Cut Out the Competition: The Case for abolishing H-1b visas

Last year, 186,955 jobs in the telecommunications, computer, and electronics sectors
were slashed, according to the report by outplacement consulting firm Challenger,
Gray & Christmas.
(Don’t Read)Dawn Kawamoto, CNET News.com, January 30, 2009
http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/business/0,39044229,62050467,00.htm?scid=rss_z_nw

With the economic recession in full swing thousands of workers are losing their jobs and
getting pay cuts. In the middle of all this we are giving away 85,000 jobs annually to
foreigners on H-1b visas. These jobs belong to the American people not the people of
other countries. In this time of crisis the United States should put its own people first so
we ask you the judge to stand with us as we affirm that the United States federal
government should significantly change its policy toward India by abolishing the H-
1b visa program.

Observation I
We offer the following DEFINITIONS.

Significant: "having or likely to have influence or effect " (Merriam-Webster Online Dict.
2008, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/significant)
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/significant

Policy: "a definite course or method of action selected from among alternatives and in light
of given conditions to guide and determine present and future decisions" (Merriam-Webster
Online Dict. 2008, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/policy)
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/policy

Toward: "in relation to" (Compact Oxford English Dict., published 2005,
http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/towards?view=uk)
http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/towards?view=uk)

India: The Republic of India

H-1B Visa: A temporary visa granted to high-skilled immigrants with a college degree or the
equivalent thereof currently capped at 85,000.

Observation II – We offer the following harms or, problems with the status quo

(1) Unemployment through displacement of American workers

A. US economy in recession
Tom Abate (journalist), Dec 1, 2008, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, “It’s official:
U.S. in recession all of 2008,” http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?
f=/c/a/2008/12/02/MNTL14FCBU.DTL
It took seven economists 11 months to decide what should seem obvious given all the
foreclosures, bank failures and layoffs - the United States is officially mired in a
recession.
B. Impact: US workers will be displaced by H-1Bs during recession
Mike Sunnucks (journalist), March 7, 2008, BUSINESS JOURNAL OF PHOENIX,
“Arizona tech firms want more foreign knowledge workers,”
www.brightfuturejobs.com/news/index.cfm?Fuseaction=ViewNews&pageID=44796
But the business-backed push to lift current caps on H-1B visas stirs worries about
American workers being displaced by cheaper foreign counterparts. Those concerns are
magnified with the U.S. economy teetering toward recession and companies scurrying to
cut costs as they compete with less expensive markets such as India and China. "I have
seen U.S. workers displaced by H-1B visa holders during times of recession, such as after
the dot-com bust in 2001. It was a very bad time for U.S. high-tech workers," said Dawn
West, recruiting director at AdeptSource, a high-tech head-hunting firm that helps U.S.
companies hire native and foreign workers.

(2) Decreased US wages

Studies prove H-1Bs lower wages

The Federation for American Immigration Reform, April 2008, "H-1B Visas: Harming
AmericanWorkers," http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?
pagename=iic_immigrationissuecenters13e8
Simply having a large influx of workers into the industry floods the labor market and
drives down wages. Study after study shows that H-1B workers are paid lower wages
than their American counterparts, driving down the prevailing wage: A UCLA study
found that H-1B engineers were paid 33 percent less than comparable U.S. citizens. A
Cornell University study found that H-1B programmers and engineers were underpaid by
20 to 30 percent. An INS (Immigration and Naturalization) report found that the
computer-related H-1B employees were paid a median salary 25 percent less than the
national median for their field. A National Research Council report found that "H-1B
workers requiring lower levels of high tech skill received lower wages, less senior job
titles, smaller signing bonuses, and smaller pay and compensation increases than would
be typical for the work they did." It also found that H-1Bs have an adverse impact on
overall wage levels. The Independent Computer Consultants Association reports that the
use of cheaper foreign labor has forced down the hourly rates of U.S. consultants by as
much as ten to 40 percent.

