To: H-1B/L-1/offshoring e-newsletter Thu Mar 7 11:02:05 PST 2013 Interesting article at http://www.startribune.com/business/190622251.html?refer=y about Amy Klobuchar, a Democratic senator from Minnesota who either has introduced or will introduce (can't find it online) her own foreign STEM worker bill. Readers of this e-newsletter who are programmers or engineers will find these passages of interest: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tom Grones, founder of public safety software company Geo-Comm in St. Cloud, hires international students as interns. But he does not try to get employment visas for them because he sees no need "to provide a wider international pool of people on temporary visas." "We have found plenty of excellent knowledge workers in central Minnesota," Grones said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- and ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chris Fuller, a Twin Cities radio frequency engineer, worries that more visas will lead to more situations like the one he experienced when he recommended an experienced American engineer for a job at a Minnesota med tech company where he used to work. "They never even bothered to call him" before hiring an H-1B worker, said Fuller. "I thought if there was a qualified U.S. national, they would have to consider him." ------------------------------------------------------------------------- But after reading the article, many of you (I hope) can spot the paragraph that most caught my eye: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Companies where H-1B visa holders make up more than half the workforce "is where these abuses have taken place," Klobuchar said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This of course refers to the Indian bodyshops. This is the old "Intel si!, Infosys no!" notion. I wonder where Klobuchar got information on this, which is certainly false. Abuse of H-1B occurs throughout the industry, including in the mainstream U.S. firms. Norm