Hagel and Lieberman introduce H-1B increase bill

Date: Thursday, May 17, 2007 3:05 AM

<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1694 -- 5/17/2007 >>>>>

Senators Hagel and Lieberman introduced another bill to increase the H-1B
cap. These Senators leave no doubt who is calling the shots -- this from
the Lieberman website:

The Lieberman-Hagel bill enjoys support from a wide-range of
businesses technology groups, including Microsoft Corporation
and Compete America.

Some of its most pernicious features are as follows:

* Increases the H-1B cap to 115,000.

* Allows for increases to the cap based on a "market-based escalator" that
allows the limit to rise to 180,000.

* Exempts from the H-1B cap graduate degree holders from both U.S. and
foreign universities.

* Exempts medical specialists.

* Gives similar exemptions to Green Card caps.

* Allows immediate family members to come to the U.S. with authorizations
to work. This provision is probably the worst part of the bill because of
its multiplicative effect on work visas and of course other side-effects of
immigration including chain migration, anchor babies, strain on
infrastucture and resources, overpopulation etc.

* Gives a few perfunctory fraud protections. I almost laughed when I saw
that the bill authorizes the DOL to hire 200 more employees to oversea the
huge influx of visas. The bill doesn't specify how many actual
investigators will be hired to root out fraud -- it just says 200 more
bureaucrats.

This is an updated list of bills to raise the H-1B cap. Senator Hagel is
now the big dog with two bills, but the state of Arizona definitely gets
the dubious honor of the most politicians to sponsor open-border
legislation.

Perhaps we should nickname the bill "Liebagel" to honor the two Senators,
or perhaps even "MicroLieBagel" to give credit to their puppeteers,
Microsoft.

There is an obvious contest going on in Congress to be the first one to
pass an H-1B increase. The grand prize to the winner will probably be
mountains of money from high-tech industries.

List of Current Bills to Raise H-1B Cap

* S. 1348, "Comprehensive Immigration Reform", President Bush, McCain
(R-AZ), Kyl (R-AZ), Kennedy (D-MA). The H-1B increase portion of S1348
contains the SKIL Bill.

* "Skilled Worker Immigration and Fairness Act of 2007", Hagel (R-NE) and
Lieberman (ID-CT)

* H.R. 1645, "Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant
Economy Act of 2007", (STRIVE Act), Gutierrez (D-IL) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ)

* H.R.1758. "To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide
status", David Wu (D-OR)

* H.R.1930, "Securing Knowledge, Innovation, and Leadership Act of 2007",
(SKIL Bill), Shadegg (R-AZ)

* S.1083, "Securing Knowledge, Innovation, and Leadership Act of 2007",
(SKIL Bill), Cornyn (R-TX)

* S.1092, "The High-Tech Worker Relief Act of 2007", Hagel (R-NE)

Materials Included

http://lieberman.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=274275or
http://hagel.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=219535&Month=5&Year=2007
Lieberman, Hagel Call for Increase in Skilled Workers to Boost U.S. Economy

(press release)

http://lieberman.senate.gov/documents/SWIFbillsummary.pdf
Lieberman-Hagel Skilled Worker Immigration and Fairness Act (bill summary)

http://www.embedded.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199601027
Another Day, Another H-1B Visa Reform Bill

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://lieberman.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=274275or
http://hagel.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=219535&Month=5&Year=2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 15, 2007

Contact: Rob Sawicki

Phone: 202.224.4041

Lieberman, Hagel Call for Increase in Skilled Workers to Boost U.S. Economy

Senators introduce the Skilled Worker Immigration and Fairness Act of 2007

WASHINGTON - Senators Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) and Chuck Hagel (R-NE) today
introduced the Skilled Worker Immigration and Fairness Act of 2007 to
ensure that America's innovative industries can hire the workers they need
to fuel US economic growth, and to better protect American workers. The
bill is also co-sponsored by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and George
Voinovich (R-OH).

The bill would increase the annual allotment of H-1B visas, which provide
American employers with access to highly educated foreign professionals in
"specialty occupations" (those requiring at least a U.S. bachelor's degree
or equivalent education and work experience). Despite dramatic changes to
the US economy in the past 17 years, the H-1B cap remains at its 1990 limit
of 65,000 per year (an additional 20,000 visas are available for foreign
nationals holding US graduate degrees). As a result, thousands of U.S.
high-tech jobs today remain unfilled.

"To remain competitive, American companies need access to highly educated
individuals," Lieberman said. "But today's system makes it difficult for
innovative employers to recruit and retain highly educated talent, which
puts the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage globally. As part of
comprehensive immigration reform, we must address this crisis to ensure
that America remains the world leader in innovation. At the same time, we
must strengthen the H-1B program to ensure that American workers are
protected."

