Posted on 06/13/2015 2:55:10 PM PDT by z taxman
WASHINGTON, DC: When it comes to increasing skilled workers on H-1B visas, one could say presidential candidate Ted Cruz is a bit of a black sheep amongst the GOP.The Republican presidential candidate wants to increase the H-1B visas by 500 percent from its 65,000 to 325,000.
Cruz, who announced his run for the Oval office this morning, had made the proposition in 2013 as an amendment to the Senate’s comprehensive immigration bill.While the Senate’s Judiciary Committee torpedoed Cruz’s amendment, they did approve an increase of 180,000 in the H-1B cap, but the House never acted on the legislation.It’s not clear if Cruz had only the base 65,000 H-1B visas for skilled workers from around the globe to emigrate to the US in mind, and he didn’t want to include the 20,000 other H-1B visas which are allocated especially for students who graduate from universities in the US.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanbazaaronline.com ...
Most of the Freepers who have lost jobs to H1B holders are in highly technical jobs like engineering. After their unemployment runs out, they can't get the lower skill jobs because the Mexicans have taken all of those.
America needs another 325,000 H1B visa holders like we need another two terms of Obama.
I frankly don't know which voting sector Cruz is looking to gain traction from with this stand. All he is doing is telling his base to go to hell and then he still expects them to blindly vote for him as if we are all black democrats.
Maybe this is a principled stand. However, I suspect it is an expedient stand, one which will please his rich donors at the expense of the little ones.
Ooooooh you gonna flag us and what? Gonna pull the “ no true Scotsman” defense next?
Americans should get a first shot at skilled jobs.
This is insanity and Ted Cruz is insane. What this really means is 325,000 new immigrants and their families. The only reason someone from India agrees to seven years of peonage and servitude on an H1-B visa is to be sponsored for permanent residency (green card) by his employers. All H1-B people plan on staying in America. Legally immigrating here.
Not to mention that Americans working in computers get their wages driven down by allowing in 325,000 H1-B holders each year
Ted Cruz or any other Republican should not be increasing the number of foreign worker visas by 400%.
Wow, You joined FR the day Ted Cruz announced his candidacy. Less than a day and your already disenchanted. Hum.
Nobody wants H-1b visas quotas increased, when you explain the program to the uninformed they are appalled and can't believe it exists. The base wants zero h-1b quotas.
Good God, I vote for Cruz and i get a closed border but the flood gates open somewhere else. You can't win. 325k h-1bs A YEAR will ruin me and my family.
What do you tell a middle aged man who just lost his job, supports his whole family on his income, spent his whole life in IT, who worked his way up the ladder only to be replaced by a younger, less qualified foreigner that gets a fraction of the pay?
I’d like to see Ted Cruz listen in on some of the conversations that man is going to have with job recruiters, not only in a line of work that is shrinking but also having to deal with age discrimination.
Yes, there are casualties. Lots of losers to be had. The lose of a productive worker, who paid his taxes and supported his community. Now, these corporations are creating shrinking middle class with less spending power. Good job, TED F’N CRUZ!!!!
Perrybot retread?
It will take a generation or so to produce highly-skilled graduates of our own to participate in our economic recovery. Meanwhile, we have to borrow some of those from other countries.
z taxman could be a troll but he is not saying anything that is untrue. That’s the problem.
H-1b is government interference in the free market. Stopping H-1b will push wages up, college kids will start applying themselves in STEM programs and eventually things will even out.
When a politician speaks up for securing the border, and trying to stop illegal immigration, they usually try to take the sting out of it by pointing out that they favor expanding *legal* immigration. The idea being that they aren’t anti-immigrant, just anti-illegal-immigrant.
So I have tended to view Cruz’s call for expanding H1B in that light.
So, if we’re talking about a 10% increase, thats understandable though wrong-headed. If we’re talking about increasing by several hundred percent, thats a whole ‘nother thing.
Because I like Cruz I’ve tended to overlook the H1B issue, although in actual fact when we are already at more than a million legal immigrants per year, I’m not sure why we need to be increasing that number, particularly when the work force is shrinking. Because I am currently annoyed with all Washington politicians over the TPP business and its immigration clauses, I am especially sensitive to this.
We are already bringing in a million legal immigrants per year. If that isn’t sufficient, how many is enough? How do our politicians arrive at that number? How do they justify it with so many people out of work?
“...Verifying that no Americans are available for the jobs etc...”
That one will probably not happen, seems like everyone is training foreign replacements.
We already have too many immigrants, we do not need more.
My general sense is philosophically Cruz is conceptually for the H-1b visa program. If quotas were set at 325K/year he would not fight that increase. Where am I wrong?
I lost my job at 58. It wasn’t to an H1-B, but I was Obama’d out of work. I have a friend who is an excellent board designer. He was laid off when his company established their design detment in India. Then, they called him back to do a rush job. He worked during the day here and put the work on the company intra-net for an Indian designer to work on the same board during India’s day. That guy was earing about a fourth what my friend was being paid. The job lasted just two weeks. Eventually, he moved over 1,000 miles away to the snow belt to take another job.
Me, I’m lucky in that I was very conservative and saved lots of money. Now I’m buying and refurbishing rental property. With luck I’ll make ends meet in another year or two. Meanwhile I watch every dime and worry a lot.
I tried to find another job. But after numerous wonderful interviews they always hired the younger guy. I’m on my own. Oddly, as much as this kills my arthritis, I’ve never been happier.
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