http://www.fiercecio.com/story/time-ree ... 2008-10-12

The high tech community has been lobbying not only to maintain the H1B visa program but to expand it on the premise that employers cannot find enough qualified American workers to meet their needs. This issue of Fierce CIO reports on word that federal government has found that employers have been abusing the system, engaging in fraud and even paying foreign workers less than they were entitled to receive.

The report is quite shocking. Investigators found forged documents, fake degrees and companies giving fake addresses to obtain the permits. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services report was released by Sen. Chuck Grassley (IA), a critic of the visa system.

"This report validates the major flaws in the H1B visa program that we have been discussing for some time," Grassley said. "Until we make a conscious effort to close the loopholes, we're going to see continued abuse. This report is proof that reform must come sooner rather than later. The program ought to operate the way Congress intended so qualified, high-tech American workers aren't left behind."

The findings confirm the worst fears of American IT workers and their advocates, who have long been opposed to the program and complained of abuse by American companies.

There has to be some balance. There's no doubt some foreign workers help fill the skill void, but gaming the system and engaging in fraud is unacceptable.

When Congress returns in January, officials responsible for running the system and employers abusing the process should be called on the carpet. And with unemployment rising and layoffs predicted in the IT arena, there should be a complete reevaluation of H1B visa program. It is certainly time to institute more controls to make sure the program works as intended. It also may be time take a second look at the current yearly limit, and see if it is needed and if it should be scaled back. - Judi
Comments (15) | Post a comment
Comments
By Donna Conroy, www.brightfuturejobs.com | Posted 3:10pm | October 13, 2008

Not only do we need to scale back, but we must address the fundamental flaw in the H-1b program:
it is perfectly legal for employers to bypass local talent using the H-1b program.

DOL's Strategic Plan, states: "...H-1B workers may be hired even when a qualified U.S. worker wants the job, and a U.S. worker can be displaced from the job in favor of the foreign worker."

Passing the Durbin-Grassley reform bill will do just that. It will require employers to seek local talent for their US job openings before recruiting abroad.

The USCIS report provides hard data for the complaints that H-1bs have: they are forced to pay for visa fees, are offered lower salaries than US professionals, and are unemployed. No wonder they want the program reformed.

But without forcing employers to seek local talent for US job openings, we will always have an oversupply of US technical talent.


By Anonymous | Posted 5:17pm | October 13, 2008

This is a problem shared also across our education systems. The fact is that state and federal dollars are being spent to maintain systems that forward corporate interests - not national and state interests. The idea of a free market is good for prosperity in general - but not always good for countries or localities; Gaming the system should have jail time as punishment - the crime is federal in my view. At the end of the day, government's responsibility is to the governed. I think that solid compliance needs to be established... that state universities cater first to state citizens - out-of-state and foreign tuition can rocket and still be a good deal. And jobs can be given only after solid proof of no available citizen workers is publicly established and validated - and, even then, at a still higher premium. There should be a direct cost to employers - without loopholes - that says employment of foreign workers demands a 30% additional ongoing cost distributed to the local and university systems to subsidize citizen education in those wanting areas. The current fees are not enough - and gaming the system needs to encounter large, real teeth. I think it should be built in to the system that (effectively) sending money overseas has a cost. We need it here to grow our economy, not to bolster theirs. This is supposed to be government with the consent of the governed... I submit the government needs to fix itself here bigtime. The tax base is dwindling because of their abdication. The number of jobs and quality of education should grow here and be provided here - to citizens - with prejudice.


By Dave D'Rave | Posted 6:33pm | October 13, 2008

"Re-evalutate H1b"?? Are you nuts?

We need to abolish this program.
It is hopelessly corrupt, and
cannot be reformed.


By AmericanGypsie | Posted 11:32pm | October 13, 2008

Over 600,000 science and engineering degrees are granted annually from American universities.(1) The US produces only 120,000 science and engineering jobs per year.(2) That leaves 480,000 graduates per year without jobs in their chosen careers. Add to this over 240,000 H-1B visas and an equal number of L-1 visas each year. Half a million Americans are losing their jobs to cheap foreign technical workers every year. Another half million Americans waste their S&E degrees on non-S&E jobs.
SOURCES:
(1) Tabulated by National Science Foundation/Division of Science Resources Statistics (NSF/SRS); data from Department of Education/National Center for Education Statistics: Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System Completions Survey and NSF/SRS: Survey of Earned Doctorates.
nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d07/tables/dt07_267.asp
(2) www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2004/02/art5full.pdf page 83

H-1B and L-1 visas are the Trojan Horse to offshoring of American Jobs.
www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/lou.dobbs.toni ... ntent.html


By Anonymous | Posted 8:08am | October 14, 2008

The annual H1-B usage is 65,000.


By weaver | Posted 9:36pm | October 14, 2008

The 65,000 is just the nominal cap, there are exemptions for postgraduates of American schools (20,000) and unlimited exemptions for research, education, some non-profits and government.