(3) The H-1b visa “brain drain” hurts India

Federation for American Immigration Reform
http://www.fairus.org/site/News2?
page=NewsArticle&id=16969&security=1601&news_iv_ctrl=1821
“Brain drain” is the flow of skilled professionals—physicians, engineers, scientists, educators
—from less developed countries to the more developed countries. In many cases, large-scale
immigration to the United States does serious damage to the communities left behind.
Developing countries are losing the people they can least afford to: those who are skilled and
educated, who perform crucial services contributing to the health and economy of the
country, and who create new jobs for others.
Brain drain tends to pull the best and the brightest from their home countries, the very people most equipped to
help improve living conditions at home.
India produces an estimated 178,000 qualified software engineers every year. If they
practiced their trade at home, India’s programmer shortage—estimated at 145,000 and
growing—would be wiped out in a few months. Four of out every ten Indian software developers are
now working in the U.S. Several of India’s small software companies have been forced to shut down—not for
lack of business but because they couldn’t find enough employees. In 1998, the renowned Indian Institute of
Technology sent 30 percent of all of its graduates to the United States, including 80 percent of its computer
science graduates.
To replace this lost labor, developing countries must hire professionals from more developed
countries at a high cost. The United Nations reports that India loses two billion dollars a year
due to the exodus of skilled labor to the United States alone.
A study of professional migration from India to the United States found an annual tax revenue loss to India of
$700 million—twelve percent of the country’s total income base for the year.

Summary: Since the H-1b visa program obviously hurts both the U.S. and the countries we
take the workers from there is no need to have this program.

Observation III. – Inherency (what is going on in the status quo)

Indians Received 54% of H-1B visas in 2006

Patrick Thibodeau, Computer World, January 16, 2008
http://www.itworld.com/1881/h1b-visas-go-to-india-nationals-080116
More than half of H-1B visas issued are issued to Indian nationals, who received 54% of
the total number of temporary visas approved in 2006, according to a government study
released Tuesday. And an increasing number of foreign workers who hold these visas --
more than half -- are in computer-related occupations.
Summary: Basically since Indians account for over half of the H-1b visa holders this is
definitely a significant change toward India.
Layoffs in the tech sector
Dawn Kawamoto, CNET News.com, January 30, 2009
http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/business/0,39044229,62050467,00.htm?scid=rss_z_nw
Last year, 186,955 jobs in the telecommunications, computer, and electronics sectors were
slashed, according to the report by outplacement consulting firm Challenger, Gray &
Christmas.

Summary: I think this evidence speaks for itself 186,955 U.S. tech workers have been laid off
in the sector that brings in the most H-1bs so why do we need them.

Observation IV – Plan
Congress and the President will enact the following plan using all
necessary constitutional means.
Mandate 1) The H1B program will be abolished.
Enforcement: The US Citizenship and Immigration Service and the
Department of Justice as well as any necessary government agency.
Funding: No funding shall be required to pass our plan.
Timeline: This plan will take effect 30 days after an affirmative
ballot.

All Affirmative speeches may clarify the plan as needed.

Observation V – Advantages - or the good things that will come about if our plan is
passed. The Advantages of this case come about by eliminating the causes of the harms
so the advantages of our case are (A) 85,000 jobs will be open to U.S. workers every
year. (B) The depression of wages by H-1b visa holders will be eliminated (C) The Indian
“brain drain” will be eliminated thus the economy of India will be helped tremendously.
Judge, at the end of this round you will have to decide who wins this round and the
affirmative team believes that whichever team better upholds the wellbeing of the people
of the United States of America and India should win this round.
So judge I strongly urge that you vote to keep American jobs for American people, stop
the depression of wages by H-1b holders and help the Indian economy by eliminating the
Indian “brain drain”. What if your job or the job of someone you know is the next job
that is taken by a foreigner. In this time of economic crisis and layoffs we shouldn’t be
giving away American jobs we should be keeping them for Americans. So I ask that you
stand with us as we affirm that the United States federal government should
significantly change its policy toward India by abolishing the H-1b visa program.
 2A Evidence

