The #H1B issue: Yes, American #workers, YOU DO QUALIFY FOR THAT JOB.

The entire concept of the H1B non-immigrant Visa program is based upon one basic assumption that exposes a strong sentiment of bigotry against American workers. This assumption is that there aren't enough qualified American workers to fill the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) industry. This assumption is one of the biggest lies put forth in the recent history of labor. American workers are quite qualified for the jobs that are being filled now by H1B visa holders. The only thing that disqualifies Americans for jobs that H1B visa holders are getting, is that Americans won't work for peanuts. 

Here is a common data point used to support the H1B visa program: that there aren't many Americans who hold degrees, period.

According to the US Census bureau, in 2009, out of the entire population of the United States - the educational levels are as follows:

17.6% of the population holds a bachelors degree.
7.2% holds a masters degree.
1.9% hold a professional degree.
1.2% hold a doctorate degree.

To this, I present a counter point: that counter point being reality. 

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/mee-the-brainiac-homeless-man-with-a-ph-d-that-cant-find-a-job/ 

Times are tough. Perhaps the chilling economic realities can be best encapsulated by the tragic story of Dr. Maurice Johnson. Despite holding a doctorate in plasma physics from Dartmouth College and a masters in electrical engineering and acoustics from Purdue University, Johnson, 55, claims that he is homeless and without a job.

This is, of course, an anecdote. Later down the way I'll get into how deep this rabbit hole really goes.

Now we must get to the other central half-truth: It is illegal to pay H1B Visa workers wages that are lower than the prevailing wage. 

Reality: It is also illegal to steal cars, but 1 million are stolen every year. Likewise: 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/13/us/whistle-blower-claiming-visa-fraud-keeps-his-job-but-not-his-work.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

It has been 17 months since Jack B. Palmer first made a quiet complaint through internal channels at Infosys, the giant Indian outsourcing company he works for, saying he suspected some managers were committing visa fraud. Since then, Mr. Palmer says, he has been harassed by superiors and co-workers, sidelined with no work assignment, shut out of the company’s computers, denied bonuses and hounded by death threats.

http://www.happyschoolsblog.com/11-arrested-in-h1b-visa-fraud-upto-20-years-in-prison/

DES MOINES, Iowa – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested 11 individuals in six states on Wednesday as part of an investigation into suspected visa and mail fraud. Matthew G. Whitaker, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa, announced the operation, which was carried out by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in Iowa, California, Massachusetts, Texas, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and New Jersey.

Hint: these H1B visa workers weren't paid a prevailing wage. 

BUT WAIT!!!! There's more! This goes way beyond just H1B's! Take a look at what's happening with J1 visa holders: 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/18/us/18immig.html?pagewanted=all

PALMYRA, Pa. — Hundreds of foreign students, waving their fists and shouting defiantly in many languages, walked off their jobs on Wednesday at a plant here that packs Hershey’s chocolates, saying a summer program that was supposed to be a cultural exchange had instead turned them into underpaid labor.

The point? H1B visa holders are being imported as cheap labor, while Americans holding DOCTORATES in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) related fields are going without jobs. 

Next, I will point out this: 

Relative to any of the most common benchmarks – the cost of living, the wages of the average worker, or average productivity levels – the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour is well below its historical value. These usual reference points, however, understate the true erosion in the minimum wage in recent decades because the average low-wage worker today is both older and much better educated than the average low-wage worker was in the past.

And let us also examine this, the shortage of jobs for engineers. Remember, the going argument of the day is that America needs more H1B workers because we don't have enough qualified engineers. Even a cursory examination of the situation in America shows that this is totally wrong.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2006/06/06/the-death-of-us-engineering/

The alleged "shortage" of US engineering graduates is inconsistent with reports from Duke University that 30 to 40 percent of students in its master’s of engineering management program accept jobs outside the profession. About one-third of engineering graduates from MIT go into careers outside their field. Job outsourcing and work visas for foreign engineers are reducing career opportunities for American engineering graduates and, also, reducing salary scales.

Read that last part, folks. REDUCING SALARY SCALES. 

If we need more engineers then why are engineering salaries going down? Who ever heard of a wage stagnation in an industry where workers are in short supply? 

Okay, now, you want to know how far down this rabbit hole goes? Okay, let's ask a question... say... how many unemployed engineers do we have in America? 

http://www.techjournal.org/2012/02/many-engineers-remain-unemployed-despite-reported-tech-skills-shortages/

For a complete review of the American Community Survey, including a table containing detailed employment figures for specific engineering degrees, visit the Center for Immigration Studies website at: http://cis.org/obama-and-engineers

The 2010 American Community Survey shows:

There are 101,000 U.S.-born individuals with engineering degrees who are unemployed.
There are an additional 244,000 U.S.-born individuals under age 65 who have a degree in engineering but who are not in the labor market. This means they are not working nor are they looking for work, and are therefore not counted as unemployed.
In addition to those unemployed and out of the labor force, there are an additional 1.47 million U.S.-born individuals who report they have an engineering degree and have a job, but do not work as engineers.
President Obama specifically used the words “highly skilled.” In 2010, there were 25,000 unemployed U.S.-born individuals with engineering degrees who have a Master’s or Ph.D. and another 68,000 with advanced degrees not in the labor force. There were also 489,000 U.S.-born individuals with graduate degrees who were working, but not as engineers.

Yes, folks, there are thousands of US born highly qualified engineers who do not have jobs. Master's and PhD degree holders, folks. 

"No, you don't qualify for that job"? 
 

Unless someone wants to argue that Americans with Master's or PhD degrees in engineering are idiots. I'm sure plenty of America-hating people would say that. And they have the nerve to call us xenophobes?


Now why, you must ask yourself, would corporations be pushing these lies? Profit, of course. Cheaper labor means more profits. The path to cheaper labor is to bring in H1B's. How bad is this situation? Well, how's this for bad? 

&feature=player_embedded 


Corporations are whining and crying about the low H1B visa limits - something like under 80,000 per year. Perhaps they should be hiring those 1.47 million American workers who have engineering degrees but aren't working as engineers? 

YES, AMERICAN WORKERS, YOU ARE QUALIFIED FOR THAT JOB!

Now get out and use force to make your voice heard. VOTE. Kill the H1B visa program. Kill it dead.