A group of business leaders and
progressive mayors is hosting a closed-door meeting in Washington today,
pushing for a big increase in the number of foreign “guest workers” allowed
into the United States to fill skilled positions.
The lobbying group, Partnership for a New American Economy, includes CEOs from Disney, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard and
Marriott International among others, along with liberal mayors and former
mayors like Julian Castro of San Antonio, Rahm Emanuel of Chicago and Michael
Bloomberg of New York City. A complete roster of PNAE’s membership rolls can be
viewed on its website.
The main issue to be discussed at the secret meeting is how
to gain passage of the I-Squared bill sitting in the U.S. Senate, co-sponsored
by Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Orin Hatch, R-Utah, Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., Chris
Coons, D-Del., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
The I-Squared bill would more than double the number of H-1B
work visas handed out to foreigners with a bachelor’s degree or higher in a
STEM field. The U.S. currently allows 65,000 of these visas per year but the
corporate lobby is pushing Congress to up that number to at least 115,000 and
perhaps as high as 200,000, claiming there is a shortage of American tech
workers with STEM degrees (science, technology, engineering and math).
They say increasing the allotment of H1-B workers coming
into the country from places like China, India, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Turkey,
Yemen and Saudi Arabia would jump-start economic growth.
Opponents of I-Squared say the entire argument of this
lobbying group is built around a false narrative. Groups such as the Center for
Immigration Studies and the Economic Policy Institute point to statistics that
show roughly half of Americans who graduate with STEM degrees have been unable
to find work in a STEM field because there is already a glut of STEM workers.
This is underscored by another stark trend – the utter lack of wage increases
among tech workers over the past 10 years.
Secret meeting on Capitol Hill today
According to a brochure obtained by WND, Friday’s lobbying
event is co-sponsored by the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the
Business Roundtable, the Council for Global Immigration, FWD.us, HR Policy
Association, Information Technology Industry Council, National Association of
Manufacturers, National Venture Capital Association, Semiconductor Industry
Association, Society of Human Resources Management, and TechNet.
The brochure says the lobbying “briefing,” which includes
lunch, is “closed to the press.” It was slated to begin at 11 a.m. Friday in
the Senate Visitor’s Center Room 212-10. The title of the event is:
“Understanding and Improving the High-Skilled H-1B Visa Program.”
The companion to the Senate I-Squared bill is the SKILLS
Visa Act in the House, sponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. and
co-sponsored by 22 congressmen.
Also included as part of the legislation is a measure to
grant work permits to spouses of the H1-B visa holders.
Steven Camarota, director of research for the Center for
Immigration Studies, recently authored a study of the H1B guest-worker program
and concluded there is no shortage of STEM workers in America. Quite the
opposite, in fact.
“In 2012, there were more than twice as many people with
STEM degrees (immigrant and native) as there were STEM jobs — 5.3 million STEM
jobs vs. 12.1 million with STEM degrees,” Camarota said. “Only one-third of
natives who have a STEM degree and hold a job do so in a STEM occupation.”
In fact, as Camarota explains it, the “skilled-labor
shortage” argument is little more than a con game waged on Congress and the
American public by corporate interests seeking to further their goal of open
borders or what they call “labor mobility.”
Among the most impassioned proponents of this strategy are
Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, and Marco Rubio, the Florida senator.
Both have announced they are running for president on the Republican ticket.
Bush, in an interview with Thane Rosenbaum, said America’s best chance to rejuvenate itself and get
back on the path of sustained economic growth lies with increased immigration.
He calls for unlimited growth in guest-worker visas and is critical of the
“border security first” approach to immigration.
Rubio, while trying to paint himself as a hawk on “border
security,” sources on Capitol Hill say he has been working behind the scenes to
increase legal pathways into the country for more immigrants. The I-Squared
bill is one example.
One source on Capitol Hill told WND that many congressmen
are sold on the merits of such anti-American worker bills as I-Squared by their
staffs. If they push these bills, staff members can look forward to a lucrative
corporate job when they leave Capitol Hill.
In contrast, there is nothing to be gained by listening to
experts such as professors Ron Hira of Howard University and Hal Salzman of
Rutgers, both of whom testified at a Senate hearing last month on the H1-B
program. They explained how the program started out with laudable goals of
meeting real shortages in certain skilled positions. Those shortages have long
since been solved, with universities churning out scores of STEM graduates, and
now the program is being abused by corporate leaders who see the program as a
way to further drive down wages. Some companies such as South California Edison
and Northeaster Utilities have even had American workers train their own H1-B
replacements.
