Mica's (L)oophole Bill

Date: Wednesday, May 21, 2003 12:07 PM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

www.ZaZona.com

Rep. John Mica of Florida is introducing a new bill to "reform" the L-1
visa. This visa is far worse than H-1B so it might as well start with L
for Loophole. Mica's bill won't change that.

I'm including commentary by Norm Matloff but let me see if I can
explain what he did in simpler terms.

Here is what happens without Mica's bill:

1 - The bodyshop TATA imports L-1 visa holders to work at Siemens in
Florida

2 - Siemens employees in Florida are forced to train their L-1
replacements

3 - L-1 visa holders learn to program computers

4 - Siemens employees are fired and replaced by the L-1s

OK, here is what will happen if Mica's reforms are passed:

1 - Siemens imports L-1 visa holders to work at Florida. They can't use
TATA anymore so they have to do the dirty work themselves.

2 - Siemens employees in Florida are forced to train their L-1
replacements

3 - L-1 visa holders learn to program computers

4 - Siemens employees are fired and replaced by the L-1s

Big difference, huh?

Mica's bill probably won't pass the House anyway. That's because
NASSCOM is probably busy lobbying Congress at this very instant. They
would never allow TATA or Infosys to lose business over a silly little
reform. By the way, H-1B has the same protection and yet TATA has no
problem supplying H-1Bs to our cheap worker hungry companies.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Norm Matloff [mailto:matloff@laura.cs.ucdavis.edu]
> Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2003 4:49 PM
> To: Norm Matloff
> Subject: L-1 proposal

> To: age discrimination/H-1B/L-1 e-newsletter

As many of you will recall, programmer Mike Emmons caused quite a stir
a few months ago when he "went public" with the fact that Siemens was
replacing him with a worker imported from India under the L-1 visa
program. The local TV news coverage was outstanding, and the local
congressperson, Rep. Mica, expressed a desire to introduce legislation
to remedy the problem. He has now introduced a bill to reform the L-1
program. Enclosed below are his statement from his Web page, and his
speech in the House, as recorded in the Congressional Record. I'm
sorry to say that it consists of one hypocritical and misleading
statement after another.

A few months ago Mica's aide contacted me, asking if I might provide
some advice for legislation on L-1. I said I would be happy to do so,
but that reform of L-1 should be coupled with reform of H-1B. The aide
made it clear that Mica was NOT going to touch H-1B, and he never
contacted me again. So when Mica says below that he wishes to close
"the back door to cheap labor," what he really means is that he wants
to keep the FRONT door to cheap labor open.

Mica's announcement says:

The Mica bill attempts to correct this inequity by prohibiting the
outsourcing of L-1 visa holders, similar to a provision contained in
the H-1B visa program.

The provision he mentions for the H-1B program is easily circumvented.
If for example employer X makes use of the services of an H-1B "body
shop" Y, the H-1B regulations prohibit Y from "renting" the worker to
X--but Y is allowed to have that worker work on X's project, as long as
X "subcontracts" the work to Y. Of course, this is nothing more than a
semantic game. They would do the same thing with L-1 if Mica's
proposal were enacted.

Mica says correctly that the L-1s are brought here as cheap labor, by
which Y in effect sells L-1 labor to X. But Mica would still allow X
to bring L-1s here *directly*, as long as X had some presence in the
worker's home country. Mica doesn't explain why THAT would not be for
the purposes of cheap labor. Of course, it WOULD be for that purpose.
By Mica's own admission, employers like X want that cheap labor; why
would their desire for cheap labor suddenly evaporate if they brought
in the workers themselves?

Mica claims that there are "protections" against abuse of the H-1B
program. Of course, those "protections" are phony; the studies,
including in the congressionally-mandated NRC report, clearly show that
H-1Bs are paid less than comparable Americans. Moreover, when real
protections were proposed for the H-1B program, Mica voted against
them.

Most importantly, if Mica really were interested in adding protections
to the L-1 program, he would have his proposal add a yearly cap to the
number of L-1 visas granted. (There is no cap now.) Yet he didn't do
so.

