Posted on 11/11/2015 12:09:13 PM PST by ConservingFreedom
Ted Cruz, please get behind this effort instead of trying to increase H-1B visas fivefold.
Related: Ted Cruz on the Vince Coakley Radio Show (Cruz on H-1Bs)
Does the bill have a clause embedded that increases the number of H1-B visas after all the “reforms” are proclaimed and then forgotten?
But on the other hand, people I highly respect are pointing to abuses in the program. I think the abuse is to drive down wages with foreign workers. The consequence is to further discourage US citizens from pursuing STEM degrees.
More studying is needed on my part- your thought are welcome!!
As long as Cruz continues to parrot this bogus talking point, I will not believe he is serious about addressing this issue.
The entire H1B program can be solved by requiring employers pay 125% of the prevailing national wage for these positions. Voila, no problem.
I would put it into law that if an American worker is displace by an H1B visa holder that the company would be forced to pay them 2 years’ wages and benefits.
H-1B Is Designed to Allow Employers to Replace Americans with Cheap Foreign Workers
H-1B Is Designed to Allow Employers to Pay Foreign Workers Extremely Low Wages
Hopeful news. Thanks for the link!
Cruz will hopefully sign on, as well. I've read that he's flip-flopped on his H1-B Visa stance, so we'll see.
Increase prevailing wage for H-1Bs. We graduate two times more Americans with STEM degrees each year than find STEM jobs, yet as much as two-thirds of entry-level hiring for IT jobs is accomplished through the H-1B program. More than half of H-1B visas are issued for the program's lowest allowable wage level, and more than eighty percent for its bottom two. Raising the prevailing wage paid to H-1Bs will force companies to give these coveted entry-level jobs to the existing domestic pool of unemployed native and immigrant workers in the U.S., instead of flying in cheaper workers from overseas. This will improve the number of black, Hispanic and female workers in Silicon Valley who have been passed over in favor of the H-1B program. Mark Zuckerberg’s personal Senator, Marco Rubio, has a bill to triple H-1Bs that would decimate women and minorities.
My friend in Austin works for an software IT company. They have MANY visa employees. The company works employees as many as 14 hours a day, and often 7 days a week -— they are on “salary” so hours don’t matter. My friend says they can do it because the visa holders are afraid of losing their jobs and getting deported. The Americans know that if they don’t go along they will be replaced by visa workers, because the company can pay visa workers less. It seems that this is common practice in the software IT industry in that small “blue spot” called Austin.
The company just got sold, and the new company has already announced that there will be no days off or vacation time starting 1 Jan 2016. I guess that means the employees will be working 365 days next year???
I think this is slave labor, and should be criminal. If the visas are allowing this kind of employee exploitation, then I think the whole visa program needs to go away completely.
He hasn't yet backed off on his claims that there is a shortage of STEM workers or that H-1B grows the economy.
I agree with that or they should pay at least 125% of the salary of the soon to be out of work employee forced to train the H1B.
Just wow.
Well, this seems to be a start in the right direction.
Next, I hope something is done about other work visa programs like the J-1 (Summer Work Travel Program), which brings in unskilled labor to do minimum-wage jobs.
Oh. Now he changes it.
What do his “Club For Growth pals say?
'It's hard to know what these candidates mean by "abuse." Using temporary visa workers to replace U.S. workers, who must train replacements as a condition of severance, has been a longstanding feature of the H-1B program.
'[...] In arguing for his proposed increase two years ago, Cruz pointed to what he called "a serious shortage" of STEM workers. He has not said anything lately to indicate he has changed his mind about that shortage.
'In the radio interview, Cruz made a point of backing immigration reforms that would shift the U.S. in the direction of an immigration policy focused around a person's skills. That could mean easing green card immigration for skilled workers. But until Cruz produces details about what he has in mind, or proposes specific legislation, his position remains more talking point than concrete plan.
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