Electronics industry group backs H-1B visa reform
By Colleen Taylor, Contributing Editor -- EDN, April 20, 2007
National trade organization Electronics Industries Alliance (EIA) expressed public support this week for recent proposals of congressional reform of the United States' H-1B and employment-based visa programs.
Rep. John Shadegg, a Republican from Arizona, has introduced the Securing Knowledge Innovation and Leadership (SKIL) Bill in the House of Representatives, which includes provisions for companies in the U.S. information and communications technology industry that employ educated foreign professionals. An identical measure, S. 1083, has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas.
The proposed legislation would raise the H-1B cap from 65,000 to 115,000, and apply the current 20,000 cap exemption to those with a master's degree or higher from an institution of higher education in a foreign country, not just U.S. advanced degrees. The bill would also raise the limit on employment based visas from 140,000 to 290,000 per year. The bill would apply retroactively, allowing companies to recapture unused visas from fiscal years 2001 to 2005, as well as carry unused visas forward to future years. In addition, it would permit domestic visa revalidation/renewal, so that professionals working in the U.S. who have complied with all immigration laws do not have to leave the country to revalidate their visas.
Earlier this month, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) received enough H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally mandated cap for fiscal year 2008 just one day after starting the receipt of applications. Contrastingly, it took nearly two months for the cap to be reached for fiscal year 2007.
In a statement Thursday, EIA urged lawmakers to make the proposal part of a comprehensive immigration reform package.
"American companies need more hands and more minds to succeed in the global marketplace," Storme Street, EIA's VP of government relations, said in a statement. "These visa programs have a proven track record of enabling businesses to innovate, contribute to the economy and, ultimately, create more U.S. jobs."
-
I agree with you, but so many Americans have sold out, it's beyound belief.
As for McDonald's, there are NO AMERICANS WORKERS working at McDonald's in the whole north east. Not one, and to boot, many of cheap labor workers don't speak one word of English.
Watch out ANY AMERICAN Employed - you''re next! It's just a matter of time. Very short time.
Laid Off - 2007-5-7 04:53:00 PDT -
Korporate(sic) AmeriKa (sic) doesn't want American workers!
It needs to servive with cheap (H-1B) labor. YOU think I'm kidding?
You must then NOT be aware of "Tube-Gate"
check the following: www.youtube.com/programmersguild
Bob contributor to www.eng-i.com/EGG.html
Bob J. - 2007-5-7 04:17:00 PDT -
Out of the 2008 H1B cap, how many are going to EIA related jobs? I am sure 80% of the applications are from IT body shoppers. Chain mails were in circulation for Indian graduates, for $5K an H1B application will be processed apparently with all the fake experience claims. see business.mainetoday.com/news/070123mandalapa.html?com_full=1 . As in a previous post, soon Mac workers will be in soup. Already some this H1Bs are working in gas stations andd restaurants. More importantly, $5K is the cost of US security.
Robert Kumar - 2007-26-4 05:53:00 PDT -
And how many American Engineers are out of work? Apparently the Mexican border isn''t the only place that needs a wall. Include airports on that list. Is it a surprise that the electronics industry supports and welcomes the H1-B program? Just follow the money! Oh, and don''t forget to ask an unemployed American Engineer what they think of H1-B. Watch out McDonald''s workers - you''re next!
ROBERT WEISE - 2007-23-4 12:21:00 PDT -
I think it's important that US be open with immigrants on H1-B about how long and difficult the Greencard/Labor Certification process will be. Most of these people come to the US with the hopes of staying, but few realize that obtaining a greencard is a 7-10 year nightmare that requires them to stay with the same employer throughout the process, something that's very hard to do. If the company goes under, the job location changes, the title changes, etc. it all gets reset for them.
Rob Volkel - 2007-23-4 09:45:00 PDT
