H-1B visas need to be easier to get, business leaders tell Congress

[OhioChick]

Pro-business and pro-labor sides come to some agreement on how to improve the H-1B visa system but debate continues on its impact on America jobs, wages

April 01, 2011 09:27 AM ET

A strange mix of business leaders asked a congressional subcommittee on Thursday to clear some of the red tape required to get H-1B visas. This request was countered by testimony from an academic saying the H-1B visa program encourages employers to hire cheaper foreign labor with ordinary skills who take away jobs from Americans.

All witnesses agreed the program needs immediate reform. In addition, the hearing before a House Judiciary Committee subcommittee showed some unusual progress in closing the gap between the traditional pro-business side that wants access to more foreign workers and the pro-labor side that says rampant abuse of the visa system has unfairly lowered wages.

For instance, the IEEE-USA sent in their lobbyist, Bruce Morrison, to argue for easier access to visas. Morrison said that something needs to be done to stop the exodus of foreign-born students after they earn degrees at U.S. universities in the fields of science, technology, engineering or math (STEM). He argued that Congress needs to roll out the "welcome mat" to STEM students with both visas and green cards, making it easier for U.S. companies to hire them.

"American technology firms need their skills for the research and product development that they are doing in the U.S. They need to draw from the full pool of U.S.-educated graduates, not just the minority that are already Americans. If this talent pool is not available here, American firms will move jobs to where they can access the talent they need. When they do that, it is not just the foreign born who leave. Along with them go multiples of jobs now held by Americans," Morrison testified.

More: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/040111-congressional-h1b-visa-meeting.html

[Vincardog]

1. WE (The US Government) needs to tell the corporations that we do not negotiate with terrorists.

Then tell it to the GOP then the Conservadems

[AndyTiedye]

2. Even Our Own Professional Organizations Stab Us In the Back

This is another of the reasons why there are no unions in engineering.
The people who run our professional organizations may have been engineers
a long time ago, but they are managers now, and they represent the
interests of management, not engineers.

[exboyfil]

3. Here is a profound suggestion

Why not make it easier for U.S. citizens to get STEM degrees? At our state universities it costs $2K more per year to get an Engineering degree than a Liberal Arts degree.

When I wanted to go back for my M.S. in Engineering in the 1990s - no assistantship money for me but plenty for foreign nationals. The state schools preferred folks coming straight out of their B.S. degrees over someone with seven years industrial experience.

[pnwmom]

4. Yes, and when qualifications are equal, why not give priority to citizens?

Why are we filling up our grad schools with foreign students while we're turning qualified citizens away?

[Vincardog]

5. Because they are running our schools as profit making businesses not necessary tools of society.

Why does any US student have to go into $100,000's of debt just for a BS?