"The severe shortage of H-1B visas is a nation-wide problem, and Nebraska
is directly affected. The demand in underserved communities throughout
Nebraska for these highly qualified individuals, such as doctors and nurses
in rural areas, far out number the supply. This legislation is important to
helping keep America competitive in the 21st Century workplace," Hagel
said.

"Keeping America's economy strong depends on having enough skilled
workers," said Cantwell. "That means making sure education and training
opportunities are affordable and accessible, but it also means getting help
from the world's best and brightest when there are skill shortages. With so
many high-tech companies in the Pacific Northwest, we need an H-1B visa
process that meets employer demands as well as prevents fraud and abuse.
This proposal strikes a balance on the H-1B visa program, which is key to
investing in our future and keeping America competitive."

The Lieberman-Hagel bill would increase the cap to 115,000 in 2007 and
would add a flexible adjustment mechanism that would enable to cap to rise
as high as 180,000, depending on market conditions (this ceiling would
still be less than the 195,000 limit in 2001-2003). Additionally, the bill
would exempt from the cap foreign nationals who hold a US graduate degree;
a non-US graduate degree in science, technology, engineering or math; or a
US medical specialty certification.

Currently, foreign nationals count for 56% of all engineering master's
degrees and 65% of engineering Ph.D. degrees awarded by Connecticut
universities. In Nebraska, the percentages are 37% and 72%, respectively.

In raising the H-1B cap, the bill would also create meaningful and
reasonable reforms to prevent visa fraud and abuse. The bill includes
provisions that would:

Prohibit employers from advertising jobs as exclusively open to H-1B
visa holders.

Provide that employers with 50 employees cannot have more than half of
their workforce on H-1B visas.

Remove unnecessary restrictions on the Department of Labor's (DOL)
ability to investigate H-1B compliance.

Authorize DOL to hire an additional 200 employees to administer,
oversee, investigate and enforce the H-1B program.

Raise the H-1B petition fee by $500, to pay for enhanced enforcement
and ensure the program pays for itself.

Authorize reasonable improvements to coordination among DOL, the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of State (DOS).

The bill also allows the most highly qualified green card applicants to
immigrate without being subject to artificial caps. Immediate families of
employment based immigrants will no longer count against the worker caps.

The Lieberman-Hagel bill enjoys support from a wide-range of businesses
technology groups, including Microsoft Corporation and Compete America, a
coalition of corporations, educators, research institutions and trade
associations committed to assuring that US employers have the ability to
hire and retain the world's best talent.

"The nation continues to witness a dramatic decline in the number of native
born computer science graduates," said Jack Krumholtz, Managing Director of
Federal Government Affairs for Microsoft Corp. "As a result, technology
companies like Microsoft rely on the H-1B visa and employment-based green
card programs to deliver an adequate supply of highly qualified employees
to help maintain our competitive position. That can only be achieved
through immediate reform of these programs to ensure they are meeting the
needs of our economy. We commend Senators Lieberman, Hagel, Cantwell and
Voinovich for their leadership in addressing this critical problem, and
urge the Senate to adopt these measures and pass expeditiously
comprehensive immigration reform legislation."

"The Skilled Worker Immigration and Fairness Act would provide crucial
reforms to the H-1B visa and EB green card processes that U.S. companies
urgently need," stated Robert Hoffman, Vice President for Government and
Public Affairs at Oracle and Co-Chair of Compete America. "Senators
Lieberman and Hagel should be commended for taking a leading role on an
issue that is so important to America's continued innovation leadership and
economic strength."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://lieberman.senate.gov/documents/SWIFbillsummary.pdf