Definitions
NIV: Nonimmigrant visa
INS: Immigration and Naturalization Services

TOPICALITY
60-70% of H-1Bs applications are for Indians
The Economic Times, March 31, 2008, "Indians to corner majority of H1B visas in US,"
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Indians_to_corner_majority_of_H1B_visas_in_US/
articleshow/2914766.cms
A lottery is expected to grant the available 65,000 H-1B visas in the US as demand far
outstrips supply, but a majority of them will again be cornered by Indian high-tech
professionals, say immigration attorneys as they rush to file applications starting April 1
on behalf of American businesses. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services
(USCIS) is expected to pick the lottery within a week, but the anxious wait for the
applicants may continue for months as the department starts returning unsuccessful
applications and sends receipts for the others. Those who get the three-year visa for
skilled professionals can start work from Oct 1. While there were about 124,000
applications last year, the number this year may cross 150,000, Michael Phulwani, one of
the first Indian origin immigration lawyers in the US, told media. Many will also be
vying for the 20,000 H-1B visas meant for foreigners with US-earned masters' or higher
degrees. "About 60-70 percent of all applications are expected to be on behalf of
Indians," said Naresh Gehi, a New York lawyer, who is filing about 40 applications. The
flow is unaffected by the recent downturn in the US economy or improved prospects in
India, he believed.
Indian Nationals Received 54% of H-1B visas in 2006
Patrick Thibodeau, January 16, 2008, "More than half of H-1B visas go to India
nationals," Computer World, http://www.itworld.com/Career/1881/h1b-visas-go-to-
india-nationals-080116
More than half of H-1B visas issued are issued to Indian nationals, who received 54% of
the total number of temporary visas approved in 2006, according to a government study
released Tuesday. And an increasing number of foreign workers who hold these visas --
more than half -- are in computer-related occupations.
 HARMS
1.) Unemployment through displacement of American workers
US Secretary of Labor says H-1B workers can legally displace US workers from jobs
Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, 2006, US DEPARTMENT OF LABOR STRATEGIC
PLAN FISCAL YEARS 2006-2011, http://www.dol.gov/_sec/stratplan/strat_plan_2006-
2011.pdf
An E-3 or H-1B1 worker 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. These
conditions do not apply to foreign workers admitted on H-1B visas, except with respect
to job opportunities with H-1B dependent employers. H-1B nondependent employers are
not subject to the conditions, and their 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.
No legal requirement for employers to demonstrate there are no US workers available
for H-1B jobs
US Department of Labor, 30 June 2006, FEDERAL REGISTER, “Labor Condition
Applications and Requirements for Employers Using Nonimmigrants on H–1B Visas in
Specialty Occupations and as Fashion Models; Labor Attestations Regarding H–1B1
Visas,” www.dol.gov/esa/regs/fedreg/final/2006005740.pdf
The commenter also expressed concerns that foreign workers are being allowed to take
American jobs. In response, the Department notes that the statute does not require
employers who seek to hire foreign workers on H–1B1 visas to demonstrate that there are
no available U.S. workers or to test the labor market for U.S. workers as required under
the permanent labor certification program, and in limited circumstances under the H–1B
program.
Massive loopholes allow below-market wages and displacement of American workers
Patrick Thibodeau (journalist) 9 Oct 2008, COMPUTERWORLD magazine,
“Widespread problems, fraud found in H-1B program”
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?
command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9116758
Ron Hira, an assistant professor of public policy at the Rochester Institute of Technology
and co-author of Outsourcing America, said he was stunned by the size of the problem.
"It is clear that oversight, including an auditing function, are desperately needed to clean
up the corruption," Hira said. "But we shouldn't forget that the major problems with the
H-1B program are caused by massive loopholes that allow firms to legally pay below-
market wages and displace and undercut American workers. Those wouldn't show up in
this investigation because they are entirely legal and wouldn't be considered fraudulent or
a violation."
Legal rejection of US workers
Joel Stewart, Esq. (Immigration Lawyer), March 21st 2008, H-1B Quotes,
http://www.zazona.com/ShameH1B/Quotes.htm
When employers feel the need to legalize aliens, it may be due to a shortage of suitable
U.S. workers, but even in a depressed economy, Employers who favor aliens have an
arsenal of legal means to reject all U.S. workers who apply.
H-1bs Displace American workers/ Get paid Less
Tom Groenfeldt, January 19, 2006
http://www.jobsinthemoney.com/news.php?articleID=58
The foreign job threat for American technology workers isn’t limited to work that can be
sent abroad. Companies are using skilled workers brought in under the H-1B visa
program to replace American staff with foreign workers who are paid substantially less,
nearly $13,000 a year less on average according to a recent study.

