Anyone Know of an H-1B news group?
I won't do a new H-1B post in this news group, so please don't flame me.
If you are here on an H-1B I want to make it easier for you to change jobs and get a higher salary so please don't flame me.
I'm looking for a H-1B news group to network on the issue with other concerned programmers.
Does anyone know of one?
If you are interested, the issue is described below in a recent letter to my senator.
You might want to contact your senators and reps on this issue.
Thanks.
Dave
==========================================
November 10, 2000
Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell
Dear Senator Campbell:
Thank you for your response to my letter on the H1-B legislation. Counting academic exemptions it will allow well over 600,000
skilled foreign guest workers in the next three years. Reading your letter I cannot help but feel that you have been misinformed
about this legislation and its likely impact. Some key questions follow:
Are you aware that 600,000 new H1-B visas represents a twenty-year output of American college graduates in computer science?
Do you believe that the American skilled labor market can absorb this huge supply of skilled labor with no impact on American
computer programmer salaries?
Are you aware with the current program (at the current lower visa quota) that more than half of the foreign workers are paid less
than a recent college graduate in computer science? What impact do you think this will have on salaries for future American
computer science graduates? If American computer science salaries do not rise as fast as other occupations, or go down, what impact
do you think that will have on the number of American computer science graduates in future years?
Are you aware of the September 7, 2000 GAO report that concludes that the INS and the DOL are not adequately equipped to combat
fraud in this program?
Are you aware that statistically the high tech industry discriminates against older workers and that this legislation encourages
that practice?
Are you aware that current immigration regulations create a situation where foreign workers are afraid to change jobs, even if they
are mistreated or underpaid?
As you can tell, I feel that this legislation is a ticking bomb. If you cannot answer yes to the questions above, please reconsider
this legislation and its likely impact. At least consider establishing a minimum salary for H-1B holders that is above the level
of a recent American college graduate. Employers that truly have high tech requirements that cannot be met in America should be
more than happy to pay that minimum for a skilled foreign worker. Those employers who are not willing to pay that minimum are
simply trading away America's future competitiveness for a fast buck.
I realize that the margin of passage of this legislation was extremely one-sided and thus I can only conclude that industry
lobbyists did not fully inform the Congress about the dark side of this bill. I know that it would take a courageous legislator to
question the likely outcome of this bill at this point and offer further legislation to protect America's interests. My question
is, are you that legislator?
Sincerely,
David A. Darden
cc: Representative Scott McInnis
Representative Lamar Smith
Senator Wayne Allard
