They Are Bigger Than US

It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that they ( the H1B industry and its minions ) are bigger than we are ( Americans fighting massive government programs to import cheap foreign workers ).

A casual perusal of any of the search engines on the topic "H1B" will produce page after page of sites for H1B immigration lawyers, H1B bloggers, H1B interest groups, H1B sponsor organizations, H1B employment agencies, H1B assistance organizations ... there are even sites for H1B marriage brokers ... the list is endless.

Interspersed with these point men on cutting edge of reverse colonialism in America, one will find occasional links to sites opposing the H1B foreign worker program - the ratio is about 1 link opposing H1B to 10 supporting it.

Certainly, that is reason enough to conclude that "they are bigger than us", but one particular link caught my eye. I think it may say more about the power and scope of the H1B industry than the rest of them combined.

Call me naive, but I hold a special place in my heart for Wikipedia. In a sense, it is the voice of the people more than any other institution I know of, certainly more than our political institutions where money talks so frequently and eloquently. It's very democratic. Wikipedia is not perfect; no voice ever speaks perfectly. It is not flawless; nothing in this world is flawless. But it's very good, much better than our power/money besotted culture deserves.

So it was with real alarm that I encountered an article in Wikipedia concerning the so-called 'H1B Crisis'. I quote:

The H-1B crisis occurred most recently in 2008 when the US FY 2009 H-1B visa quota was reached one week into the application process starting April 1, 2008. The previous year had similar results. ...

What H1B Crisis ? As foul and flawed as the H1B program is, this is how it works. When something works the way it is supposed to, that means it's a crisis ? I had to question the premise of the whole article. And it wasn't just me questioning this article, half a dozen other people on the H1B Crisis discussion page also questioned it. "Propaganda" one person called it.

What really got me was that this article had been sitting there on Wikipedia for over a year, nearer to two years. Articles are routinely deleted or merged into other articles ( I recently interjected myself into a debate over an article which was about to get axed ). So why, amid the universal and unopposed opposition against an entire article devoted to an imaginary H1B crisis, is the thing still there ?

Is this persistence of the indefensible on Wikipedia telling something about H1B program itself ?

Perhaps it is saying that if this type of delusional nonsense about the H1B program can be so persistent in Wikipedia, then how much worse will the situation be among our money-crazed politicians in Washington looking for any delusion they can latch on to in order to keep a massive and lucrative job destruction program going.

They are bigger than us now, but more and more Americans are coming to understand how our politicians and business leaders have deceived us about the impact of foreign worker programs in this country. The odds against us may be 10 to 1 now, but times are changing. Eventually, Americans will be able to get their collective finger on the political delete button for the H1B program, sooner the better.

Crosstalk

This is the message body of the free fax service provided by the conservative Numbers USA group, which is often recommended to opponents of the H1B program by the "anti-immigration regulars". What does this message have to do with the H1B program, or with immigration reform for that matter ?

Dear [This fax will go to Rep. Nancy Pelosi]

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents do a fantastic job enforcing our nation's laws. How can you call them "un-American?"

I have learned to put up with your pro-illegal alien [ conservative code-word, people from another planet ], anti-American worker rhetoric. However, your recent comments at the "immigration listening session" are truly appalling.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents put their lives on the line on a daily basis to enforce our laws and protect the security and livelihoods of Americans. How can you call their actions "un-American?" You should not be criticizing them, you should be thanking them!

Sincerely, [Your name will appear here]

Have they ever heard the expression "e pluribus unum", that is "from many one" ?. If unity is strength, then what is the petty sniping so typical of our political system. Considering our fundamental disunity and preference for rhetoric over action, it's a wonder that things aren't worse in this country.

And by the way, this is what Pelosi actually said, not that it matters to the hard-core ideologists ....

The Lynchpin - Labor Condition Applications ( LCA )

The heavy attention paid to H1B visas misses the most critical element in the process of replacing expensive Americans with cheap foreign workers, that is the Labor Condition Application.