H1B program doesn’t protect US workers

H1B FAQs, March 21st 2008,
http://www.zazona.com/ShameH1B/H1BFAQs.htm,
Does the H-1B Program Protect US Workers?The short answer is NO!
"The program does not currently protect U.S. workers’ jobs; instead, it allows aliens to
immigrate based on their attachment to a specific job and then shop their services in
competition with equally or more qualified U.S. workers without regard to prevailing
wage."

US workers don’t get priority

H1B FAQs, March 21st 2008,
http://www.zazona.com/ShameH1B/H1BFAQs.htm
Do US Workers Get Priority Over H-1Bs? The short answer is NO!
"DOL's (Department Of Labor) Permanent Labor Certification Program Does Not Meet Its
Intent of Excluding Foreign Workers When Qualified, Willing U.S. Workers Are
 Available. ... Despite a costly, time-consuming recruitment process, the required labor
market test did not result in the hiring of U.S. workers over foreign labor."

H1Bs create Loopholes

Robert Reich (Secretary of Labor), 1995, H1B Quotes,
http://www.zazona.com/ShameH1B/Quotes.htm

The H-1B program "has become a major means of circumventing the costs of paying
skilled American workers or the costs of training them."

2.) Decreases US wages

H-1Bs paid $13,000 to $24,000 less

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, June 22, 2006, "GAO Finds that H-1B
Visa Program Undercuts US Workers; IEEE-USA Encourages Congress to Fix 'Flawed'
H-1B Program," http://www.ieeeusa.org/communications/releases/2006/062206pr.asp
IEEE-USA would emphasize that the GAO report looked for wage rates that were lower
than the prevailing wages found on the H-1B application. No attempt was made to
establish than the prevailing wages listed were correct. Other studies have found that, on
average, prevailing wages on H-1B applications are between $13,000 and $24,000 below
market rates.
In many cases H-1Bs are paid below salaries on the labor applications forms
The Federation for American Immigration Reform, April 2008, "H-1B Visas: Harming
American Workers," http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?
pagename=iic_immigrationissuecenters13e8
A Department of Labor (DOL) audit found that 19 percent of H-1B workers were being
paid below the salaries promised by their employers on their labor application forms
(which must be filed with the DOL in order for companies to receive permission to use
H-1B workers). The audit found that employers use H-1B employees to get around
prevailing wages and personnel costs and that the large-scale use of H-1B workers lowers
the level of wages in the affected professions.
Protections for American workers are weak and not strongly enforced
The Federation for American Immigration Reform, April 2008, "H-1B Visas: Harming
American Workers," http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?
pagename=iic_immigrationissuecenters13e8
A frequent claim in defense of the H-1B program is that protections are built in to
prohibit employers from engaging in practices that will harm American workers. In
reality, the protections are either very weak or nonexistent, as is enforcement of these
rules. Instead, the system relies heavily on the honor system, merely trusting companies
to be good corporate citizens.
US wages aren’t protected by prevailing wage
H1B FAQs, March 21st 2008,
http://www.zazona.com/ShameH1B/H1BFAQs.htm,
Are US Wages Protected?The short answer is NO
Employer's are required to pay H-1Bs the prevailing salary. The problem is defining what
the prevailing salary is. The National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates
(SESA) is published by the government to use as a guide to determining prevailing
salaries. The employer can choose to use the SESA or they can choose any salary survey
they want to, even their own. The DOL said that they don't verify these "Other" surveys
so "prevailing salary" is anything the company says it is. To see how this loophole works
go to LCA Images.