In the SoCal Edison case, about 500 American workers earning
$110,000 per year were replaced by foreign H1-B visa holders who will do the
same job for $70,000.
Exploiting loopholes
Hira, a research associate at the Economic Policy Institute
and a professor of public policy at Howard University, told a Senate panel last
month the H1-B guest-worker program has evolved into a highly profitable
business model of bringing in cheaper H1-B workers to replace American workers.
In explaining the H1-B rules, he said the U.S. Department of
Labor clearly states that the hiring of a foreign worker “will not adversely
affect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers comparably employed.”
“That’s a direct quote from the website that describes the
H1-B program to employers. The reality is, that in fact the intent of the law
is not being met,” he said. “The recent replacement of 500 American IT workers
at Southern California Edison shows that this intent is clearly not being met
and that U.S. workers are clearly getting adverse effects in terms of their
wages and working conditions.”
The corporations are able to get around the H1-B
requirements of recruiting Americans first because rules are waived for jobs
paying at least $60,000 or if the foreign worker has a master’s degree.
Watch clip of Professor Hira’s testimony March 18 before
Senate panel:
Co-Chairs of the Partnership for a New American Economy are:
Michael
Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City and billionaire founder of Bloomberg
news.
Steven A.
Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft and owner of the Los Angeles Clippers NBA team.
J.W. Marriott
Jr., chairman and CEO of Marriott International.
Julian Castro,
former mayor of San Antonio, one of the first cities to pass controversial
“anti discrimination” laws that forbid businesses from saying or doing anything
deemed discriminatory against the LGBT community. President Obama
appointed him last year to head the federal Department of Housing and Urban
Development. He is the brother of Rep. Joachin Castro, D-Texas.
Bob Iger, chairman,
CEO of Walt Disney Co.
Rupert Murdoch,
chairman, founder of Newscorp, owner of Fox News network.
Michael Nutter,
Democrat mayor of Philadelphia.
Jim McNerney,
Chairman CEO of Boeing.
Another point of contention with the H1-B visa program is
the security risk. Critics say workers coming in from Muslim countries with
large radicalized populations such as Iran, Yemen, Pakistan, Iraq, Turkey and
Saudi Arabia, are only lightly screened and may wish to harm Americans. The
U.S. record of screening immigrants is not good, as scores of terrorists or
terrorist sympathizers have slipped through in recent years, even in the State
Department’s refugee resettlement program, which the government claims is the
most highly scrutinized of all immigrant categories.
The employer-based immigration programs, including H1-B and
L-1B visas, are basically “rubber stamped,” from a security standpoint, said
Jessica Vaughn, director of policy research at Center for Immigration Studies.
The U.S. is currently allowing about 100,000 immigrants per
year to enter from Islamic countries, including refugees and those on student
visas and employer-based visas, according to the CIS study.
The H1-B visa is good for three years and can be renewed one
time for a total of six years. It can eventually lead to a permanent green
card.
Comments
The companies pushing for more immigration are merely
supporting the Obama Agenda. That’s UN
Agenda 21 with open borders. These are
the same folks pushing the Pacific Partnership Treaty that allows a free flow
of immigrants that Congress can’t stop.
The Southern California Edison scheme to replace their
workforce is a crime. I would shut down all immigration NOW. Power companies
need to keep their salaries in line and their workforce intact.
In the 1980s and 1990s, you could make a case for increasing
H1b visas. The PC revolution was taking
place right here in the U.S. Now we have
lots of engineers and technicians looking for work and students who are
studying for these credentials who will not be able to find work as engineers
or technicians. There is no legitimate reason to increase immigration. The purpose of more immigration is to drive
real unemployment over 50% and bankrupt the country with welfare overload.
I am still supporting Rand Paul. Marco Rubio may be easily
“led astray” by our Global Marxist friends.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
3 comments:
I'm a young, liberal IT worker. I don't have to be a conservative to agree with all you see here. There are so few entry-level opportunities that are being reserved for future consultants. I've had 2 jobs outsourced as well.
I was going to get behind Rubio, but if this is what he is up to I'm going Cruz, Christi or perhaps even Trump. This is really disappointing to read!
The Capital Group Companies, Disney, Southern California Edison.
Three large employers in Southern California who are hiring 'contractors' who are H1B Visa holders.
US educated workers are replaced with foreign workers. Not because there is a skill set shortage but just to make more profits.
Who represents the hard working people who have paid to goto universities and had a job but are now displaced by the likes of Rubio and Bush
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