Senate approves 'strict' rules on hiring H-1B workers

Source: ComputerWorld

Bill sought to bar firms receiving bailout money from hiring foreign workers but set restrictions instead

February 6, 2009 (Computerworld) The U.S. Senate agreed on Friday to set restrictions on the hiring of H-1B workers by financial services firms that receive federal bailout funds, but it didn't bar the hiring of foreign workers as proponents had sought.

U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) had proposed legislation this week to prohibit any firm that received money under the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) from hiring foreign workers.

The amendment passed today, part of the stimulus plan being debated in the Senate, didn't include a blanket restriction on H-1B use and instead set a series of strict standards on H-1B hiring.

The Senate's amendment would require companies receiving TARP funds, mostly financial services firms with a lot of bad mortgages, to comply with hiring rules set for "H-1B dependent" firms --those with more than 15% of their workers on H-1B visas.

Any firm receiving TARP funds will be automatically considered H-1B dependent, regardless of the percentage of H-1B workers on the payroll.

The H-1B dependent designation subjects employers to a number of provisions, including a good faith effort to hire U.S. workers first.

Sen. Grassley said in a statement late Friday that the modified bill means companies receiving TARP funds would still be able to hire H-1B visa holders, but would have to comply with the "H-1B dependent"-employer rules "which include attesting to actively recruiting American workers; not displacing American workers with H-1B visa holders; and not replacing laid off American workers with foreign workers."

"Hiring American workers for limited available jobs should be a top priority for businesses taking taxpayer money through the TARP bailout program," Sen. Grassley said.





Read more: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9127552&intsrc=hm_list

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A continuation of this article: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3725826

"The H-1B dependent designation subjects employers to a number of provisions, including a good faith effort to hire U.S. workers first."

Well, that (good faith effort) worked out so damn well all these years so far. :sarcasm:

I've worked at companies that put forth that, "Good faith effort." What a joke.

:(

Time will tell.

H-1B Visas: 'Buy American' Comes to TARP

http://www.businessweek.com/blogs/money_politics/archives/2009/02/h-1b_visas_buy.html

Vee
February 6, 2009 06:44 PM
HATS OFF TO YOU SENATOR CHARLES GRASSLEY AND BERNIE SANDERS, THIS IS A GOOD BEGINNING, TOO MANY AMERICANS HAVE BEEN UNEMPLOYED BY THESE H1B AND L1 GUYS. THE NEXT STEP IS TO TOTALLY BAN OUTSOURCING 'IT JOBS' TO OTHER COUNTRIES.

debugger
February 6, 2009 07:09 PM
It's about time that our Senators fight for American IT workers. Hats Off to Senators Grassley and Sanders. Americans fund this stimulus and it just right that Americans benefit from this stimulus. American Jobs for Americans and American Products for American Stimulus Projects.

Coolmower
February 6, 2009 07:15 PM
Grassley is the new hero of the working man.

Rag
February 6, 2009 07:29 PM
Is this somekind of a joke on the American people, a law with so many loopholes!

Peter Pan
February 6, 2009 07:31 PM
Besides the word “abuse” itself I have not actually seen what the nature of the abuse is. I do not even get what H1B has anything to do with outsourcing, but may be it's just me. Before a potential H1B recipient gets a visa, his or her application with proposed wages has to go through the Labor Department, which sets the rates for all the occupations (pay attention, occupations, not companies) in the United States. So, if the article is hinting on the corruption case inside the Department, I cannot see how these evil H1B holders screw up America. I can tell how illegals screw up America not paying their share of taxes and enjoying the benefits. I can see how the government can close its eyes on 47 illegals working on a single SSN and making 47 payments towards social security and unemployment insurance that they can never claim. Can anybody, who actually KNOWS how the H1B process works, explain here the nature of these abuses. Or the article is trying to create a scapegoat for the financial collapse of this country? I can tell that you could blame CEO's getting multi-million dollar bonuses while their companies are failing, or Congress bailing out crooks on Wall Street, but certainly not the H1B holders.

baca
February 6, 2009 07:32 PM
There's a lot of misinformation going around. AP did not cover the story objectively.
http://blogs.ilw.com/gregsiskind/2009/02/04.html

Uninvited
February 6, 2009 07:37 PM
Vee, too many americans are unemployed because they are not as qualified as international executives. If you'd study hard in University instead of going to frat parties then firms would not have to look for international workers at all!!!