The OIG reported that prevailing salaries don't protect US wages - "There is no certainty
that U.S. workers’ wages are protected by the LCA program’s requirement that
employers pay aliens the higher of the prevailing wage or actual wage paid to their
employees who are similarly employed."

Even if prevailing wages could somehow be enforced, the laws of "supply and demand"
dictate that as you bring more workers into the labor market, wages will decrease. This
means that the prevailing wage will go down for all workers in that glutted labor market.

INHERENCY
 “Labor shortage” response: Larger pool of US workers available now – H-1Bs will
squeeze Americans out
Mike Sunnucks (journalist), 7 Mar 2008, BUSINESS JOURNAL OF PHOENIX,
“Arizona tech firms want more foreign knowledge workers,”
www.brightfuturejobs.com/news/index.cfm?Fuseaction=ViewNews&pageID=44796
(brackets added)
[Hi-tech job recruiter Dawn] West said H-1B workers sometimes have the skill sets U.S.
companies are looking for and often are cheaper than American employees, who can get
squeezed out as a result. Another high-tech headhunter said the turbulent economy and
recent jumps in unemployment are creating a larger pool of U.S. workers. "More workers
are in the market now, and now may be a great time to find qualified U.S. citizens who
do not require a working visa," said Jim Bondurant, CEO of Cave Creek-based C3
Staffing & Investigations.
No shortage of scientists & engineers in the U.S.
RICHARD MONASTERSKY (journalist), 7 Nov 2007, CHRONICLE OF HIGHER
EDUCATION, “In Congressional Testimony, Researchers Dispute Notion That America
Lacks Scientists and Engineers.”
http://www.stemedcaucus.org/content/documents/newsletters/2007/12.htm
Researchers who track the American labor market told Congress on Tuesday that,
contrary to conventional wisdom, the United States has more than enough scientists and
engineers and that federal agencies and universities should reform the way they train
young scientists to better match the supply with the demand for researchers. At a hearing
of a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives science committee, Michael S.
Teitelbaum, vice president of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, told lawmakers that
"although I know you routinely are told by corporate lobbyists that their R&D is being
globalized in part due to shortages of scientists and engineers in the U.S., no one who has
studied this matter with an open mind has been able to find any objective data of such
general shortages."
H-1B expansion not well supported: No shortage of skilled workers
RICHARD MONASTERSKY (journalist), 7 Nov 2007, CHRONICLE OF HIGHER
EDUCATION, “In Congressional Testimony, Researchers Dispute Notion That America
Lacks Scientists and Engineers.” (Brackets added)
www.stemedcaucus.org/content/documents/newsletters/2007/12.htm
Last week, Mr. [Harold] Salzman [sociologist and senior research associate at the Urban
Institute] and B. Lindsay Lowell, director of policy studies at the Institute for the Study
of International Migration at Georgetown University, released a paper online that
examined the production and employment of scientists and engineers. While high-tech
firms have publicly complained about a shortage of skilled workers and have lobbied for
expanding the numbers of foreigners admitted under H-1B visas, Mr. Salzman and Mr.
Lowell contend in their paper that "purported labor-market shortages for scientists and
engineers are anecdotal and also not supported by the available evidence."
No labor shortage: More scientists & engineers graduating than are hired in the US
every year
Harold Salzman (sociologist and senior research associate at the Urban Institute) and B.
Lindsay Lowell (director of policy studies at the Institute for the Study of International
Migration at Georgetown University) 29 Oct 2007, URBAN INSTITUTE, “Assessing the
Evidence on Science and Engineering Education, Quality, and Workforce Demand,”
http://www.urban.org/publications/411562.html
Recent policy reports claim the United States is falling behind other nations in science
and math education and graduating insufficient numbers of scientists and engineers.
Review of the evidence and analysis of actual graduation rates and workforce needs does
not find support for these claims. U.S. student performance rankings are comparable to
other leading nations and colleges graduate far more scientists and engineers than are
hired each year.
No evidence of a US labor shortage
The Federation for American Immigration Reform, April 2008, "H-1B Visas: Harming
American Workers," http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?
pagename=iic_immigrationissuecenters13e8
Although the H-1B program is meant to provide companies with labor unavailable in this
country, no evidence exists of a worker shortage; to the contrary, there are many laid off,
unemployed and underemployed American high tech workers.
Unemployment among professionals is probably twice as high as the BLS estimate
The Federation for American Immigration Reform, April 2008, "H-1B Visas: Harming
American Workers," http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?
pagename=iic_immigrationissuecenters13e8
