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For the new political order taking shape in Washington, however, H-1Bs aren't quite welcome. Amid promises of sweeping changes to immigration policy, President-elect Donald Trump and his choice for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), have tabbed the program for a major overhaul, and might even scrap it altogether. In the House, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is on the same wavelength.
Trump has described H-1Bs as a "cheap labor program" subject to "widespread, rampant" abuse. Sessions co-sponsored legislation last year with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) to effectively gut the program; Issa, a congressman with Trump's ear, released a statement Wednesday saying he was reintroducing similar legislation called the Protect and Grow American Jobs Act.
Sessions and Issa's legislation primarily targets large outsourcing companies, such as Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services, that receive the vast majority of H-1B visas and use them to deploy workers to American companies seeking to cut costs. In 2015, the top 10 recipients of H-1B visas were outsourcing firms. As recently as 2013, the Justice Department, which Sessions stands to take over, settled with Infosys for $34 million in a visa fraud case.
If they were smart they'd change the program to maximize brain-drain from other countries by making H-1B a fast-track to citizenship instead of the 6+ year wait for a green-card that it now is. Bring in the best of them rather than the cheapest of them and let them compete on equal footing rather than the indentured servitude of the current H-1B program.
(Score: 2) by Whoever on Wednesday January 11 2017, @03:15AM
Are you sure about this? I thought that the rules changed a few years back to allow H1-B holders 30 days to find a new job.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 11 2017, @03:40AM
I dunno if they made that change or not.
But, even if they did, 30-days is only going to be useful to the kind of person who could have lined up a new job before quitting anyway. Anybody quitting because they finally reached the end of their rope is probably just as screwed with 30-days to scramble for an H1B compatible employer as they would be with 0 days.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Wednesday January 11 2017, @04:22AM
Hadn't heard this, but 30 days is about how long it takes me to get off my ass, update my resume, shoot a couple dozen out, and wait for a reply.
There has been one time in my life when I got a job within 30 days of being laid off. I interviewed for a job, was pretty sure I got the job, rumor was company was going to have mass layoffs, I went to my boss and volunteered, got laid off, got 4 weeks severance, and had a job within a week.
Best part? The jobs were across the street from each other. I walked to work, a 20 minute walk. Co-workers used to laugh at me as I'd read the newspaper to work with my headphones on.
Moral of the story? Takes a good 3 months to find a job unless you're lucky as hell.
My ducks are not in a row. I don't know where some of them are, and I'm pretty sure one of them is a turkey.