Useless as this bill is, I predict that it will go nowhere, i.e. won't
even get out of committee (or might pass committee but in even more
emasculated form). I doubt that Congress wants to open Pandora's Box
on this issue now. If they let this proposal get a public forum, the
American people may make the same points I'm making here, i.e. that
Mica's "reforms" mean almost nothing and that H-1B really needs
addressing too.

Norm

http://www.house.gov/mica/pr03l1.htm

MICA INTRODUCES L-1 VISA LEGISLATION

BILL CLOSES LOOPHOLE, PROTECTS AMERICAN JOBS

WASHINGTON, DC U.S. Rep. John L. Mica (FL-7th) today introduced
legislation aimed at closing a loophole in current immigration law and
protecting American jobs.

"Many Americans have found themselves in the unemployment line because
some companies have abused our immigration laws," Mica said.
"Unfortunately the L-1 visa program, while well-intentioned, has been
used as a back door to cheap labor."

Currently, companies can transfer employees from subsidiaries in
foreign countries to the United States through the L-1 visa program, as
long as the intracompany transferees have been employed with the
company for at least six months. Once in the country, those employees
can then be outsourced to other U.S. firms at a significantly lower
wages and as replacements for American workers. In some instances,
American workers have been forced to train their own L-1 replacements
or suffer the loss of severance pay.

The Mica bill attempts to correct this inequity by prohibiting the
outsourcing of L-1 visa holders, similar to a provision contained in
the H-1B visa program. Under this measure, American companies will
still be permitted to employ L-1 visa holders. However, those employees
can only be transferred from company subsidiaries, not from a third
party.

Mica continued, "While we want to help our businesses meet their
workforce needs, this proposal will help ensure that Americans are no
longer victimized through a legal loophole."

There are currently over 325,000 L-1 visa holders in the United States,
and hundreds of cases of the displacement of American workers. The Mica
bill is expected to be referred to the Judiciary Subcommittee on
Immigration and Claims.

http://www.ilw.com/lawyers/immigdaily/congress_news/2003,0521-lvisa.shtm

[Congressional Record: May 19, 2003 (Extensions)]
[Page E996-E997]
>From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr19my03-36]

L-1 VISA REFORM

______

HON. JOHN L. MICA

of florida

in the house of representatives

Monday, May 19, 2003

Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, today I have introduced a bill which seeks to

close a loophole in immigration law by prohibiting the outsourcing of
L-1 intracompany transferee visa holders, similar to a provision
contained in the H-1B visa program.

The L-1 visa allows companies with subsidiaries abroad the ability to

transfer employees

[[Page E997]]

from foreign countries to the United States as long as the intracompany
transferees have been employed with the company for at least six
months. Once in the country, those employees can then be outsourced to
American firms at a significantly lower wage. As a result, many
Americans have found themselves in the unemployment line. Simply put,
this is a back door to cheap labor.

In 1998, as the economy was soaring and demand for IT workers was

rising faster than supply, Congress passed S. 2045, the American
Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act. This legislation
temporarily increased the cap on H-1B visa holders allowed into the
country. In doing so, we also protected American jobs by adding
restrictions to the program. However, the L-1 visa remains unchecked,
unrestricted and unfortunately, abused. Unfortunately, thousands of
Americans are unfairly losing their jobs through the abuse of the L-1
temporary work visa program. There are currently over 325,000 L-1 visa
holders in the United States. In my 7th Congressional District of
Florida, there are hundreds of cases of the
displacement of American workers. In many of these instances, American
workers are forced to train their own L-1 replacements or suffer the
loss of their severance pay. Examples of similar replacements of
American workers by lower paid foreign workers arrive in my office
daily. This situation is deplorable. Mr. Speaker, during this time of
economic downturn we need to be creating jobs for Americans, not
putting more of them at risk by allowing firms to replace American
workers with foreign nationals who are not subject to the same wage
restrictions as holders of the H-1B visa.

Finally, I want to point out that American companies will still be

permitted to employ L-1 visa holders. However, those employees will
have to transfer from their own subsidiaries, not from a third party
outsource.

Mr. Speaker, I urge prompt consideration of this legislation.

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