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that February, 2008 unemployment among
professional and related occupations stood at 656,000 persons. This BLS report refers to
official unemployment persons receiving unemployment benefits. Not included are those
persons who have lost unemployment coverage, those who have taken part-time jobs
because they could not find full-time jobs and those who have yet to find their first job.
Generally, this more comprehensive focus on unemployment yields an estimate about
twice as high as official unemployment.
Big surplus of Science & Engineering graduates - more than S&E jobs
Dr. B. Lindsay Lowell (PhD in Sociology from Brown and Director of Policy Studies for
the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University) and Dr. Hal Salzman
(PhD in Sociology from Brown University), October 2007, "Into the Eye of the Storm:
Assessing the Evidence on Science and Engineering Education, Quality, and Workforce
Demand," The Urban Institute,
http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411562_Salzman_Science.pdf
Analysis of the flow of students up through the S&E pipeline, when it reaches the labor
market, suggests the education system produces qualified graduates far in excess of
demand: S&E occupations make up only about one-twentieth of all workers, and each
year there are more than three times as many S&E four-year college graduates as S&E
job openings.
India refuses to participate in math/science tests and illiteracy is widespread
Dr. Norman Matloff (professor of computer science at the University of California,
Davis), May 2008, "H-1Bs: Still Not the Best and the Brightest," Center for Immigration
Studies, http://www.cis.org/articles/2008/back508.html [brackets added]
The lobbyists love to claim that the industry resorts to hiring foreign workers because
Americans are weak in math and science. Various international comparisons of
math/science test scores at the K-12 level are offered as "evidence." The claims are
specious — after all, both major sources of foreign tech workers, India and China, refuse
to participate in those tests, and India continues to be plagued with a high illiteracy rate.
DA Responses
H1Bs cause Outsourcing
H-1B visas to facilitate outsourcing by training Indian workers in the US
Peter Elstrom, February 8, 2007, "Work visas may work against the US,"
BUSINESSWEEK, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17048048
But a review of new information from the federal government suggests that the
companies benefiting most from the temporary worker program aren't U.S. companies at
all. Rather, they appear to be Indian outsourcing firms, which often hire workers from
India to train in the U.S. before returning home to work. Data for the fiscal year 2006,
which ended last September, show that 7 of the top 10 applicants for H-1B visas are
Indian companies. Giants Infosys Technologies and Wipro took the top two spots, with
22,600 and 19,400 applications, respectively. The company with the third most
applications is Cognizant Technology Solutions, which is based in Teaneck, N.J., but has
most of its operations in India. All three companies provide services to U.S. companies
from India, including technology support and back-office processing.
Link: H-1B doesn’t prevent outsourcing, it speeds it up
Prof. Ron Hira (assistant professor of public policy at the Rochester Institute of
Technology) 6 Aug 2007, THE AMERICAN PROSPECT, “How Guestworkers promote
Oursourcing,” http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?
article=how_guestworkers_promote_outsourcing
But in reality, the H-1B program has been thoroughly corrupted. Rather than providing
firms with workers who posses unique skills, the program is dominated by low wage
workers with ordinary rank-and-file skills. And rather than preventing work from going
overseas, the program is speeding it up. Offshore outsourcing firms rely on the H-1B and
related L-1 programs for three principal reasons. First, it facilitates their knowledge-
transfer operations, where they rotate in foreign workers in to learn U.S. workers' jobs. In
fact, U.S. workers are often "transferring knowledge" under duress. Second, the H-1B
and L-1 programs provide them an inexpensive, on-site presence that enables them to
coordinate offshore functions.
H-1B visa fraud is common
Can’t achieve the goals of H-1B if fraudulent visa requests are being granted
Patrick Thibodeau (journalist) 9 Oct 2008, COMPUTERWORLD magazine,
“Widespread problems, fraud found in H-1B program”
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?
command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9116758
An internal report by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) examining
the H-1B visa program has found evidence of forged documents and fake degrees, and
even "shell" companies giving addresses of fake locations. The USCIS report, released
Wednesday by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), indicates that serious violations of
the H-1B program by employers are so common that one in five visas are affected by
either fraud or "technical violations." This means that potentially thousands of employers
may be violating the rules, some willfully.

