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Trump Freezes Green Cards, Many Work Visas Until End Of Year:
President Trump on Monday extended a freeze on green cards for new immigrants and signed an executive order to suspend new H-1B, L-1, J and other temporary work visas for skilled workers, managers and au pairs through the end of the year.
The goal of the move is to protect 525,000 jobs as part of the White House response to job losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic, said a senior administration official, who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity. NPR first reported the impending order on Saturday.
"Americans have been hurt through no fault of their own due to the coronavirus," the official said. "And the president is prioritizing getting them back into the labor supply and getting them to work and standing on their own two feet again."
[...] But other workers will also be affected, including foreign au pairs who provide child care. Professors and scholars are not to be included in the order, the official said. There will be a provision to request exemptions. The order is not expected to affect immigrants and visa holders already in the United States.
[...] The order did not apply to H-2A agriculture workers, who Trump says are necessary to ensure grocery store shelves remain stocked with fruits and vegetables. Health care workers involved in treating coronavirus patients will also be exempt.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by driverless on Wednesday June 24 2020, @04:10AM (4 children)
Depends on how much of H1Bs are just cheap labour vs. genuinely irreplaceable people. Blocking H1Bs by assuming an H1B with a PhD in biochemistry can be replaced by Joe the out-of-work meat plant packer from Idaho could end up hurting the US more than it helps.
Still, it looks good on paper and gets votes, so that's the only thing that matters.
(Score: 5, Informative) by edinlinux on Wednesday June 24 2020, @05:34AM
Article and video on how to avoid hiring an American (in America!) so you can get that cheap slave labor brought here from overseas instead..
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2007/6/18/347849/- [dailykos.com]
This is the root of the problem.
It affects everyone in IT, where real median salaries & benefits are down about 50% from what they were in the 90s before the onslaught of cheap H-1B and L1 visa workers from India and other third world countries flooding our shores putting the Americans out of work (or working for cheaper pay).
Like lots of folks, I also had to train my Indian replacement(s) shipped in on H-1Bs several times during my career while I (and the other Americans) were being shown the door...
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 24 2020, @06:38AM
I think that sort of disingenuous suggestion isn't really adding much here. In the US the vast majority of people with STEM degrees do not work in STEM. And beyond this most jobs in STEM don't even really necessitate a STEM degree. On top of this education in India is a bit different than the US. Not only does India has a rampant and extreme problem with cheating at all levels, but they also have a rather different take on grades. Like many places in Asia, their definition of an 'A' is somewhat different than ours. In India it's generally 60-100 = A, 50-59 = B, 40-49 = C.
I'm sure you're probably aware of the reputation of Indian software developers. It's not just a meme. They are genuinely awful on average. That doesn't mean all Indian developers are, by any means, but you are going to get a biased sample when you think about the guys whose career decision is to go build products for mediocre wages and less than desirable working conditions under billion dollar multinationals. "They're not sending us their best." So I don't know about Joe meat packer, but all other things being equal, I'd generally take a chemistry undergrad from a good US school over your average Indian biochem doctorate.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Wednesday June 24 2020, @02:11PM
That is probably a true statement on its face. However I suspect it represents a small minority of H1B's. That may be the justification for having the H1B program. However corporate America has twisted that beyond any resemblance to that purpose of obtaining someone with an important and obscure skill which cannot be obtained within the US.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 24 2020, @03:14PM
We've been overproducing virtually all of the necessary workers for those jobs for decades. There are tons of people out there right now with doctorates and nowhere to actually use them. If there's legitimately a shortage of candidates with a particular skill set, then there needs to be some sort of a program in place to address the issue.
We've got a separate program for individuals that are highly qualified or brilliant. There is no cap on the number of those visas that are handed out, the only limitation is that you have to meet the relevant standards to get one. The H1B visa program is supposed to address shortages in the labor pool, but given the way that the education system has been mismanaged and the way that the visa program itself is mismanaged, it just serves to depress the number of people that are training to go into those fields. Why bother training to go into one of those fields if you're going to be competing with people that paid far less for their degree and don't need the level of income that you need?