Posted on 02/07/2003 4:18:00 PM PST by A Patriot Son
U.S. Continues to Grant H-1B Visas Despite Record Unemployment
To: National Desk Contact: Chris McManes of IEEE-USA, 202 785 0017 ext. 8356 or c.mcmanes@ieee.org
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 /U.S. Newswire/ -- According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 120,000 electrical engineers and computer scientists were unemployed in the fourth quarter of 2002.
Despite this and other high levels of unemployment, 79,100 first-time H-1B visas were issued to non-U.S. citizens in fiscal year 2002, which ended Sept. 30.
Add this to the 215,000 extensions and initial visas granted in exempt categories such as nonprofits, laboratories and colleges, and the number swells to more than 294,000.
"When so many American workers are unemployed, I believe it's time for Congress to lower the H-1B visa quota back to 65,000 from its current level of 195,000.
This will happen automatically if no new legislation is approved," IEEE-USA President Jim Leonard said.
"The large pool of guest workers makes it much more difficult for skilled U.S. workers to find jobs."
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 26,000 electrical and electronics engineers (EEs) were unemployed in the fourth quarter, as were 94,000 computer scientists, which includes systems analysts.
These are the highest figures ever for the two groups.
The unemployment rate for EEs dipped slightly from the third quarter, 3.9 percent vs. 4.0 percent, but rose for computer scientists, from 4.6 percent to 5.1 percent.
Unemployment among EEs more than doubled from 2.0 percent in 2001 to 4.2 percent in 2002. For computer scientists the rate jumped from 3.4 percent to 5.0 percent.
The EE unemployment rate has more than tripled since 2000, when it stood at 1.3 percent; and more than doubled among computer scientists (2.0 percent).
Despite a grim job outlook for the U.S. high-tech workforce, industry has petitioned, and government has granted 799,700 new or renewal H-1B visas in the past two years.
This includes 163,600 new visas in 2001 and 342,000 in exempt categories. And when FY '02 ended, another 18,000 new H-1B applications were pending.
IEEE-USA is an organizational unit of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers created in 1973 to promote the careers and public-policy interests of the more than 235,000 electrical, electronics, computer and software engineers who are U.S. members of the IEEE. The IEEE is the world's largest technical professional society. For more information, go to
http://www.ieeeusa.org.
If this weren’t so painfully real it would make great comedy.
U.S., Mexican bishops: Migration is a right
By Tim Steller ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Catholic bishops from Tucson and Hermosillo, Sonora, said Wednesday that international migration is a right, and they called on the United States and Mexico to embrace it.
During a press conference outside St. Augustine Cathedral, Bishop Manuel Moreno of the Tucson Diocese said a January letter on migration approved by all the U.S. and Mexican bishops is "unprecedented."
"For the first time ever, the U.S. and Mexican bishops have come together to speak with one voice about migration," Moreno said. "As bishops, we assert very clearly in our letter that the current immigration system between our two nations is broken and must be reformed."
The Jan. 22 statement adopted by the bishops of Mexico and the United States calls for a broad program of legalizing immigrants living illegally in the United States.
The statement also specifies that the Tohono O'odham and Yaqui people should have the right to cross the U.S.-Mexican border "without harassment or multiple identity checks."
Archbishop Ulises Macias of Hermosillo, called migration "a wave that grows ever stronger. Forced migration leads us to tragedy. A migration regulated by law leads us to communion
Getting rid of all H1B visas means that you open up 195,000 positions at most.
How many people in those specialties are unemployed?
The problem is not unemployment, but a sense of over-inflated job worth.
The problem is that American workers LIVE IN AMERICA. We can not get by with third world income levels and live in a first world country.
If you check around you will find that H-1B workers have problems surviving on their salaries too. The money looks good until they get here and have to pay our living costs.
Some companies have gotten around this problem by housing H-1B employees dormitory style. That may work if your are young and single.
What a disgrace!
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