Thread: Indian Outsourcing Group Challenges H1-B Abuse Claims

We really need to keep on Congress for any proposed increases in H-1B, L-1, and foreign student visas.

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from the Wired blog network:

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/0 ... -outs.html

Be sure to also see the rebuttal from Kim Berry, president of the Programmer's Guild, at the Programmer's Guild blog site. He clearly points out that "NASSCOM is being less than honest to the U.S. Senate."

http://programmersguild.blogspot.com/20 ... ndian.html


Top Indian Outsourcing Group Challenges Claims of H1-B Abuse
By Luke O'Brien Email
June 29, 2007 | 11:04:43 AM
Categories: Politics

Banner_logoleft India's main outsourcing association this week challenged the contention that flaws in the H1-B visa program are being widely exploited to allow tech companies to bypass qualified American workers in favor of cheap foreign labor. The National Association of Software and Service Companies weighed in on the increasingly volatile immigration issue, saying that if any wrongdoing exists, it is confined to smaller "fly-by-night" operators:

"[T]here is little evidence of such fraud, or that restricting the number of H-1 B visas to a certain proportion of employees in companies of a certain size, will have any effect on visa fraud. In fact, most of the companies that sponsor a large number of visas are publicly listed and ethically managed companies. Visa abuse, if any, would tend to be lesser in such organisations as compared to other small, fly-by-night operators: an area that may need more attention.

Earlier this month, a video in which lawyers describe how to use loopholes in the visa system to reject qualified American job applicants touched off a furor when it went viral on YouTube. It prompted Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) to send letters to major outsourcing companies. Now Grassley and Durbin are looking into another facet of the debate: L visas. This week, the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services supplied the senators with some data about L visas that raised even more eyebrows. Here's a list of the top 20 companies using L visas. IBM, Intel, HP, Oracle and Microsoft all make the list. Grassley had this to say about the information:Index

"The information provided today showed that many of the same companies identified as using the most H-1B visas were the same companies that used the most L visas. Under current law, employers can use the L visa program to evade restrictions on the H-1B program because it does not include protections for American workers. This demonstrates the need for additional checks on the L visa program."

For more data and to read the full statements and letters Grassley and Durbin have been circulating, go here. Computerworld also has an interesting story about Cisco placing an ad for a network consulting engineer in the Chicago Tribune earlier this month. No phone calls, said the ad. But when an American who once worked as a NASA engineer called Cisco for more information, he was automatically routed to an immigration law firm. Strange, indeed, considering the advice by the lawyers for legally excluding American workers involved using newspaper ads. Read more here.

UPDATE: Kim Berry, president of the Programmer's Guild, which represents the interests of American IT workers and opposes outsourcing, sent us this rebuttal to NASSCOM's claims. Berry writes that, "NASSCOM is being less than honest to the U.S. Senate."

You know what we would be a perfect balance to this measure?

In order for them to complain, they have to purchase a tech support solution style block of time and their entire complaint process would have to be over the telephone. They would instantly be put on hold and be told that their call will take from 5-98 minutes to get thru. Before they get to listing their complaints, they would have to answer a series of pre fabricated support style questions. The kicker would be that they would have to explain their problem to someone we just taught English to 10 minutes before they called. At the end they would be told the problem cannot be solved and that they have to contact their local store for an exchange.

Now IBM is disputing the numbers on L-1.
I wonder how many H-1B's they got!

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Just posted on Information Week online:

http://www.informationweek.com/news/sho ... ll+Stories

IBM Challenges Congressional Numbers on L-1 Visas

IBM says it only got 411 L-1 visas, not the 1,237 cited by the senators.

By Marianne Kolbasuk McGee
InformationWeek
Jun 29, 2007 03:00 PM

IBM says L-1 visa figures released this week by two senators are three times higher than the actual number the vendor says was approved in fiscal 2006 for IBM employees.

According to a list of the top 20 L-1 visa employers in fiscal 2006 released by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), IBM ranked third, with 1,237 L-1 visas.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services provided the senators' offices with the data, said Max Gleischman, an immigration policy advisor to Durbin.

However, IBM disputes the figures, saying that in fiscal 2006, it was issued a total of 411 L-1 visas, including 308 new visas, 9 amended visas, and 94 extensions.

L-1 visas allow multinational companies to temporarily transfer foreign-born employees to work in their U.S. operations.

This crap with foreigners being able to tell us what we know is wrong has got to stop.

The H1B visa system is nothing more than a scam to drive down wages for Americans. The evidence for this is overwhelming, and finally Durbin and Grassley are proposing to address this.

Originally Posted by Dagmar

This crap with foreigners being able to tell us what we know is wrong has got to stop.

Yes! And they seem to know every scam there is when they come here.
The immigration lawyers and big business probably taught them everything they know to put the hooks in American tax payers!

Follow the money

The insidious NASSCOM exists to destroy Americans' jobs and futures

NASSCOM is the National Communist La Raza of the H-1B crowd!
Follow the money!
Bangalore Body Shops ---> NASSCOM ---> Hill & Knowlton ---> politicians pockets. (Campaign contributions from India)

It's more like this....
Follow the money!
People who fail to boycott H-1B employers --->
H-1B employers (anti-American, pro-India) --->
Tata (and others like Tata - Wiprospectramind, Infosys, Accenture ,etc) --->
NASSCOM ---> Hill & Knowlton --->
Senators' pockets.

Right, Senator? Debate me, Senator, tell me I'm wrong. Let's take it to the airways!

Hi Ceelyn,

Kate pointed out last January that H-1B arrivals per year have been already double each year due to lack of enforcement. About 130,000 have been arriving each year (and staying at least for 7 years). This figure adds up to over half a million H-1Bs presently taking our jobs.

Senator Cornyn demands that the 65,000 arrivals per year be doubled. Given the lack of enforcement, this means 260,000 new H-1B arrivals per year.

Bill gates demands unlimited open borders and unlimited H-1B arrivals per year.

Let's say Bill Gates has his way....

India has the capacity to immediately replace all 10 million US technical workers twice over.

The speed at which this can occur is limited only by the airlift and sealift it takes to move them here. Already, Delta Airlines is doubling its seat capacity betwen Bangalore and the US. If cruise ships were chartered to bring over workers from India, we're looking at at least 5000 per vessel per week (or whatever the sailing time is).

India has the capacity to replace every single US citizen many times over. This is exactly what Bill Gates wants.

Under the North American Union, Mexicans will represent about 30 to 50% of he population. But if Bill Gates gets his way, for the sake of India, you'll have to look long and hard to even find any [former] US citizens.