At the behest of Microsoft and other large corporations, Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) introduced a bill that would double the number of immigrant worker visas available each year under the H-1B program.

HR 5630, the so-called 'Innovation Employment Act,' would increase the cap in H-1B visas from 65,000 a year to 130,000 a year. Moreover, there would be absolutely no limit on the number of H-1B visas for foreigners who came as graduate students in technical fields to U.S. colleges.

The legislation would also increase the H-1B cap to 180,000 from 2010 to 2015 if the 130,000 cap were reached the year before.

While promoted as a reform of the H-1B program, the bill does nothing to prevent employers from using the program as a source of cheap labor to displace American workers. It would do serious damage to the American information technology sector, discouraging future students from entering these technological disciplines.


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