Lieberman-Hagel Skilled Worker Immigration and Fairness Act
' 1. Short title; table of contents.
' 2. H-1B visas.
(a)
Creates exemptions from the H-1B cap for holders of:
i.
US masters or higher degrees (currently, the exemption is capped at
20,000/year);
ii.
medical specialty certification based on post-doctoral training and
experience in the US; and
iii.
non-US masters or higher degrees in science, technology, engineering, or
math (STEM).
(b)
Increases the cap on H-1B visas to 115,000 in FY07. (Currently, the cap is
65,000/year, although the cap was at 195,000 at the beginning of this
decade).
(c)
Beginning in FY08, creates a flexible market-based escalator with a base
limit of 115,000 visas/year. If the cap is exhausted in a given fiscal
year, then the subsequent fiscal years base limit would increase by 20%,
up to a ceiling of 180,000. (This is similar to a provision included in
last years Senate-passed immigration bill, S.2611.)
' 3. Employment-based immigration.
(a)
Creates exemptions from the employment-based (EB) green card cap for:
i.
holders of US masters or higher degrees, or non-US masters or higher
degrees in STEM fields who have been working in a related field in the US
for three years preceding their application;
ii.
aliens of "extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education,
business, or athletics";
iii.
"outstanding professors and researchers";
iv.
recipients of national interest waivers; and
v.
immediate relatives of employment-based immigrants.
(b)
Enables employment-based immigrants and their dependents to file an
application for adjustment of status, regardless of whether a visa is
immediately available.
' 4. H-1B visa fraud and abuse protections.
(a)
Prohibits employers from advertising a job as available only for, or as
giving preference to, H-1B visa holders.
(b)
Prohibits employers with over 50 employees from having more than half of
their workforce on H-1B visas.
(c)
Gives the Department of Labor (DOL) authority to review employers H-1B
labor certification applications for "clear indicators of fraud or
misrepresentation of material fact." (DOL is currently restricted to
screening applications for "completeness and obvious inaccuracies.")
(d)
Expands DOLs authority to conduct employer investigations and
streamlines the investigative process by expanding DOLs authority to
conduct investigations from 12 months to 24 months; eliminating the
requirement that the DOL Secretary personally certify an investigation; and
removing limits on types of information can be used to investigate unlawful
activity.
(e)
Authorizes DOL to hire an additional 200 employees to administer, oversee,
investigate and enforce the H-1B program.
(f)
Raises the petition fee by $500, to fund compliance.
(g)
Authorizes reasonable improvements to coordination among DOL, DHS and DOS
(as recommended by the US Government Accountability Office).
(h)
Gives DOL the ability to conduct random audits of any company that uses the
H-1B program, and requires DOL to conduct annual audits of companies with
more than 100 employees that have 15% or more of those workers on H-1B
visas.
(i)
Doubles penalties for employers who violate any of the H-1B programs
requirements and protections for U.S. workers.
(j)
Requires DOL to provide H-1B visa holders with information about their
rights, including wage and labor protections.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.embedded.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199601027

Another Day, Another H-1B Visa Reform Bill

By Marianne Kolbasuk McGee, Courtesy of InformationWeek
May 16 2007 (10:00 AM)
URL: http://www.embedded.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199601027

A new bi-partisan bill to raise the H-1B visa cap and impose reforms to
prevent visa abuse and fraud was introduced on Tuesday by Senators Joseph
Lieberman (D-Conn.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.).

The Skilled Worker Immigration and Fairness Act of 2007 is the latest bill
introduced in Congress in recent months proposing changes to the H-1B visa
program, the most common visa used by foreign-born technology professionals
working in the U.S.

The new Lieberman-Hagel bill looks to raise the current annual ceiling on
H-1B visas from 65,000 to 115,000 this year, with provisions to adjust the
annual cap as high as 180,000 based on market conditions. The bill's
proposal to raise the H-1B cap are similar to the H-1B increases in other
bills that have been introduced this year, as well as in Congress last
year.

However, the new Lieberman-Hagel bill also comes only one day after two
other U.S. senators, Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who
are both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on
Immigration, Border Security, and Refugees, sent letters to nine Indian
firms asking for details on how they use their H-1B visas. Among the
companies sent letters was Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, Santyam, and
Infosys, all among the most frequent users of the H-1B visa program.

In April, Grassley and Durbin also introduced a bill to reform the H-1B and
L-1 visa programs. L-1 visas, for which there isn't an annual cap, are used
by managers of multinational companies.

While the Durbin-Grassley legislation doesn't look to raise the H-1B cap as
the new Lieberman-Hagel bill proposes, both bills proposes similar H-1B
reforms to prevent abuse and fraud.

Among the reforms in the Lieberman-Hagel bill are authorizing the Dept. of
Labor to ramp up staff to investigate and enforce the H-1B program;
prohibiting employers from advertising jobs as exclusively open to H-1B
visa holders; providing that employers with 50 employees cannot have more
than half of their workforce on H-1B visas.

Based on filings with the Security and Exchange commission, Infosys, Satyam
and Wipro all rely on H-1B workers for the majority of their U.S. staff.

Not everyone is satisfied with the anti-abuse provisions in the new
Lieberman-Hagel bill. Ron Hira, assistant professor of public policy at
Rochester Institute of Technology and a research associate on leave from
the Economic Policy Institute, says the Lieberman-Hagel bill is watered
down compared to the anti-abuse and anti-fraud provisions in the
Durbin-Grassley legislation.

"The two most important provisions of Durbin-Grassley are missing from
Lieberman-Hagel," Hira wrote in an e-mail to InformationWeek. Those two
provisions missing from the latest reform bill but included in
Durbin-Grassley legislation are focused on "fixing the prevailing wage" and
"ensuring there is a labor market test for all firms to prevent
displacement of U.S. workers and ensure good faith efforts of recruiting
and hiring US workers," he wrote.

Many employers who use H-1B visa workers skirt around paying those people
the prevailing wages expected by Americans doing the same work in the U.S,
critics of the H-1B program charge.

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