They don’t import the “best & brightest” – they use H-1Bs to promote outsourcing
Moira Herbst (journalist with master’s degree in international relations), 8 Oct 2008,
“High Rate of H-1B Visa Fraud” BUSINESS WEEK,
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/oct2008/db2008108_844949.htm
The program was originally set up to allow companies in the U.S. to import the best and
brightest in technology, engineering, and other fields when such workers are in short
supply in America. But data released this year by the federal government show that
offshore outsourcing firms, particularly from India, dominated the list of companies that
were awarded H-1B visas to employ workers in the U.S. (BusinessWeek, 3/6/08) in 2007.
Indian outsourcers such as Infosys (INFY), Wipro (WIT), and Tata (TCS.NS) accounted
for nearly 80% of the visa petitions approved last year for the top 10 participants in the
program.
Impact: Jobs lost
Linda Levine (specialist in labor economics, Domestic Social Policy Division,
Congressional Research Service) 2 May 2005, “Offshoring (a.k.a. Offshore Outsourcing)
and Job Insecurity Among U.S. Workers”
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/46688.pdf
Domestic outsourcing and offshore outsourcing result in job losses for those employees
who no longer are required to produce the goods and services that their employers
decided to purchase. Some displaced workers must seek jobs in other fields because the
domestic firms that specialize in providing outsourced functions do so more efficiently
than their former employers. Others who lose their jobs to domestic outsourcing can
continue to perform similar work — perhaps for lower wages and fewer benefits — by
finding jobs in the industries now supplying goods and services to their exemployers
(e.g., as workers on the payrolls of temporary help agencies rather than manufacturers).
Thus, a key difference between domestic and offshore outsourcing is that none of the jobs
that are contracted out remain available to U.S. workers when employers send the work
to companies located overseas.
H1B should be abolished
Ian Fletcher(VP of Government Relations for American Engineering Association), Nov.
2004, “H-1B visa program takes jobs away from U.S. workers”, Denver Business
Journal, http://dayton.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2004/11/15/editorial3.html

I object to your article in the Oct. 22-28 edition concerning the H1-B visa program. ("Door
slams on H-1B visas for the year")
In it, a business owner complains that he "can't find" employees. Has this gentleman ever
considered paying the market-clearing wage?
His position is not capitalism; it is self-indulgence. No business is entitled to find all the
employees it wants at the price it feels like paying. I feel like hiring someone to cut my
lawn for $2 -- am I entitled to find someone at that price?
American tech workers are going unemployed in record numbers because of the H1-B
visa program this gentleman wants to use to import cheap foreign labor. The H1-B
program should be abolished, not expanded.
You are being played like a fiddle by greedy corporate interests. You are too smart for
that.

