Unemployment Chaos in Four States Tied to H-1B Program

Breitbart ^ | 12 May 2020 | NEIL MUNRO

[NobleFree]

The huge economic impact of the coronavirus crash is being worsened by the growing role of Indian H-1B visa workers in the nation’s software industry.

Americans in many states — including Florida — were left without unemployment payments for weeks when the software programs supplied to state governments by a company, which relies on Indian H-1Bs, could not handle the crush of new applicants.

The failures in Ohio, Maryland, D.C., and South Carolina were all connected to one Minnesota company, Sagitec Solutions, which uses an imported workforce of H-1B workers.

“Marylanders have spent hours — and days — trying to access new jobless claim portal,” said a May 2 Washington Post headline. [...]

Sagitec’s reliance on H-1B workers is exposed by MyVisa.com.

The government data displayed by MyVisaJobs site suggests the company has been allowed to import more than 150 well-paid H-1B workers, which exceeds one estimate that the company has a workforce of 146 employees.

Since March 1, the company has also asked to renew work visas for ten H-1B workers. Four of those requests came after President Donald Trump declared a national emergency on March 13.

Most of Sagitec’s H-1B workers come from India, according to the MyVisaJobs site. […]

Sagitec has four co-founders, including Ranjith Kotcherlakota. He graduated from an Indian college in 1988 and moved to the U.S. as a visa worker with Tata and Mastech Digital, which are Indian-run staffing companies. The other founders — Bala Venkat, Deepak Ahuja — also worked for staffing companies before teaming up with American Rick Deshler to open the firm in 2004. The current CEO is another Indian, Piyush Jain.

There is no federal rule requiring companies to hire Americans before H-1Bs and no procedure to reliably verify the claimed university qualifications of the H-1B workers. [...]

[NobleFree]

Pseudo-qualified H-1B workers are destroying the data infrastructures of many private companies, as well, but the consequences are less publicly visible.

[TheConservativeTejano]

Pseudo-qualified H-1B workers are destroying the data infrastructures of many private companies, as well, but the consequences are less publicly visible.

Partner, you hit a home run on the above statement.

First of all, why do we keep importing these HIB visas into the U.S.A.

The DemonRat party just love the HIB visa workers coming into our country since they can use them to destroy not only our economy but our political institutions.

I would say a "Big Heck No To HIB Worker" since we do not want anymore illegal alien vermin in our country.

[SecondAmendment]

> Pseudo-qualified H-1B workers are destroying the data infrastructures of many private companies, as well, but the consequences are less publicly visible.

Bingo !

Here is the dirty secret of software development, the vast majority of developers do not have the skills and experience to do their job, and throwing more bodies at the problem only makes things worse.

This strategy wastes more money than hiring an handful of well qualified engineers to do the work, 99 percent of the people we currently import with H1-B visas are not qualified for the jobs they take from Americans...

[ScottfromNJ]

My understanding is that President Trump has substantially toughened the H1B re-certification standards, which has the same effect as working towards eliminating the program outright. So it appears at least he’s making the H1B visas difficult to obtain. Still, the program should be eliminated completely, but that may take an act of Congress.

[posterchild]

I hope it can be eliminated, but we haven’t even gotten rid of low hanging fruit like the DIV diversity visa. It has the particular un American quality of judging a possible immigrant based on their nation of origin rather than any real pretense of merit.

[precisionshootist]

"My understanding is that President Trump has substantially toughened the H1B re-certification standards, which has the same effect as working towards eliminating the program outright. So it appears at least he’s making the H1B visas difficult to obtain. Still, the program should be eliminated completely, but that may take an act of Congress."

The problem is they are faking their qualifications and have been for years.

As I have said for years now. A two week programming boot camp and and fake resume does not a developer make.

[rarestia]

Here is the dirty secret of software development, the vast majority of developers do not have the skills and experience to do their job, and throwing more bodies at the problem only makes things worse.

Infrastructure engineering is another problem. Many don't understand the concepts of elastic computing, load balancing, clustering, or even disaster recovery. They're building massive web solutions on Hadoop with MongoDB and selling it as a turnkey solution, bringing in an army of programmers to "develop" the app, then leaving behind a steaming pile that responds well to synthetic transactions but can't react fast enough to surge demands.

[Robert DeLong]

Sagitec Solutions: 7 of 10 partners are Indian

[Political Junkie Too]

There is no federal rule requiring companies to hire Americans before H-1Bs...

This isn't true.

The whole premise of H-1B visas was that no qualified Americans could be found for the job, and that companies had to demonstrate that they searched for qualified Americans before pursuing the H-1B visa route.

Now, they may be gaming the system by making the "qualifications" unattainable, but it still is a requirement.

From USA Department of Labor: H-1B Program:

Overview

The H-1B program applies to employers seeking to hire nonimmigrant aliens as workers in specialty occupations or as fashion models of distinguished merit and ability. A specialty occupation is one that requires the application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and the attainment of at least a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent. The intent of the H-1B provisions is to help employers who cannot otherwise obtain needed business skills and abilities from the U.S. workforce by authorizing the temporary employment of qualified individuals who are not otherwise authorized to work in the United States.

