Under harsh legislation that took effect yesterday, foreigners caught working without a permit in Malaysia could face fines of US$2,600, mandatory jail terms of five years and six lashes of a rattan cane.
Anyone who employs or houses an illegal migrant is subject to the same penalties.
Could we get away with caning illegals on the Rio Grande? [tongue planted only partly in cheek]
Bravo Malaysia!!!
Their """advanced database search""" is very helpful. For example in the advanced search, select the state as California, enter a city as Santa Clara, enter the employer name as Hewlett Packard and enter number of records as 50 then press the submit query button. You can see the positions and salaries of the H-1B employees. This is only for the HP offices in Santa Clara. Go back and do the above search but leave the enter a city blank. You will see that Hewlett Packard employs hundreds and hundreds of H-1B workers.
When Does the Department of Labor Investigate H-1B Fraud?
The short answer is ALMOST NEVER Employees of the Department of Labor cannot investigate complaints of fraud unless the Secretary of Labor authorizes it. To obtain an investigation, the Secretary of Labor must be personally involved in the process! [2]
The restrictions don't stop there:
The Secretary must receive the complaint not later than 12 months after the date of the alleged failure.
"The Secretary shall provide notice to an employer with respect to whom the Secretary has received information described in clause." This eliminates the possibility of complaining without your employer being notified. H-1Bs would never complain if they intended to stay in the U.S. and American workers might be very fearful of having their employer know that they filed a formal complaint to the DOL.
"There shall be no judicial review of a determination by the Secretary under this clause." This means that the Secretary has the sole power to make the decision to investigate and the courts cannot intervene.
H-1Bs basically don't ever have to worry about being prosecuted for fraud. Michael Bromwich, Justice Dept. Inspector General, said that "INS took no action" against aliens who obtained immigration documents by fraudulent means. Mr. Bromwich explained that previously the INS did not have a method of tracking these aliens. He also said that the agencies still "have a long way to go" in order to make a dent in the fraud that occurs.
Bromwich explained why the INS is not prosecuting the individuals who commit or are benefitting from nonimmigrant visa fraud, and what he said does not bode well for anybody that expects significant reform. Bromwich said INS focuses its attention on "heavy hitters," criminal enterprises or organizations that systematically fraud the system. He said there are too many individual cases to pursue. [4] Jill Esposito, State Dept. Post Liaison Division, Visa Office, Bureau of Consular Affairs, admitted that they don't have sufficient resources to conduct interviews for INS. Moreover, she said legislation governing these visa categories is "vague" and "open-ended," inviting abuse. [4]
Jacquelyn Williams-Bridgers, State Dept. Inspector General, said that it is difficult to determine whether companies seeking H-1B workers are legitimate. She responded it is difficult because there is little direct contact between consular officials and companies. [4]
Nancy Sambaiew,Bureau of Consular Affairs, said that it would make sense to more carefully scrutinize individuals from China, India, and Russia, who are the most frequent violators of nonimmigrant visa laws. Somehow her statement didn't sound very assuring. [4]
It must be reassuring to any foreigner that wants to falsify documents in order to work as an H-1B that they have nothing to fear. William Yates, INS Director, Immigration Services said that generally speaking, they don't deport those who use fraudulent documents in the H-1B program. [4]
BTTT
BTTT
I'd do what Malaysia did back in 2002, then offer a bounty on any illegals who were dumb enough to stay.