Tear-Jerker Part 1
Tear-Jerker Part 1
Date: Thursday, October 02, 2003 3:56 PM
JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER
www.ZaZona.com
A flood of articles are starting to appear that warn of the dire
consequences that will occur if the cap of 65,000 H-1B visas isn't
raised back to astronomically large numbers. This newsletter is the
first in a series that will feature articles that pull on our
compassionate heart-strings as they explain the plight of the CEOs that
won't be allowed to buy corporate jets or pleasure yachts because the
protectionists won't let them hire enough H-1Bs to cut the cost of
labor.
Mitchell Wexler, a California immigration law attorney. said that
companies are going to start panicking after the first or second
quarter of next year if they aren't allowed to hire more H-1Bs. I
started to feel a sense of panic too, especially when Wexler called for
companies to "start lobbying now" for more H-1Bs.
Wexler said the new H-1B limits are misguided because, "these companies
help the U.S. economy and create jobs." He probably doesn't realize
that we don't care if H-1B creates more jobs for immigration attorneys
- but what the heck - let's shed a tear for him anyway!
Wexler is pulling out all the stops by making the ultimate threat - he
is saying that companies that can't hire enough H-1Bs "will go to
Canada or Mexico."
Let's all give Mitchell Wexler and his band of anti-American
corporations a message:
HASTA LA VISTA, BABY!
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0310010333oct01,1,1410442.story
Cap cut on foreign work visas
Some say shortage of skilled labor could hurt U.S. businesses
Advertisement
By T. Shawn Taylor
Tribune staff reporter
October 1, 2003
The number of new foreign workers allowed to enter the country will be
sharply limited in the coming year, as Congress declined to renew a
higher annual cap it set for a controversial visa program at the height
of the technology boom.
Known as the H1-B visa, the program allows employers to hire foreign
workers with special skills they can't find among American job
applicants. But on Wednesday, the annual limit on new H1-B visas
automatically rolled back to 65,000--a cap set in 1990.
As the economy boomed during the late 1990s, Congress raised the cap to
115,000 and eventually to 195,000 in 2000 at the request of the
business community.
But with unemployment at 6.1 percent, the economy still shaky and
immigration issues woefully unpopular since the terrorist attacks of
Sept. 11, employers didn't protest as the rollback went into effect as
scheduled on Oct. 1, the start of the federal fiscal calendar.
That inaction, however, could come back to haunt them when the recovery
gains steam, some observers said.
"I think companies are going to start panicking after the first or
second quarter of next year," said Mitchell Wexler, a California
immigration law attorney. "Our clients are doing better, and what comes
hand in hand are more visa applications. They should start lobbying
now."
Eleanor Pelta, an employment law attorney in northern Virginia who
represents employers, said demand for new H1-Bs outpaces the 65,000
cap.
As of the third quarter, 56,986 H1-B applications had been approved,
according to the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services,
part of the Department of Homeland Security. Fourth-quarter data were
not available.
"The 65,000 is not going to be sufficient," Pelta said. "Congress is
very reactive when it comes to immigration. By the time they look at an
issue and make a decision, often the economic conditions have changed.
That's what I'm concerned may happen here."
Right now, Mike Maginity, recruiter and partner for ProAlliance Corp.,
an IT consulting firm in Rolling Meadows, says he's not worried. The
company has 36 employees; six were brought in on H1-B visas, including
Kiran Patil, who was able to obtain his green card. But the firm hasn't
hired any foreign workers in about two years.
Patil said he was somewhat sad to learn about the H1-B limits being
imposed but understands why.
"Since the economy is doing so bad, I think that would improve the
situation" for U.S. workers, he said.
H1-B visas are renewable after three years for up to six years. Workers
seeking a green card can get permission to continue working while their
application is pending. The cap does not affect existing H1-B holders
working in the United States.
Even some large firms have put new visa applications on hold.
Convergys, a Cincinnati-based outsourcing firm with an office in
Itasca, employs about 44,000 people, with an estimated 300 foreign
workers in various stages of the immigration process, said Ron Palmera,
senior manager of recruiting.
Some are students holding F-1 visas who hope to transfer to an H1-B;
others are waiting out the green card process, which can take several
years.
"The students on F-1 visas who would've been transferring to H1-Bs ...
because of this rule, there are so many that won't get in this year,"
Palmera said.
Pro-labor groups called the rollback a victory. They had opposed
expanding the program, saying employers were using foreign visas to
replace American workers with cheaper overseas labor. But now they are
bracing for another struggle after the economy recovers.
"On balance, it's good news for tech workers, because over the next
several months there will be far fewer visas let out," said Mike
Gildea, executive director of the Department for Professional
Employees, a union affiliated with the AFL-CIO, the nation's largest
labor federation.
"I can guarantee you that if there is an effort by tech and other
industries to bump that up, that we will fight like hell to keep it at
65,000. There are too many workers out there, tech and otherwise, who
are unemployed."
Copyright ) 2003, Chicago Tribune
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