The law establishes certain standards in order to protect similarly employed U.S. workers from being adversely affected by the employment of the nonimmigrant workers, as well as to protect the H-1B nonimmigrant workers. Employers must attest to the Department of Labor that they will pay wages to the H-1B nonimmigrant workers that are at least equal to the actual wage paid by the employer to other workers with similar experience and qualifications for the job in question, or the prevailing wage for the occupation in the area of intended employment – whichever is greater.

Key News

DOL Announces Plans to Protect American Workers from H-1B Program Discrimination: On June 6, 2017, the Department of Labor announced actions to increase protections of American workers while more aggressively confronting entities committing visa program fraud and abuse. Read More

-PJ

[amihow]

Gee. I remember when I kept screaming about the horrible corporatist globalist cabal of the corporate class Republicans and Demoracts a few years ago who brought us maquilas, out sourcing, H1bs,illegal immigrants et.al. people thought me a lib. Or anti free market.

We cannot forget this when we are tempted to vote for a long term incumbent. Especially Lindsey Graham, globalist snake that he is.

And keep the pressure on Trump.

[Starcitizen]

Not just the Demonrat party.

Trump excluded H1Bs and other trash from the immigration ban. Was it HCQ for Indian jobs that Trump and Modi agreed to?

The Trump DOJ will not remove the illegal Obama Executive Order H4EAD program (96% Indian)

MumbaiMike and the rest of the globalists are fighting to keep and expand the H1B program (see S.386)

[Wuli]

Indian owned IT companies in the U.S. don’t care as much about the IT qualifications of the Indian H1-B workers they import as they do the fact that they are Indian.

I sat near two such folks in an airport one time. An older one was telling a younger one not to worry about what he didn’t know. They’d cover for him as long as they could still bill for the work.

[NobleFree]

From https://cis.org/Miano/Primer-Reporters-Looking-H1B-Program:

H-1B Is Designed to Allow Employers to Replace Americans with Cheap Foreign Workers

Replacing Americans with H-1B workers has been going on at least since 1994.

In 1998, Congress responded explicitly by making it legal for employers to replace Americans with H-1B workers. Under the current law an employer may replace an American with an H-1B worker unless:

1. The H-1B worker is paid less than $60,000; and
   
   
2. The H-1B worker does not have a graduate degree; and
   
   
3. The employer has more than 15 percent of its total employees on H-1B visas earning less than $60,000 and not having graduate degrees; and
   
   
4. The replacement takes place within 90 days of making the visa petition.

You have to navigate through two levels of misdirection in the code to piece all this together. Congress went to a lot of effort to ensure employers can replace Americans and to hide that fact from the casual reader of the code.

[TheConservativeTejano]

Partner, somehow we have got to get a handle of this HIB visa program and delete the whole thing completely.

We have so many DemonRats and Rinos that just love this program but they are taking away jobs from Americans.

These DemonRATS and Rinos that just love this HIB visa program are so Anti American.

Partner, I think President Trump is aware of this stuff but the program itself should be deleted.

We have been to India and it is not even 3rd world. It more like 5th world.

[amihow]

You must be a Mexicano Texan.

You are correct. The H1b and illegal and legal immigration destroys the families in the sending and receiving countries. It benefits the greedy corporate class. It is vicious.

[TheConservativeTejano]

I am first and foremost a 5th generation Texan and American. I consider anybody from Mexico is an Illegal since most came after the Mexican Civil War of 1910.


I have found out that the U.S. made it 1924 as the year when if people came to the U.S. in 1924 they were considered legal. Anybody who comes to the U.S. from Mexico is considered Illegal since they came to the U.S. after 1924.

My lineage all comes way before 1924. In fact, I am working on my geneology and my great grandmother was born in 1874 in the San Antonio area. My grandfather (he was my dad's father) fought in WWI. I never met my grandfather since he passed away in 1948.

My mother has told me that he was very fair in complexion and he had blue eyes.

I have had my DNA examined and 25% comes from indian blood in Mexico but I have about 35% coming from English, Irish, and Scottish blood and 12% from French blood an they rest from Spain.

[TheConservativeTejano]

I am first and foremost a 5th generation Texan and American. I consider anybody from Mexico is an Illegal since most came after the Mexican Civil War of 1910.


I have found out that the U.S. made it 1924 as the year when if people came to the U.S. in 1924 they were considered legal. Anybody who comes to the U.S. from Mexico is considered Illegal since they came to the U.S. after 1924.

My lineage all comes way before 1924. In fact, I am working on my geneology and my great grandmother was born in 1874 in the San Antonio area. My grandfather (he was my dad's father) fought in WWI. I never met my grandfather since he passed away in 1948.

My mother has told me that he was very fair in complexion and he had blue eyes.

I have had my DNA examined and 25% comes from indian blood in Mexico but I have about 35% coming from English, Irish, and Scottish blood and 12% from French blood an they rest from Spain.

[amihow]

Hilarious. Western Mexico indian? You sound Sonoran, not south of Tejas. Lots of western european ancestry in Sonora.

[Alas Babylon!]

You sound pretty dang American to me!!!

A mongrel like the rest of us.

[TheConservativeTejano]

Partner, I am a fifth generation American so I am like the rest of the folks who write into Free Republic. We are all Freepers here.

I think it is the only venue that we have since I do not like Twitter and the rest of the technology that is available.

Take care partner.