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- iHaveNet.com: Economy
by Norm Matloff
The H-1B work visa program should be reduced in scope, not expanded, as the program is fundamentally about cheap labor. Gaping loopholes enable employers to hire tech workers at below-market wages, in full compliance with the law. This has been confirmed repeatedly in statistical studies done in government and academia.
Even Rep. Zoe Lofgren,
Even Vivek Wadhwa, a former tech CEO who advocates liberalization of employment-based green cards, has pointed out, "I know from my experience as a tech CEO that H-1Bs are cheaper than domestic hires. Technically, these workers are supposed to be paid a 'prevailing wage,' but this mechanism is riddled with loopholes."
The industry lobbyists claim H-1B is needed to remedy tech labor shortages, but studies by
the
Worse,
Former Fed chief Alan Greenspan has actually lauded the wage-growth
suppressing effect of H-1B. Even more outrageously, a 1989
Much has been written about the number of businesses started by immigrant engineers. That is factual, but it should not surprise anyone -- given the large number of immigrant engineers, there should be a lot of immigrant-founded businesses. Note also that many Indian-immigrant businesses are engaged in offshoring work out of the U.S., and that Berkeley's AnnaLee Saxenian found that 29 percent of Chinese-immigrant businesses are merely "PC wholesalers"; these businesses don't innovate or otherwise enhance U.S. tech prowess.
The H-1B program should be returned to the goal Congress had back when it created the predecessor H-1 visa -- bringing in "the best and the brightest" from around the globe. But only a small fraction of H-1B workrs are in that league. On the contrary,
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Abuse of the H-1B Visa Program Is Widespread