Search This Blog

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

The fight for the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, (S. 386)



November 12, 2019

One of the recent legislative bills that was introduced this year was Senate Bill 386 (S.386), The Fairness for High-skilled Immigrants Act by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT).  The bill's essence was to remove the 7 percent cap provision on high-skilled immigrants coming from a particular country.  The legislation is to counter a previous law that tried to institute fairness from who receives Green Cards after their permits to work in the United States and to make sure that no one country dominates receiving the coveted legal immigration status for its citizens.  In other words, it eliminates a 'country of origin' restriction. For example, the current system in place limits that India receives a maximum of 20 percent of the legal work permits (H-1B visas), most of whom enter the IT sector throughout the country.

_________________________

The topic of immigration has become an intense topic in the last three years, most notably due to the inauguration of President Trump, and his inflammatory rhetoric during his introductory news conference announcing his candidacy.  However, the focus has been on immigration of low-skilled workers, a large number of whom are undocumented.  What has not been discussed ad nauseam from media networks has been the proposed changes to the H-1B visa laws, which is a temporary visa category that allows companies in the United States to petition for high-skilled foreign individuals to work in "specialty occupations" in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, and who act as the individual's sponsor while they work in the country.  Some critics of this policy say that companies use this method to hire foreigners who can work for less money since they do not hold Green Cards or permanent residency. Both for and against this policy make salient points. These H-1B visas allow large American conglomerates to seek out coveted graduates in prestigious academic categories, while not having to pay fair market wages if they were U.S. citizens, as some critics allege.

Tech companies do tend to seek those who qualify for the H-1B visa program, saying that they do not have enough talent within the U.S. to fill many of the open positions.  However, American universities tend to produce the most graduates worldwide in STEM fields, although the areas that tech firms need the most are in engineering and product development.  American colleges and universities produced only 56,000 graduates in Information Technology and Silicon Valley firms have professed that they have many unfilled positions. Most of the H-1B visas tend to be given to outsourcing firms, primarily for their contracts in the United States. The visas are primarily for contract work for outsourcing and consultancy services.  Those companies include Infosys, Wipro, and Tata Consultancy Services, which are the largest. The Economist provided data that by 2020, there could be almost 1 million computers and IT jobs that could be vacant and need to be filled. Tech companies have to petition the U.S. government for an applicant they want and have to make sure that any immigrant who comes over on an H-1B must have at least a bachelor's degree, but many do in fact have Master's level of education.  These companies also must pay thousands of dollars in petitioning the government, so any effort on the part of the tech companies is due to chasing talented individuals.

The IT outsourcing firms get the lion's share of H-1B visas, and not the Silicon Valley tech companies as one would believe.  The stories that are promoted in the media where American workers who have to train their replacements are in IT services for large companies.  It is not for engineers and software developers, which is considered the most sought after occupations within the tech sector.  These IT firms tend to hire H-1B workers for low-end entry-level work ($60,000-$70,000).  The common misconception is that highly-qualified American workers are passed over in favor of immigrants in the same field.  While that is true in some instances, it is not wholly accurate. This is the crux of the issue.  The H-1B visa was intended to provide an opportunity for American corporations to bring in talented STEM graduates, but the law has been used instead to give outsourcing firms in the United States a loophole to bring in IT workers who are given below-market salaries for the work that could be done by American IT workers.  Senator Mike Lee's bill does not seem to clarify what type of jobs the alleviation of country caps will bring in.  It simply allows for a cap to be lifted on the number of applicants who are given the visas.  Does this benefit American companies, while preventing American citizens from finding those jobs available?

Another aspect of this debate is a push to get more women into STEM fields.  While that is a good thing, there have to be jobs open for them to apply.  Approximately 50% of all graduates in the STEM fields do not find employment within the field they studied for at U.S. colleges and universities. For some, it is due to finding gainful employment with a financially better opportunity outside of their field of study, while for others it is due to the lack of openings.  Senator Mike Lee's bill will make it harder for STEM graduates to find work as IT professionals, but I don't think it will harm those who graduate with engineering or software development degrees.  The tech companies are supportive of any legislation that allows for more immigrant graduates who have high levels of education.  Congress needs to make a determination that S. 386 will not impede Americans finding employment.

I would recommend that any reconciled bill of S.386 must show what types of positions the lifting of 'country of origin' restrictions for H-1B visas and subsequent pathway for Green Cards are being sought after. Specifically, are they for IT services positions (not in-house) since these are the positions that affect Americans in IT the most?  This will give Congress the opportunity to prevent companies from seeking large numbers of H-1B applicants for IT services that are given to foreign outsourcing companies. Instead, any signed law regarding H-1Bs should ensure that most IT positions within American corporations are given to Americans first, and if not, the evidence must show that no Americans are qualified to fill those positions.  Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) wants public hearings on this matter, and that is a good sign that whatever intentions there are for S.386, it will be transparent. There is no rush to pass a bill that deals with income for Americans.  Any issues that affect American jobs in a coveted field should not be diverted to firms specializing in outsourced IT jobs. I hope Senator Mike Lee is in no rush to get S.386 passed, for one of the few remaining options Americans have is to ensure that Congress protects their chances at a professional livelihood and provides opportunities for Americans first.















1 comment:

  1. It would be very troublesome if the facts do bear this out, and your bringing this to the attention of American citizens is appreciated. Profits for outsourced IT companies should not shortchange legitimate job opportunities for American graduates who take on student debt to achieve gainful employment. I look forward to the results of the public hearings.

    ReplyDelete

The State of the GOP Primary So Far

  January 10, 2024 After four debates between the Grand Old Party (GOP) aspirants for the party's nomination, it is still former Preside...