Thread: Senate proposal limits foreign workers at bailed out banks

Senate proposal limits foreign workers at bailed out banks

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two senators proposed a law Wednesday that would require banks to hire only Americans for one year after they receive U.S. government bailout money.
An investigation by The Associated Press has showed that banks receiving the most federal aid had requested visas for thousands of foreign workers even as they were laying off employees amid the economic collapse.

The legislation by Sens. Bernie Sanders, an Independent, and Republican Charles Grassley would apply to more than 200 banks that have accepted the government's aid. They would be barred from hiring foreigners who hold special visas reserved for certain skilled and advanced-degree jobs. Both senators are longtime critics of abuses they see in the visa program.

"It is obscene and vulgar for these huge banks getting taxpayer bailouts to use the bailouts to throw American workers on the street and bring in foreign workers," Sanders said.

The proposal was certain to inflame all sides of an already contentious issue that has attracted new passion amid soaring U.S. unemployment rates. An immigration lawyers group warned this week of renewed criticism of the H1-B visa program due to the country's wretched economic conditions and rallied its members in an e-mail to be prepared to "set the record straight."

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The president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Charles Kuck, whose members represent employers and foreign nationals, said the Senate proposal would hinder any economic recovery.

"You're telling banks, 'We want you to be successful, we'll loan you money to stay in business but we're not going to allow you to hire people to make that happen if they happen to be foreign nationals,"' Kuck told the AP. "Is this not the ultimate in protectionism?"

Sanders said banks accepting U.S. government bailout money should first attempt to hire laid-off American banking workers and rely on the visa program in other hiring sectors where there are shortages in specific skilled positions.

Prospects for the legislation's passage were not immediately clear. The proposal was being filed as an amendment to be inserted into the job-creating stimulus bill under consideration in the Senate as part of President Barack Obama's plan to reinvigorate the economy.

Sanders said the legislation was proposed in response to an AP investigation that showed the dozen banks now receiving the biggest rescue packages, totaling more than $150 billion, requested visas for more than 21,800 foreign workers over the past six years for high-paying jobs.

Even as the economic collapse worsened last year, with huge numbers of U.S. bank employees laid off, the numbers of visas sought by the dozen banks in AP's analysis increased by nearly one-third, from 3,258 in the 2007 budget year to 4,163 in fiscal 2008, which ended Sept. 30.

The AP reviewed visa applications the banks filed with the Labor Department under the H-1B visa program, which allows temporary employment of foreign workers in specialized-skill and advanced-degree positions. Such visas are most often associated with high-tech workers.

It is unclear how many foreign workers the banks actually hired; the government does not release those details. The government limits to 85,000 the H-1B visas each year among all U.S. employers. The banks also hire uncounted foreign workers through contract companies, and those visa numbers do not show up in the banks' applications to the government.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industrie ... kers_N.htm

Part of that money is mine. I say NO VISA WORKERS!!!! All of the jobs should go to american citizens....every single job.

that banks receiving the most federal aid had requested visas for thousands of foreign workers even as they were laying off employees amid the economic collapse.

No shame what-so-ever!