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Politico reports that the government is having secret meetings with big corporations about bringing overseas technology workers into America. This report quotes the usual anonymous sources, so take it for what it's worth.
Compare the list of corporations mentioned in this article to the top 25 list of H-1B visa sponsors for 2014: Other than the lobbying groups (Fwd.US and Compete America), the names of Microsoft, Accenture, and Oracle appear on both. Cisco is not on the list, but is partnered with Tata which is.
Should the government be meeting in secret with corporations about bringing in more foreign workers to take American jobs? Why aren't these meetings and what topics are discussed on the public record?
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White House Meets with Big Business on Immigration
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Did you move a lot of KOREAN STEAK KNIVES this trip, Dingy?
(Score: 5, Informative) by MrGuy on Wednesday August 20 2014, @03:03PM
Slant much, PizzaRollPlinkett?
Politico reports that the government is having secret meetings with big corporations about bringing overseas technology workers into America.
No, that is NOT what Politico reports. Here's what Politico reports:
Obama was initially expected to focus only on slowing deportations of potentially millions of undocumented immigrants and altering federal enforcement policies. Now top aides are talking with leaders in big companies like Cisco, Intel and Accenture, hoping to add more changes that would get them on board. Representatives for high-tech, agriculture and construction interests have put forward a range of fixes, from recapturing unused green cards to tweaking existing work authorization programs.
And later:
The ideas under discussion for executive action include allowing spouses of workers with high-tech visas to work, recapturing green cards that go unused and making technical changes for dual-purpose visa applications....The administration is also considering provisions for low-skilled workers for industries, like construction, that would allow individuals with temporary work authorization to gain work permits.
Does that sound like "bringing overseas tech workers into America" to you? I see ZERO mention of allowing additional technical workers to the US, or of expanding the H1B program.
Are changes to technology worker programs potentially on the table? Sure-per the article, everything is. Are they the focus of the conversations? Not according to Politico.
I get that we're a tech focused organization, and that a lot of us are skeptical of H1B's. And yes, the tech industry is a big sponsor of H1B's. But there is ZERO MENTION of H1B's in TFA. There's not even really anything that LOOKS like a discussion of H1B's. The ONLY link to H1B's is the "editor" of this article saying "hey, tech companies are involved and they use H1B's."
You want to start a discussion on H1B's? Fine. Do that.
You want to discuss a news article? Fine. Do that.
But using a not-very-related news article to whip people into an "OMG the government is expanding H1B's behind closed doors!" frenzy, with no evidence to support it, offends me. This isn't editing content. It's authoring it.
(Score: 2) by MrGuy on Wednesday August 20 2014, @03:05PM
My apologies - the "bad editing" comments should be directed at n1, who published this wholesale without (in my opinion) reading it.
PizzaRollPlinkett was the submitter (and source of the dubious H1B linkage), whose viewpoint I still very much disagree with.
(Score: 2) by PizzaRollPlinkett on Wednesday August 20 2014, @04:14PM
The editing tried to say two things at once: (1) there are secret meetings going on behind closed doors between corporations and the government about immigration policy that the public isn't aware of, when any such meetings ought to be conducted on the record; and (2) the corporations in the meeting are overwhelmingly H-1B visa users, so this issue is of great importance to Americans who make a living in the technology field and sunlight needs to be shined on it.
The connection between the two is that the corporations meeting secretly with the government are all heavy users of H-1B visas, and therefore this issue is of interest to anyone who makes a living in the computer industry.
I don't know how this became "scaremongering" when corporations committed to using H-1B visas are meeting in secret with the government about immigration policy. I can't make stuff like that up.
BTW - Please disagree with me all you like. I encourage people to discuss issues from all sides. I think it's healthy.
(E-mail me if you want a pizza roll!)
(Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday August 20 2014, @06:33PM
H-1B was never mentioned in the story at all.
The summary threw that in gratuitously. Further, we don't know anything at all about what exactly the meeting, entailed other than vague reference to spouses of foreign workers. Its pretty much all speculation.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 20 2014, @06:53PM
If the contents of the meetings are not known, then that doesn't make them secret??
Explain why the meetings are needed at all, what is the current issue that the White House needs to address with these large tech companies? (Take your best guess.)
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday August 20 2014, @06:13PM
But using a not-very-related news article to whip people into an "OMG the government is expanding H1B's behind closed doors!" frenzy, with no evidence to support it, offends me.
Agreed 100%.
Amusingly, the word "secret" does not occur in the linked article even once.
FTA:
said White House spokesman Shawn Turner. “The meetings were in keeping with the president’s commitment to do whatever he can, within the constraints of the law, to address the immigration issue.”
Turner said the meetings with business leaders were among more than 20 “listening sessions” with outside groups.
Such a big secret that the freaking White House Spokespersion is discussing it in an interview with Politico.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Wednesday August 20 2014, @11:59PM
Disclosing the existence of the meeting isn't disclosing the substance of the meeting. So secret is reasonable. Whether such a secret meeting should be legal is a separate, and more difficult question.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.