What are LCAs ?

A very good summary of FAQs about Labor Condition Applications at visalaw.com.

In the LCA, employers must make a series of "attestations". The key points are that the employer will pay the the prevailing wage paid to American employees in the same position and that employing the H-1B worker will not impact the working conditions of Americans. The LCA must also be made available for public viewing.

Amazingly [ wink wink ], the LCA contains nothing at all about the skills required for the H1B worker that it is requesting. The entire justification for the H1B program was the lack of modern IT job skills among Americans, its raison d'etre. And yet there's no information in the LCA concerning the very reason for its own existence, like a customer product order with no products ordered. That's very odd, isn't it.

What is H1B Dependence ?

There are additional requirements for "H1B dependent" employers, defined as employers with a total H1B staff of between 15% and 50% of employees, depending on the size of the company. The "H1B dependent" employer must also attest that 1) "it has not and will not displace a US worker during the period from 90 days before the H-1B petition is filed until 90 days after it has been filed" and 2) it has taken “good faith steps” to recruit US workers for the job, and that they have offered it to any US worker who applied that was at least as qualified as the H-1B non-immigrant."

Of course these requirements are routinely ignored, particularly the requirement that LDAs be made publicly available ( as far I can tell, only IBM is complying to the requirement, see link below ).

Many accounts of displaced Americans can be found in comments to articles and in news groups on the web. For that matter, I've seen it happen - the H1Bs showed up on the first Monday after the Friday massacre. Many thousands of other IT professionals in this country have witnessed the same thing in the last 10 years.

The other interesting point is “good faith steps to recruit US workers for the job". The "good faith" efforts seem to consist of placing ads ( directly or via captive H1B agencies ) in JobMonster, Dice, etc. from which they received hundreds if not thousands of resumes from applicants - none of whom happen to meet the requirements for the job. Aw, shucks, guess I'll have to hire a cheap H1B worker after all [ wink, wink ].

How H1B Dependent is America ?

How "H1B dependent" are we ? No one knows for certain - information about the program is carefully obscurificated by H1B employers and the Department of Labor. The problem must be at an advanced stage for secondary structures such as permanent "domestic H1B" industry to evolve within the United States.

Remedies to H1B Abuse

Expand the "Good Faith" Requirement for H1B Dependent Employers to All H1B Employers

A critical factor in reducing the job destruction capabilities of our government is to make the requirements for "H1B dependent" companies apply to all H1B employers. As it stands, if an employer is not H1B dependent, there is no requirement to make even a "good faith" effort to employ an American before hiring the H1B.

Require LCAs to Describe the "Specialized" Skills for the H1B Job

Another change to the LCA process to help Americans compete with foreign workers in the United States would be to require H1B employers to describe specific job skills in the LCA form. After all, the shortage of these skills was supposed to be the point of the LCA in the first place - image ordering a product without mentioning the product you are buying !.

Create a Public National Job Bank to Make the LCA Information Available to American Workers

It is a current requirement of H1B employers that LCAs be made available to the public, but compliance by H1B employers is the exception and often requires months of hoop jumping and complaints to the DOL arbitration process to access to them. Fix it !

These reforms would allow qualified Americans to view a LCA job description for potential H1B hires on the National Job Bank and recommend themselves to the company as a qualified candidate for the job.

Support the Durbin-Grassley Bill

The current form of the Durbin-Grassley Bill contains all three of the recommendations outlined above, in addition to a dozen others. If these three essential features can be retained in the final version of the bill, it would go a long way toward ending the practice by H1B employers of earmarking jobs for cheap foreign labor at the expense of working Americans.

Contact Sen. Dick Durbin or Sen. Chuck Grassley, sponsors of the Durbin-Grassley Bill and support them in their fight to get control over the H1B program.

The Future of Foreign Worker Policy in America - What Can Young Americans Expect ?

What are the U.S Government's intentions for foreign IT worker programs in America ?

