Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) says that the H-1B program has created "multinational temp agencies" that undercut U.S. wages and discourage students from entering tech fields.He's right, of course. The program is not about finding people who cannot be found in the US, it's about importing cheap labor.
Schumer said the H-1B program has morphed into program used to hire foreign tech workers "willing to accept less pay than their American counterparts." He spoke on the Senate floor in advance of its approval Thursday of $600 million for border security that includes an H-1B visa fee increase.
The rise in the H-1B fees is perhaps the best part of the law, thought, of course, the foreign body shops are apoplectic about this, claiming that "The US is giving a very strong signal foreigners are not welcome."
My heart bleeds borscht for them, but they should consider themselves lucky: I would set a soft cap of something like 50K a year visas, and raise the rates when the number of applications exceed this.
As an alternative, you could go with a bidding system, with something like quarterly auctions, which would raise the cost from a $2,500 fee
The new law added $2000 for firms that have more than 50% non citizen/green card workforces, which is still too low.
So, you do not approve of free trade or capitalism, the basis of American dream. The American Businesses will be less competitive for the same.
ReplyDeleteYou are confusing free trade with regulatory arbitrage.
ReplyDeleteI don't approve of policies that are poorly enforced, and subsidize driving down wages and driving citizens away from otherwise valuable career paths.
The idea behind H1b visas is that there are certain positions which are ESSENTIAL, and as such, foreigners will be allowed to take these jobs.
The reality is that it is used to supply cheaper labor, which has the effect of driving people who do not benefit from the H1b subsidy, citizens and people on green cards, away from those pursuits.
It is clear that there are shortages of essential skilled workers out there. It is also clear that the bulk of the H1b applicants are neither essential or unreplacable, just cheaper.
If you want to argue for lower wages for skilled American workers, I'd love to hear your argument, but throwing around "free trade" as if it is some sort of magical fairy dust is bullshit.
BTW, the American Dream, such as it is was created in a world with extremely high barriers to "free trade."