Ramalinga Makwana
February 6, 2009 07:44 PM
Just remember when you hear all this talk about Green Jobs and the Green Economy that 20 years ago it was going to be the information economy which was going to keep American jobs. The truth is that millions of jobs were handed over to H-1B and L-1 visa holders, with the economic multiplier effect of establishing Asian offshore back office services and call centers. This was deliberately going on via legislation and lobbying while the politicians and captains of industry were talking up the new economic opportunities of the information revolution and the internet. Those forces are in play again. Obama's Gregg is still a supporter of these efforts. If Republicans want a main street issue, they must join Grassley in abolishing the h-1b program and introduce a global, tested best and brightest program - not a handout to the largest racist - that's right check out how untouchable castes are treated - the largest racist nation that ever existed.

Stop globalization
February 6, 2009 07:48 PM
Fellow Nations. Stop Globalization. Stop sending your money to Americans by drinking pepsi and coke in your countries. Buy local drinks. Stop exporting items produced with your hardwork to americans at ridiculous prices.Screw Boeing go Airbus. Demand that oil be available for tarde in a basket of currencies not just dollars. Grant funny money status to dollars which is being printed at will.

Tom
February 6, 2009 07:53 PM
Thank you Senator Grassley! Grassley is an American Hero!

AB
February 6, 2009 08:06 PM
Please America...learn a lesson from this. The idea of protectionism will not work because you don't have a self sustaining economy...no one does!

Do you know that 500,000 have been laid off in India due to the recession? Whose fault is this? Is it not because you Americans would rather live on credit than on hard earned money? So take responsibility for your failures and learn your lesson.

Stop blaming H1-Bs/ L-1s. Tell me, did the US economy fail when the H1-B programme was at its peak? NOPE! That means the H1-B was NOT one of the things that contributed to the recession. Why do you think it is a good idea to avoid the real causes and focus on an irrelevant issue? Do you think you can stop the recession by deciding to avoid its causes?

Wake up and smell the coffee. Take responsibility. Stop celebrating high school graduation as though its a major achievement. Stop asking for an A grade in college because you paid tuition. Work hard, save money. Just because you failed math does not mean your talents have to lie somewhere else...consider the possibility that you might be stupid...with no talents at all! Tone down your self esteem. Earn money before you spend it.

Otherwise by kicking a ruckus about the H1-B program you are just behaving like Eric Cartman... The world isn't Butters.

Ramalinga Makwana
February 6, 2009 08:11 PM
Watch that what happens to the new "Green Economy" initiative does not turn into the old "Information Economy" initiative. Beginning with the Immigration Act of 1990 and other milestones - most shamefully the removal of the provision which required a thorough justification before an individual guest worker took a position for which an American was qualified - lobbyists (including Jack Abramoff's firm working with a Microsoft lobbying arm), special corporate interests and a particular South Asian government changed the guest worker laws of this country. In those 18 years hundreds of thousands of jobs went to foreigners, wages were depressed and the culture of science and computer programming was changed to discourage young Americans from enter these occupations. Thanks to the true conservative Grassley and true progressive Sanders for sticking up for the American children and the parents who bought the "information economy" only to have there wages depressed and their careers outsourced out of existence.
And by the way, there have been several articles in Business Week and other publications about h-1b fraud. For a laugh, see the quote in the NYT where an Indian official boasts of his countries good job at providing regulations which protect Indian interests and control the effects of foreign capitalists.

Stephen
February 6, 2009 08:18 PM
As bad as H1B is, the EB greencard program is just as bad, if not worse.

Citizenship means nothing to most of the H1B/EB greencard crowd. What's worse, H1B people who do get their greencards often get into management positions. Once they do, the anti-American discrimination only gets worse because the foreigners only want to hire people from their home countries. I even saw one instance where a newly promoted Indian project manager - a greencard holder - fired all of the Americans in his group and replaced them with H1B people from his home country.

Because of the job losses and Anti-American discrimination, both the H1B and EB greencard programs should be permanently shut down.

This one really gave me a full-go belly laugh:

I'm sure he or she got a completely free college education, and is not weighted down by enormous student loans, unlike American tech workers.

If there are 500,000 people laid off in India, with a population of close to 1 billion, that is a mere drop in the bucket compared to the number of Americans out of work with our population of less than 306 million. I'm not going to cry for their laid-off workers. If there were hundreds of thousands of Americans taking away their jobs, they'd be rioting.

As besides, 15+% H1-Bs itself is absurd. Anyone who believes the notion that it isn't possible to fill those jobs here - I'd like to sell them a nice bridge in Brooklyn.

Will we ever be able to defeat the global corpratist? Or is this just a revolving door of hope and propaganda.

H1-B visas should only be used in very few areas if any! They should have to PROVE they can't find a US Citizen! Damn it! I know I am getting harsh in my old age but it is my grandchildren who are getting kicked in the butt now! It is harder for them to even come close to the American Dream! Sad!

Sounds like "more of the same" to me.

using ILLEGAL aliens.

I don't see why H-1Bs should be excluded. :shrug: