Date: Mon, 14 May 2007 23:28:16 -0700 From: Norm Matloff To: Norm Matloff Subject: Durbin/Grassley bill news To: H-1B/L-1/offshoring e-newsletter Last week I reported on a conversation I had, at the urging of a couple of activist critics of the H-1B program, with a staffer on Capitol Hill concerning the Durbin/Grassley bill. You can read my posting at http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/Archive/DurbinBillStatus.txt but a summary would be this: 1. I stated that I like the bill, or the 10% of it that I refer to as the Valuable portion, very much, but I was concerned that the bill's ultimate fate would be that its Valuable portion would be deleted and its Not Helpful remainder would be folded into some other bill. The staffer said that what I feared would probably occur. 2. In the discussion, the staffer mentioned a plan to survey some firms that are big users of H-1Bs. She asked what I felt they should ask them. I said that they should demand to know how many Americans applied for the jobs taken by the H-1Bs, and why the Americans were generally not hired. Also, she mentioned some of the firms they planned to query. They turned out to all be Indian-owned, which I objected to as being unwarranted scapegoating and highly misleading, as it would imply that the non-Indian firms act more responsibly, which they don't. Well, according to tonight's Lou Dobbs show, the plan is going forward to offer the Durbin/Grassley bill as an amendment to the main immigration bill. Meanwhile, Durbin and Grassley put out a press release, enclosed below, sadly confirming that they will indeed pick on the Indian companies. It certainly will be interesting to see whether these companies supply the requested data. They may decline, citing privacy issues and the like, but if they choose to provide it, they will have no trouble putting everything in a good light, because the questions in the survey were poorly chosen. Take the questions about layoffs, for instance. I imagine those firms had a good laugh over that one, because rather than laying people off, these firms hire H-1Bs who are used to replace Americans who are laid off by the NON-Indian firms! For example, the Bank of America has laid off many Americans and replaced them by workers from India (often requiring the laid-off Americans to train their foreign replacements). So it is a sweet irony from the point of view of the Indian firms, and they can truthfully say they aren't laying people off, and will falsely look fine on that score. What about the question concerning recruiting Americans? The phrasing of the question is very, very mild, so the firms' PR people will have no trouble with it. They'll say something like, "In the past five years, we have doubled the number of American university campuses that we recruit at, we advertise heavily in the campus newspapers, we have greatly expanded our training program for Americans, etc." The question about age will be a little embarrassing to these firms--recall my frequent comment that the dirty little secret about H-1B is that it is used by all employers (large, small, Indian, non-Indian) as a means to avoid hiring Americans of age 40 and above--but they will point to government data showing that they are not much different from the hiring in the industry as a whole. They'll then trot out the industry lobbyists' usual line, "We have to hire the new graduates, because they're the only ones who know the new technologies"--not true, but Congress has always believed it. On the wage issue, they'll mix together various job titles so as to totally hide the problems. In the end, the industry lobbyists will declare victory, saying that even the Indian firms, whom many have accused as being the main abusers of the H-1B program, are doing just fine. They will then say, "Violation of the law is rare," another standard line which, as I've said before, is completely misleading, as the huge loopholes in the law allow employers to underpay H-1Bs in full compliance with the law. In other words, the industry lobbyists will come out of this exercise with an even stronger position than they had before. I'm a critic of the H-1B program, but I almost never contact people in Congress concerning it. My conversation with the staffer last week was a rare exception, one which reminded me why I usually don't spend time on such things. Today's press release reminds me of that even more. Some who read this posting here may feel that I ought not to be so critical of these two senators, who after all have put together a bill that I have publicly endorsed. But I'm not really blaming Durbin and Grassley. H-1B is an extremely complicated issue, and staffers on the Hill simply don't have time to become experts. So the industry lobbyists, who do have time to become experts (by which I mean experts in preparing plausible-sounding arguments which are highly misleading), will always be able to run rings around the well-meaning congressional staffers. That's really sad. The press release, a sample letter, and an Associated Press article, are enclosed below. Norm From: Grassley Press Sent: Monday, May 14, 2007 1:09 PM To: Grassley Press Subject: Senators Seek H-1B visa details U.S. Senate For Immediate Release Monday, May 14, 2007 Grassley, Durbin Ask for Details on Companies' Use of H-1B Visas Top Nine Foreign Based Companies Use Nearly 20,000 H-1B Visas WASHINGTON - Senators Chuck Grassley and Richard Durbin today asked the top nine foreign based companies in 2006 that used nearly 20,000 of the available H-1B visas to disclose further details about their workforce and their use of the special visa program. "More and more it appears that companies are using H-1B visas to displace qualified, American workers," Grassley said. "Now, as we move closer to debate on an immigration bill, I continue to hear how people want to increase the number of H-1B visas that are available to companies. Considering the high amount of fraud and abuse in the visa program, we need to take a good, hard look at the employers who are using H-1B visas and how they are using them." "Supporters claim the goal of the H-1B program is to help the American economy by allowing U.S. companies to hire needed foreign workers. The reality is that too many H-1B visas are being used to facilitate the outsourcing of American jobs to other countries," Durbin said. "We have to look at the system that generates these visas and the way they are used. This legislation will help protect American workers first by stopping H-1Bs from being exploited and used as outsourcing visas." The letters are part of an effort to determine if the H-1B program is being used for its intended purpose which is to fill a worker shortage for a temporary time period. He said that he expects the companies to cooperate and answer his questions to ensure that accurate information is being used as Congress begins debate on new immigration policy. Grassley and Durbin recently introduced legislation that would overhaul the H-1B and L-1 visa programs to give priority to American workers and crack down on unscrupulous employers who deprive qualified Americans of high-skill jobs. Here is a copy of one of the letters. A copy of each letter can be found on Grassley's website, http://grassley.senate.gov . May 14, 2007 Mr. Nanden M. Nilekani Chief Executive Officer Infosys Technologies Limited 6607 Kaiser Drive Fremont, California 94555 Dear Mr. Nilekani: As members of the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Refugees, we have a responsibility to oversee and evaluate our country's visa policies. We have been concerned about reported fraud and abuse of the H-1B and L visa programs, and their impact on American workers. We are also concerned that the program is not being used as Congress intended. While some Members of Congress have focused on increasing the annual cap of the H-1B program, we believe it is important to understand how H-1B visas are being used by companies in the United States. We have received helpful data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service with regard to H-1B visa approvals in 2006 for the top 200 participating companies. Your company was one of the top companies on the list. Therefore, we are requesting your cooperation in providing additional statistics and information on your use of H-1B visa workers. First, some groups, such as the Programmers Guild, have analyzed the wages paid to H-1B visa holders. They have found that the average annual salary of foreign workers is significantly lower than that of new U.S. graduates. Second, a number of consulting firms reportedly recruit foreign workers and then outsource the individuals to other job sites or companies. Many of the top 20 companies that used H-1B visas in 2006 are firms, such as yours, that specialize in offshore outsourcing. Third, a number of firms have allegedly laid off American workers while continuing to employ H-1B visa holders. The American people are concerned about such lay offs at a time when the demand for visa issuances and the recruitment of foreign workers appear to be increasing. Because of these concerns, we seek your cooperation in answering the following questions: NUMBERS * How many United States citizens do you employ in the United States? * Is your company an H-1B dependent employer? * How many visa petitions did you submit to the Citizenship and Immigration Service for Fiscal Year 2007? * Of the total number of petitions requested, how many have been approved for Fiscal Year 2007, if known? * How many H-1B visa holders is your company currently employing? What percentage of your total workforce are H-1B visa holders? * What is the average age of the H-1B visa holders that your company currently employs? * What is the average number of years of experience of your employed H-1B visa holders? * Please describe your efforts to recruit Americans for the positions for which you employ H-1B workers. WAGES * What is the average wage of your company's H-1B visa holders? What is the median wage? What is the highest and the lowest salaries for those H-1B visa holders currently employed by your company? * What is the average wage of your company's workers who are United States citizens in the same occupations? OUTSOURCING * Of the 4,908 visas your company received in 2006, how many of those workers are currently employed and paid by Infosys Technologies Limited? * Of the 4,908 visas your company received in 2006, how many were outsourced to other companies and how many employees' salaries were paid for by a firm other than Infosys Technologies Limited? LAY OFFS * Has your company experienced any layoffs in the United States in the past year? Any lay offs in 2005? If so, how many people lost their jobs? * If your company has laid off workers in the United States, what job positions were part of that lay off? * If your company has laid off workers in the United States, how many of those workers were H-1B visa holders? * If your company has laid off workers in the United States, did any H-1B visa holders replace those dislocated workers, or take over any of the laid off employee's job responsibilities? We appreciate your cooperation, and respectfully request that you respond to our questions no later than May 29, 2007. Sincerely, Charles E. Grassley Richard J. Durbin United States Senator United States Senator Visas for high-tech workers draw query SUZANNE GAMBOA Associated Press WASHINGTON - Two senators are questioning several companies about their use of a visa program for highly skilled workers. Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said they are focusing on nine companies, several of them foreign-based, that used nearly 20,000 of the 75,000 H-1B visas that were available last year. H-1B visas are for high-skilled workers and are heavily used in the high-tech industry. "I continue to hear how people want to increase the number of H-1B visas that are available to companies," Grassley said in a news release. "Considering the high amount of fraud and abuse in the visa program, we need to take a good, hard look at the employers who are using H-1B visas and how they are using them." Grassley and Durbin, both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee's immigration subcommittee, sent letters to the nine companies asking several questions about their visa use, wages and layoffs. The top users were identified with statistics from Citizenship and Immigration Services, the senators said. The letters, posted on Grassley's Web site, were addressed to Infosys Technologies Ltd. in Freemont, Calif.; Wipro Limited, Mountainview, Calif.; Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Arlington, Va.; Saytam Computer Services Ltd., Andhra Pradesh, India; Computer Systems, Mumbai, India; Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd., Mumbai, India; I-Flex Solutions Inc., Mumbai, India; Tech Mahindra Americas Inc., Englewood, Colo.; and Mphasis Corp., Bangalore, India. Under federal law, 65,000 H-1B visas are available each year for workers in specialty fields such as computer programmers, engineers, architects, accountants, doctors, college professors and fashion models. Another 20,000 visas are available for foreign workers with at least a master's degree from a U.S. college or university. The numbers do not include current H-1B visa holders. Federal law sets requirements for H-1B holders' salaries. The high-tech industry has long complained that too few visas are available. Microsoft Corp. is among a group of companies that has pushed for increasing the available visas. This year, the limit for applications for the visas was reached in record time. "Collecting information is fine, but we think abuse of the system is the exception rather than the rule," said Eric Thomas, a spokesman for Compete America, a coalition that includes Microsoft, chip maker Intel Corp., business software company Oracle Corp. and others. Increasing U.S. competitiveness by providing more visas for skilled workers has been a key issue in congressional efforts to craft a comprehensive immigration bill. At least two bills have been filed that would increase available H-1B visas to 115,000 a year.