To: H-1B/L-1/offshoring e-newsletter Fri Jan 25 16:21:08 PST 2013 Several senators plan to introduce the most extreme foreign tech worker bill I've ever seen, if the report in http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/279227-bipartisan-group-of-senators-to-introduce-high-skilled-immigration-bill is accurate. It contains provisions that are tantamount to removing the general H-1B cap, and that explicitly remove the cap for those having a STEM master's degree or higher from a U.S. university. It also would institute more expansive green card programs. As with most such bills, it would impose employer fees to remedy the alleged STEM worker shortage, by spending more to get kids interested in STEM. This comes on the heels of Texas Instruments admitting that there is no engineering shortage at the bachelor's level, plus the Urban Institute study showing we graduate enough students in STEM--then why try to get more kids interested in STEM?--and the NIH commission that found that a glut of foreign students is discouraging American students from STEM careers. Hard to say whether this bill is a hint of what is really by the powers that be, but it certainly is the most expansive proposal I've seen, by far. If the desire were to make sure Americans don't have STEM careers, this bill would be the perfect vehicle for it. Norm