/...
'H1Bs visas must be hiked'
Sridhar Krishnaswami in Washington | March 01, 2007 17:45 IST
Making a case for revising the H1B visas upwards, the US Commerce Secretary has said high-tech businesses are facing shortages in filling up positions and lamented that students from India and China cannot stay here and apply their skills.
Secretary of Commerce Carlos Guttierrez made the point in his testimony before the Judiciary Committee that was having Comprehensive Immigration reform as its topic of hearings when the issue of the H1B visas came up for a brief discussion.
"... Just on the issue of high-skilled workers, what I hear very often from businesses in the high-tech field and other fields where they cannot fill their high-skilled engineering, science-based jobs as quickly or as readily as they would like," the Commerce Secretary said.
What Guttierrez "hears" from high-tech businesses is the "ca-ching!" of lobbyist cash going into his bank account.
The US Department of Commerce hides government reports from Congress and the public on the effects of offshoring and foreign workers to the American workforce.
Globalization and the Destruction of America
Guttierrez was responding to a statement by Republican Senator Orin Hatch of Utah who called for the H1B visa programme to be revisited as a part of the comprehensive overhaul of the immigration laws of America.
"I think (Microsoft founder) Bill Gates is absolutely right on that. And we need to up those figures. But every time we try to up the figures on the H-1B -- Ph.D. engineers and scientists and others that are going to be crucial to keep our country moving ahead -- we then have the other side coming out and saying we're being unfair because you're taking care of them but you're not taking care of the average person.
"How are we going to balance that? Because I personally believe we've got to expand the H-1B program, as Gates and almost everybody in the high-tech world believes.
And then, of course, at the same time, do some reasonable things without granting amnesty, and having people earn their right to citizenship the way you've been talking here today," the senior lawmaker said.
I can understand that Hatch may (?) have a case for H-1B in Utah. Have you ever been to Utah? Salaries are at the level of Tennessee. The scenery is nice, but prepare for cabin fever in the winter. But Utah has zero chance of getting H-1Bs even if the visa caps are raised. Nationwide, most H-1Bs go to New Jersey and Texas body shops in computer services. Companies like EDS, Perot Systems and Accenture request tens of thousands of H-1B visas in one fell swoop. HPS America requested 187,337 H-1B visas in 3.5 years.
"Is the Labor Department Doing Enough to Protect U.S. Workers?" Part 2"
As I keep trying to explain, the "65,000 cap" on H-1B visas is a red herring.
The statistics below include all of the visa categories affecting all professions in the United States (but mostly engineering and computer sciences). These visa categories are the Trojan Horse to offshoring of American jobs..
Temporary Admissions in selected categories
Sources:
http://uscis.gov/...
http://uscis.gov/...
http://www.dhs.gov/...
"High Tech" Visa Glut.................................Millions
......................................................Truncated
Year..L-1 Visa....H-1B......TN....F-1/M-1.....J-1...Total...Cumul.
1981...38,595.....................240,805...80,230..0.359...0.359
1982...38,595+....................240,805+..80,230+.0.359+..0.719+
1983...38,595+....................240,805+..80,230+.0.359+..1.078+
1984...38,595+....................240,805+..80,230+.0.359+..1.438+
1985...65,349...47,322............257,069..110,942..0.480...1.919
1986...65,349+..47,322+...........257,069+.110,942+.0.480+..2.399+
1987...65,349+..47,322+...........257,069+.110,942+.0.480+..2.879+
1988...65,349+..47,322+...........257,069+.110,942+.0.480+..3.359+
1989...62,390...89,856............334,402..178,199..0.664...4.024
1990...63,180..100,446............326,264..174,247..0.664...4.690
1991...70,505..114,467............343,238..182,693..0.710...5.401
1992...75,315..110,223............368,686..189,485..0.743...6.144
1993...82,606...92,795............370,620..196,782..0.742...6.887
1994...98,189..105,899............394,001..216,610..0.814...7.702
1995..112,124..117,574....23,904..364,220..201,095..0.818...8.521
1996..140,457..144,458....26,987..426,903..215,475..0.954...9.475
1997..140,457+.144,458+...26,987+.426,903+.215,475+.0.954+.10.429+
1998..203,255..240,947....59,061..564,683..250,959..1.318..11.748
1999..234,443..302,326....68,354..567,146..275,519..1.447..13.196
2000..294,658..355,605....91,279..659,081..304,225..1.704..14.901
2001..328,480..384,191....95,486..698,595..339,848..1.846..16.748
2002..313,699..370,490....73,699..646,016..325,580..1.729..18.477
2003..298,054..360,498....59,446..624,917..321,660..1.664..20.142
2004..314,484..386,821....66,207..620,210..321,975..1.709..21.851
2005..312,144..407,418....65,010..629,556..342,742..1.757..23.609
Totals 3.5mm 4.0mm 656m 10.3mm 5.0mm
mm = million; m = thousand
Grand Estimated Total 23,608,590
+........conservative estimate, numbers not provided
L-1......Intra-company Transfers
H-1B.....Specialty Workers and Fashion Models
TN.......NAFTA
F-1/M-1..Academic and Vocational Students
J-1......Exchange Visitors
see Globalization
see also CNN Exporting America
This just in:
The Senate HELP Committee is meeting Wednesday for a hearing entitled:
"Strengthening American Competitiveness in the 21st Century". Haven't we heard that before?
ProgrammersGuild
Bill Gates will plea for an H-1B increase before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee at a public hearing slated for 9:30 a.m. EST on Wednesday morning, March 7, 2007. We don't know whether an advocate on behalf of the U.S. workers who would be harmed will be given equal time.