Will there be new alphabet of foreign worker programs in the future , like D4X visas ? Will H1B visas of the future become just H1B visas by another name ?

What is our government long-term policy toward the importation of cheap foreign workers to replace Americans in their job ?

Most importantly, will the day arrive when a young American be able to plan a 20-year career without considering the threat of government foreign worker policy to their employment ?

In my view, the answer to the question above is "no". From now on, young Americans will need to consider future shifts in government foreign worker policy as a major factor when planning a career.

The Old World Order Meets the New World Order

The primary reason for the gloomy message is that most of the Washington apparatchiks are "all for it", or almost all of them are "all for it". For whatever reason ( lobbying, money, ideology, whatever), that will probably continue to be true for many years to come.

As a testament to this, considering persistent proposals in Congress to increase the number of H1B workers during our deepest economic recession in 50 years - the attitude in Washington can only be described as "never too much". How could they suggest such a thing at a time like this ? It's astounding and it's a bad sign for controlling foreign worker programs in the future. The motives must be very powerful, whatever they are.

In part, it is just the nature of the political beast: the exercise of power depends on conflicting interests. Future politicians in America will feed and nurture themselves at the fountain of conflict brought about by threats to our wellbeing - by deciding our futures, they will have more opportunities for the exercise of power. Blame human nature

Furthermore, there is the factor of historical precedent: if it's happened once, it can happen again. When a shark ( a politician, H1B agency, etc ) tastes blood ( money ), it wants more. It will remember and it is ruthless and persistent enough to get it any way it can; it's just a matter of being willing to "do what it takes", as they say.

Another perspective is to turn the question around with a hypothetical -if US government 'officials' were to state that their absolute, irrevocable policy in the future will be to limit the number of H1B visas from now until forever, would anyone believe them ? I'm wouldn't and I doubt if many other Americans would believe them.

The New American Job Market

I think it is safe to conclude that foreign worker programs have become a permanent feature of the American employment landscape.

Too much money 'on the table' ( several hundred billion dollars in the last 8 years ) and our political system is too susceptible to the power of money to expect that periodic floods of government-sanctioned foreign workers will cease being a major challenge to the continued existence of a professional class in this country.

By organizing and mobilizing, the American people may eventually be able to regain some control over our government in Washington and to limit the H1B program, but it's going to take a concerted effort followed by decades of public vigilance over foreign worker program to build confidence in the freedom of our jobs markets from government meddling.

The Future of American IT - Looking Through the Glass Darkly

Large, destructive foreign worker programs will probably never go away entirely as a threat to the careers of American professionals, not just as a threat to IT professionals but to all American professionals.

The disinformation campaign surrounding the foreign IT worker program has been about as slippery and dishonest as anything I have witnessed in my not inconsiderable life span, so take a careful look at the statistics behind the statistics. Dig deep into whatever information is available before deciding on a career in IT, engineering or any technical field. Everybody talks education, but are they putting their money where their mouths are ? Are they walking the walk ?

Without answers to the questions above about long-term government policy toward foreign workers, you are really just playing craps with your future. When planning a career, young Americans need to remember that the ultimate victim of "bad intelligence" will be themselves.

From Tiny Acorns ...

This is the start of a blog about power and money in early 21st century America.

It is about working and striving and surviving and failing to survive.

Above all it is about the future of young professionals in America. College graduates have been hammered hard in the last 10 years, well before the current recession/depression got going.

This is particularly true for Information Technology (IT) graduates, who have experienced a 50% decline in numbers and an estimated 50% decline in those who actually make the jump from academia to a professional career in industry. In other words, America is producing about one quarter of the number of software professionals as the 1990s.

If America can not produce future generations of trained professionals, then it may not have a future, at least not a future in any recognizable form.

The central theme at the moment is proliferating foreign worker programs in America, H1Bs, L1s, etc. In short, they are eating us alive - especially the entry level positions that used to fuel the careers of our young professionals.