The number of new H-1Bs for 2006 was 110,000.
www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind08/c3/c3s4.htm

This source show 113,593 and 50% were computer related.
Systems analysis/programming 46%
Other computer-related 4%

www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind08/c3/fig03-62.htm

High skill non-immigrant visas (L-1, H-1B, H-3, O-1, O-2, and TN.) for 2006 was 224,060

www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind08/mmslides/mmo-53.xls


By RobS | Posted 5:18am | October 14, 2008

I disagree with Judi Hasson's contention that there is something "shocking" about the amount of fraud in the H-1B program. The recent study is nothing new -- for instance in 2004 the the Department of Labor wrote a report titled "Foreign Labor Certification Programs: The System is Broken and Needs to be Fixed". In the 1990's there were numerous other studies that discussed the fraud that takes place. There were even Congressional testimonies.

So, just who is shocked or surprised? Certainly not anyone in our government, or anyone who has basic knowledge of the H-1B program!

For breaking news on H-1B, other guest worker visas, and outsourcing, subscribe to the free "Job Destruction Newsletter". Go here to find out how to get a free subscription and to read past issues:

jobdestruction.info/ShameH1B/JobDestructionNews.htm


By anomalous | Posted 8:58pm | October 14, 2008

`Certification' applies to employment-based greencards, not H1bs (which use `conditions'), and the thrust of the 2004 report was that while there were acknowledged regulation violations, their relative frequency was small and the process was given an overall clean bill of health.

The real problems---that hurt American workers---are in the way Congress conceives of the programs, not in the punctilio with which they are administered.


By Anonymous | Posted 10:29am | October 14, 2008

I would like to see hard numbers on this. They say there is fraud, well there is fraud pretty much anywhere, but at what percent rate are we talking about here? 10%? 50%? Are we talking about just about a couple of companies? Or the great majority? 65,000 per year? Are we saying every single one is a fraud?


By Anonymous | Posted 10:42am | October 14, 2008

From what I have read about the USCIS internal report, from a sampling of 256 applicants, the fraud rate was 20.1%. The sampling is supposed to be good. And the fraud was spread across IT, HR, Accounting, Business development positions. They even found a case where one applicant was working at a laundromat.


By Bruce de la Vega | Posted 11:44am | October 14, 2008

So, if they found some 20% of applications in the sample were in some way fraudulent, involved fraudulent academic credentials, etc., and since the DoL Inspector General has been writing reports on such abuses since at least the mid-1990s, and people (H-1B holders, displaced US citizens) have testified to such abuses to congressional committees, why is it the congress-critters haven't managed to get 'round to making repairs? Because even more abuse was intentionally built into the system by congress-critters and lobbyists for the Indian government and executives in business and academia. Pelosi, Sessions, Lofgren, Reid, et al. do not want to reform it because that would put a crimp in their campaign contributions, so they vote against US citizens and visa holders every time.


By anomalous | Posted 9:06pm | October 14, 2008

H1b and EB-greencard proponents are always quick to admit some error and fraud occurs and vow to wipe it out---and then move on to emphasize how resident workers lack talent and earnestness, etc., etc., and how we need more guestworkers and skilled immigrants in order to `compete'. . . .


By Fraud with L1 visa as well | Posted 9:44pm | October 14, 2008

One part of a fix, change the degree requirement to a Masters.

The H1-B program is supposed to cover multiple fields, doctors, actresses, etc, not just high-tech. The H1-B should change it's educational requirement to a Masters degree, that would cut down on a lot of claims that these visa holders are highly educated. A three year degree from an Indian university is the equivalent of a 2 year fast degree program from an outfit equivalent to a tech college in the US, not a Bachelors, and certainly not a Masters.

These visa applicants are supposed to be "exceptional", so make the requirements exceptional.


By weaver | Posted 9:47pm | October 14, 2008

Of statistical interest from the USCIS publication...

Size of survey = 246 (of possible 96,827)
Fraud rate = 13.4%
Technical violation = 7.3% (benching, underpayment, bodyshop w-o valid LCA etc)

Total Violation rate = 20.7%

(Sample taken from pending petitions between Oct. 1, 2005 and Mar. 31, 2006 mostly continuing employment petitions)

Education Level violation rate:
Bachelors Degrees = 31% (sample 106)
Graduate Degrees = 13% (sample 140)

Highest Violation rates by occupation:

Accounting, Human Resources,
Business Analysts, Sales, Advertising = 42% (sample 26)

Managerial = 33% (sample 9)

Art = 29% (sample 7)

Computer professionals = 27% (sample 104)

Medicine Health = 10% (sample 10)

No single country had a participation rate high enough to create a statistically valid violation rate except India (46% of sample). This 25% violation rate was not much higher than the avg violation rate of 20.7%.

Born in India
Violation rate = 25% (sample 114)

H-1B Benefit Fraud & Compliance Assessment
//grassley.senate.gov/private/upload/100820081-3.pdf

The DOL list of H-1B willful violators.
www.dol.gov/esa/whd/immigration/H1BWillfulViolator.htm

H-1B anti-fraud fee is $500.00 each.


By Anonymous | Posted 2:57pm | October 15, 2008

H1-B is a great example of big government interference. If there was a shortage of skilled workers then scarcity would set in and that would force competition for the last worker available. That would increase wages and that would attract either more people to enter Math and CS courses (which would increase the available course as well) AND/OR it would encourage better management of existing resources and tools. But government interference, H1-B, has disrupted the natural market forces. So wages have not kept up, kids do not enter CS or Math, and colleges are not expanding access because there is no demand! The markets work if corporations/lobbiest/federal government would let them work.