U.S. jobs not protected / Labor market tests do not work

H-1b FAQs March 2, 2008
http://www.zazona.com/shameh1b/H1BFAQs.htm
Employers used to be required to test the labor market for the availability of able, willing,
and qualified U.S. workers at the time of application for a visa and admission to the
United States on the alien’s behalf. "Despite a costly, time-consuming recruitment
process, the required labor market test did not result in the hiring of U.S. workers over
foreign labor." The number of U.S. workers hired as a result of the labor market test was
negligible.

The labor market test is a time-consuming paper shuffle that employers endure to give the
 appearance of complying with the law. Regardless of the qualifications of U.S. workers
who apply for the job, the employers do not seriously consider them because the
employer has already hired, or has full intentions of hiring, the alien. The labor market
test was an expensive game employers play to get the certification.

These tests were eliminated as a requirement to hire H-1Bs in the year 2000. Now
employers don't have to justify their hiring of H-1Bs and don't have to show whether
there is an American that is available for the job.

Vissa fraud job advertisements are tailored to the H-1B?

H-1b FAQs March 2, 2008
http://www.zazona.com/shameh1b/H1BFAQs.htm
"Employers specifically tailor advertised job requirements to aliens’ qualifications. The
jobs’ education and experience requirements were based on the aliens’ qualifications, not
on the skills required to perform the work." Employers tailor the job description and/or
special requirements to the aliens’ experience.

The job description and alien’s experience are exact matches in the cases studied. "The
alien was already working for the employer at the time the application was filed. " The
special requirements identified on the application appear to be customized to fit the
alien’s qualifications rather than represent actual job requirements. This appears to be a
restrictive criteria to eliminate qualified U.S. workers."

The H-1b visa “brain drain” hurts India

Federation for American Immigration Reform
http://www.fairus.org/site/News2?
page=NewsArticle&id=16969&security=1601&news_iv_ctrl=1821
“Brain drain” is the flow of skilled professionals—physicians, engineers, scientists, educators
—from less developed countries to the more developed countries. In many cases, large-scale
immigration to the United States does serious damage to the communities left behind.
Developing countries are losing the people they can least afford to: those who are skilled and
educated, who perform crucial services contributing to the health and economy of the
country, and who create new jobs for others.
India produces an estimated 178,000 qualified software engineers every year. If they
practiced their trade at home, India’s programmer shortage—estimated at 145,000 and
growing—would be wiped out in a few months. Four of out every ten Indian software
developers are now working in the U.S. Several of India’s small software companies have
been forced to shut down—not for lack of business but because they couldn’t find enough
employees. In 1998, the renowned Indian Institute of Technology sent 30 percent of all of its
graduates to the United States, including 80 percent of its computer science graduates.
To replace this lost labor, developing countries must hire professionals from more developed
countries at a high cost. The United Nations reports that India loses two billion dollars a year
due to the exodus of skilled labor to the United States alone.
A study of professional migration from India to the United States found an annual tax
revenue loss to India of $700 million—twelve percent of the country’s total income base for
the year.
H-1b fraud
Ephraim Schwartz, October 15, 2008
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/10/15/Government-study-finds-H-1B-visa-
fraud_1.html
A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services [USCIS] study, H-1B Benefit Fraud &
Compliance Assessment published in September but just coming to light this month,
found a 27 percent rate of fraud in the H-1B visa program.