The cornerstone of foreign worker programs in America is our federal government; that is Washington. Vast amounts of money are being spent to influence our political establishment in order to continue and even expand foreign worker programs, even as we struggle with the worst economic depression in 80 years.

No one knows how much money is being employed to influence our politicians. It may be in the range of $100 million a year, perhaps $150 million including state and local lobbying. This may seem like a lot of money, but it is a drop in the bucket compared to the scale of the foreign worker industry. Foreign IT workers alone cost us over $25 billion per year. The total for foreign workers in all categories is well over $100 billion per year ( it was $88 billion in 2001 ).

Note that no one knows even the approximate size of the foreign worker population in America. The government actually does not know how many legal foreign workers are in this country. Amazing, isn't it.

It must be stressed that these are legal foreign workers entering this country legally with work visas issued by the federal government. This has nothing to do with illegal workers and even less to do with all the touchy issues surrounding immigration reform. Personally, I am pro-immigration, I think that immigrants have done much for America and that legal immigration will continue to renew us with vigorous, talented citizens.

So I am pro-immigration. But I am also very pro-job, especially these days . To be pro-job means reducing both legal and illegal non-immigrant foreign workers in this country. The legals are estimated between 1 and 2 million ( again, no one knows for sure ). The number of illegal workers is anyone's guess - credible estimates range up to 10 million !

In other words, Americans have a huge mess to clean up and our political system has been seriously compromised by big money lobbies. Well it has been said that "K Street" is the fourth branch of government - it may have more power than the other three combined. Whether it is more powerful than the American people remains to be seen.

That's the basic outline of things to come.

TTFN.

How Big Is It ?

Comment from a recent NY Times article on H1Bs in bailout banks:

Once and for all, H1B workers are NOT paid less, it is not a cheap substitute for American labor force ...

- Posted by "temporary alien"

From Wikipedia on H1Bs:

The US governments OES office's data indicates that 90% of H-1B IT wages were below the median US wage for the same occupation.

From an in-depth article from University of California (Davis ) about the temporary employment and H1B visas:

Annual revenues for the industry [ including non-IT categories ] are expected to be $88 billion in 2001 ...

Note that the most recent estimate I can find ( subject to revision ) is an estimate of temporary and H1B industry revenue in 2001. Even Wikipedia failed me this time. And the old estimate itself is suspect enough, what part of it is IT-related ?

As a rough estimate, one might suggest 300,000 legal "temporary" IT workers/year X an average of $50,000/worker/year = $15 billion per year. The actual number of IT workers ( that is, legals in all visa categories such as H1B and PERM visas plus people overstaying their H1B visas plus outright illegal workers ) might be nearer 500,000. [ Note that current information as of June 2009 suggests that the true number for all categoreis might be higher ! ]

The $/worker/year rate of $50,000 may be fairly realistic, if taken as the bill-out rate to the agency, not what the worker nets ( maybe an average of $16,000/year income ? ).

In any case, why aren't revenue estimates available for the H1B employment in the U.S.A ?

I would hazard a guess about the reason for this mysterious statistical void - no one in American government or business really wants the public to know the scale of the H1B industry, or wants us to know how bad the situation is for employment of Americans in the American technology sector.

To H1B or not to H1B - Redux

Some interesting comments at zdnet.com. Note the article "Use H-1B or L-1 workers?" and the comment "H1-B Destroying our Education System".

"Have you ever heard that we are not educating enough people? As long as we keep allowing companies to use H1-b visas the demand for American Programmers will be low and colleges and Universities will get less interest in students wanting to be programmers because there is no demand in the job market for US Citizen Programmers. These actions and trends are bad for our education system and counter-productive for the United States of America.

Next time someone mentions something about lack of programmers blame in on the H1-b System, not our education system. I work at a community college and we have just about completely done away with our program in CIS or programming skills. We are focusing on Networking skills instead. I think this is directly related to H1-b visas."

Well said. What more do Americans need to know before they understand what is happening ?