U.S. to Sharply Cut Number of High-Tech Work Visas

Reuters ^ | September 22, 2003 | Alan Elsner

[AntiGuv]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is about to cut the number of employment visas it offers to highly qualified foreign workers from 195,000 to 65,000, immigration experts said on Monday.

Unless Congress acts by the end of this month -- and there is little sign it will do so -- the change will automatically take effect on Oct. 1. Employers, especially technology companies, argue the move will hurt them and the economy.

The change will affect the number of H1-B visas that can be issued each fiscal year. The visas are mostly used to bring high-tech experts from Asia, especially from the Indian sub-continent, to work in the United States for up to three years.

"The fact that Congress doesn't seem anxious to act reflects the political climate, with a lack of jobs for Americans," said New York immigration lawyer Cyrus Mehta.

"The pressure to change the limit will build up again when the economy picks up."

The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the issue last week. Republican chairman Orrin Hatch of Utah noted that many U.S. high-tech workers are unemployed and the committee needed to find ways of helping them without hurting the country's ability to compete globally.

Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy said: "Given the weakness of our current economy, and the rising unemployment we have experienced under President Bush's stewardship, many who supported the increase in 2000 now believe that 65,000 visas are sufficient."

But Patrick Duffy, Human Resources Attorney for Intel Corporation, said finding the best-educated engineering talent from around the world was critical to his company's future.

"We expect that we will continue to sponsor H-1B employees in the future for the simple reason that we cannot find enough U.S. workers with the advanced education, skills, and expertise we need," he said.

Elizabeth Dickson, director of immigration services for the Ingersoll-Rand Company, speaking on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said: "In the near-term, we simply must have access to foreign nationals. Many of them have been educated in the United States. By sending them home, we are at best sending them to our own foreign plant sites, and at worst to our competitors."

Immigration attorneys expect the new rules to set off a scramble by companies to fill their slots early before the ceiling is reached. How quickly that happens depends on the state of the economy, they said.

[TexasGunLover]

FINALLY

[JohnGalt]

Note: Tired and poor still welcome. Great Benefits.

[oceanview]

did we win this one? or am I mis-reading the article? I feel so beaten up on this issue, I can't differentiate reality from fantasy anymore...

[.cnI redruM]

A smart move. If people want to come here for work, they should come here to become US citizens. Now the problem will be preventing all of these high-tech companies from putting their work requirements into a zip file and emailing them to foreign countries.

Short of exempting email from First Amendment protections, I see no way of preventing this so-called 'outsourcing'.

[LinuxRocks]

Great news. It's about time they stood up for the American worker.

[JohnGalt]

Those already making over 60K anyway.

[TexasGunLover]

did we win this one? or am I mis-reading the article? I feel so beaten up on this issue, I can't differentiate reality from fantasy anymore..

Well kind of... we should have reduced the number to 0 and expelled all those already here, but that's just wishful thinking...

[nutmeg]

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.

[oceanview]

you might also add that those are the bulk of people paying federal income taxes.

[jern]

maybe the bitching on FR will now be exculsively on Arnold.

[JustAnAmerican]

"Employers, especially technology companies, argue the move will hurt them and the economy.

Tell these anti-American employers to shove it where the sun don't shine. Start hiring Americans you (expletive removed)'s, instead of trying to tell Americans they don't have the qualifications so you can hire some foreign POS at 1/3 the pay scale.

[CasearianDaoist]

sure there is a way to stop it. Taxes and Tariffs. Where there is a will there is a way.

[ItsOurTimeNow]

Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy said: "Given the weakness of our current economy, and the rising unemployment we have experienced under President Bush's stewardship, many who supported the increase in 2000 now believe that 65,000 visas are sufficient."

And the Dims still find a way to both dig Bush, and claim credit. Amazing...

[snippy_about_it]

This is such good news it's difficult to believe. Now let's cut it down to a big fat ZERO.

[skeeter]

FINALLY

Yeah, finally they cut the numbers back... to where they were when the recession started three years ago.

[old3030]

So, JohnGalt, do you have a problem with that?

[.cnI redruM]

A tax on email to foreign countries.....
That will have unintended consequences.

[dfwgator]

All this will do is even further accelerate moving more jobs offshore.

[JohnGalt]

No question, the government has an interest in seeing this group of IT employees take on the union mentality to ensure a steady stream of revenue.

The problem is that labor cost pressure will simply move major IT projects off shore.

The real culprit is government regulation that makes hiring an American employee so expensive; this is but a short term hold on immense downward pressure on labor wages.