Townhall.com, Where Your Opinion Counts
Talk Radio:   Bill Bennett   Mike Gallagher   Dennis Prager   Michael Medved   Hugh Hewitt   
BREAKING NEWS  LeftArrow - Townhall.com : Conservative, Political, Republican   RightArrow - Townhall.com : Conservative, Political, Republican  
Columns, funnies & more in your inbox!
Login | What's Hot
  • Check the boxes and send us your email address to receveive your free newsletter
  • Your daily must-read of conservative columns, cartoons and news. Coulter, Sowell, Krauthammer and more.
  • Townhall.com’s weekly inside scoop on what’s happening behind the scenes in the world of politics. When news breaks, we report.
  • Signup to receive the latest daily Townhall cartoons
Monday, December 18, 2006
Phyllis Schlafly :: Townhall.com Columnist
Tech industry has ulterior motive regarding H-1B visas
by Phyllis Schlafly
Forward Print Share Single Page
Vote on It:
Average Vote:
[+] Text [-]
 
 
Poll
Will the Dems' health care Christmas Present to America be an improvement or detriment to our health care system?


Research by professor Norman Matloff of the University of California Davis confirms that there is no shortage of U.S. engineers or computer techies. If there were a shortage, salaries would be going up, but starting salaries for bachelor's degree graduates in computer science and electrical engineering, adjusted for inflation, are flat or falling.

A study by the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University also found that there is no shortage of U.S. engineers. Eighty percent of respondents to a Pratt survey say U.S. engineering jobs are filled within four months, and 88 percent didn't offer signing bonuses.

Many companies hire student engineers from India and China with only two or three years of college and then train them in their own facilities. U.S. students with two or three years of college get no job offers.

Much of the Compete America discussion involved blaming the U.S. educational system and the fact that fewer U.S. students are going into math and computer sciences. Yes, U.S. students have figured out that our engineers have a bleak employment future because of insourcing foreigners and outsourcing manufacturing.

The Compete America globalists are not interested in preserving America as the greatest nation and economy in the world, or in protecting American industry or jobs or universities or national security. They rejoice in economic redistribution from rich and prosperous nations to other countries around the world.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates spoke for the globalists: "The United States has been spoiled by being a global leader for so long that there may be an adjustment. We've got to get used to the fact that our relative share of everything - our ability to exercise unilateral decision-making, military power and economic power - won't be as out of line with our 5 percent share of world population as it is today."

Anyone who rejoices that the United States is losing its pre-eminence and distributing our wealth around the rest of the world must have lost all appreciation for the Yankee ingenuity essential to our prosperity. H-1B visas are a form of servitude that offends the free enterprise that made the United States the economic world leader.
1 2
| Full Article & Comments | < Previous
Share:
Forward Print Single Page
Vote on It:
Average Vote:
 
About The Author

Phyllis Schlafly is a national leader of the pro-family movement, a nationally syndicated columnist and author of Feminist Fantasies.
 
TOWNHALL DAILY: Be the first to read Phyllis Schlafly‘s column. Sign up today and receive Townhall.com daily lineup delivered each morning to your inbox.

Join The Debate!

Post Your Comment
(38 comments so Far)
View in ascending order     View in descending order
Reply # 1
Date: May 8, 2009 - 4:27 PM EST
Displacement or feeding job creation?
Maximpibs - I believe that the executives, doctors, nurses, etc. fall under the H1C program.

I don't believe that anyone thinks that you should not have an opportunity to work. From an American perspective however, the "Right sizing" or "cost cutting" that companies make of their workers in America to make their profits fit for the Stock analysts (and their bonuses) cuts at the heart of our economy.

We have the situation of NOT allowing seasonal or short-term minimally skilled people entry while encouraging larger companies to import while laying off local citizens.

We have a Senator from Washington State who demanded that Boing be allowed a rebid for a contract which may have gone to Airbus - but is NOT outraged about Microsoft laying off thousands of her voters then importing their replacements.

How would an Indian working 12 hour days for Tata like to find out that their jobs were being transferred to foreign Chinese brought in only for that purpose? There would be riots (or at least demonstrations) throughout the country.

Some of the hardest working programmers that I have met are H1B personnel.
Flag as Offensive

Reply # 2
Date: Jul 4, 2007 - 12:23 AM EST
Displacement or feeding job creation?
Among misconceptions Re "slave labor", there's also the whole idea that all H1-B workers are high-tech. That is not true. There are young executives, teachers, nurses and doctors aplenty. And there are studies that say that far from displacing US workers, those H1-B and green card newcomers are feeding job creation in the US.
To be honest, I don't see a problem with increasing the processing costs for companies wishing to employ foreign workers. Still, it seems to me that math and sciences are almost ignored as middle- and high-school level, which I think explains low interest of Americans for those areas and makes an influx of foreigners a necessity. Furthermore... I have to say that current visa setup appears to be beyond repair, as Byzantine as the regulations are. If you increase the fee, you should guarantee timely processing. While the excuse that the background check takes time had been used often in the recent Immigration bill debate, few people familiar with the visa process believe it has anything to do with the delays in processing. For that matter, background check for people already in the US is a bit like checking of cattle for infectious disease after letting them roam your field. It needs to be done, but in a manner that made sense.
On the other hand, if you want to kill all the vestiges of the so-called indenture, indeed, the Congress should uncouple the workers and employers once the status is granted - that would also help with wage level enforcement, with workers less afraid to report violations.

Disclaimer: while not a techie, I plan to be a beneficiary of the H1-B program as it currently stands, and then jump through hoops to get a green card and eventually citizenship (probably in about ten years). I have entered US legally, and have no problems with "enforcement first" approach, even though I believe that 80% of INS (now ICE) staff on all levels needs to be fired for gross incompetence and dereliction of duty, and that the whole immigration setup is broken and needs to be fixed. I don't like the current laws, but I have obeyed them, and believe everyone else should.
Flag as Offensive
Sign Up to Post Your CommentsSign Up to Post Your Comments
If you are already registered, click here to login. Otherwise, please take a few seconds to register with Townhall.com. Once you sign up, you’ll be able to post your comments immediately, use the action center, get podcasts, and more!
Note: Fields marked with a red asterisk (*) are required.
Salutation:
First Name:
*
Last Name:
*
Email:
*
Nickname:
*
Note: Nick name will be shown when you post comments.
Address 1:
*
Address 2:
City:
 *
State:
 *
Zip:
 *
Phone:
       
Your daily must-read of conservative columns, cartoons and news. Coulter, Sowell, Krauthammer and more.
(Bi-Weekly) We highlight the best opportunities from our partners for surveys, action items and more.