H-1B Abuse

What the Government Has to Say About H-1B Abuse

Federal auditors find flaws in high-tech visa program     Scripps-McClatchy Western Servicem September 11, 2000

GAO study cites potential abuse of H-1B visas     EE Times, September 15, 2000

A Question of Fraud     San Francisco Chronicle, September 21, 2000

Contains this classic quote of an immigration lawyer explaining why it is alright to violate the law.

Raja Ahluwalia, the immigration lawyer, said that while benching is
against the law, it has become a routine part of the body-shop trade.

``In business, you do what is best for your business,'' he explained.
``Where there is a possibility for profit, an entrepreneur, by
definition, should exploit it.''

womenCONNECT.Com

The CEO whined before the U.S. Senate that she searched for months and could not find an American for a systems adminstrator job so she had to resort to use the H-1B program. A search of the labor certification database showed the wommenCONNECT was paying this H-1B worker $35,000 a year, well below average for this type of position.

This is yet another example showing that the only shortage is of low paid workers.

Testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration      Susan Williams DeFife, CEO, womenCONNECT.com October 21, 1999

Women's Site Disconnected     Washington Post, August 31, 2000

womenConnect.com goes belly up.

Randolph Air Force Base

H-1B holder are supposed to work in the specific location as stated on their application. The reasons for this are twofold:

A. Salaries vary by geographic region and H-1B visas require a labor certification.

B. H-1B workers are suppose to have a job when the application is made. If they have a job, the employer knows where that job is.

In reality, many (if not most) H-1Bs in the programming field are bodyshopped. In other words, they come here without a job and the company that brings them over attempts to find work for them with another company. Usually this means working somewhere other than where their visa says they are working.

Although this practice is illegal, it is widespread and goes on openly.

The only time we are aware of the INS cracking down is at Randolph AFB. The response of H-1B supporters was to call the INS raid an act of "racism". As a result, the INS probably will not enforce this aspect of the law in the future.

INS raid blame shifted    San Antonio Express-News January 21, 2000

Arrests unsettle Indians with high-tech visas     San Jose Mercury News Janry 27, 2000

American dream on hold for Indians     San Antonio Express-News January 27, 2000

Companies focus of INS visa inquiry     AP February 20, 2000

Dun & Bradstreet

D&B is firing its American programming staff and replacing them with H-1B workers.

Memo to Dun & Bradstreet Employees announcing they are going to be replaced by H-1B bodyshops    March 20, 2000

Dun Workers Fear Layoffs    Daily Record June 3, 2000

Exotic Granite & Marble

Sun Valley Firm to Pay Federal Labor Penalties     Los Angeles Times April 4, 1999

SeaLand

White-Collar Visas: Back Door for Cheap Labor?     Washington Post October 21, 1995

To H-1B or not to H-1B?     ComputerWorld March 3, 1998

SeaLand replaces its American programmers with H-1B workers and now complains that it can't get enough H-1B visas.

Quality Information Systems

Feds probe for H-1B visa abuse     ComputerWorld May 3, 1999

Firm fined for falsified visas     Detroit News October 10, 1999

AIG

White-Collar Visas: Back Door for Cheap Labor?     Washington Post October 21, 1995

U.S. view: Shortage or no shortage?     ComputerWorld December 7, 1997

IT labor boom a mirage to some ComputerWorld August 8, 1998

H1-B safety net fails IT workers    PC Week November 18, 1999

Competition from abroad    Daily Record May 2, 2000

Deep Sai

Company pleads guilty to harboring illegal immigrants     AP November 24, 1999

Gwinnett firm pleads guilty to harboring illegal immigrants    Atlanta Journal-Constitution November 24, 1999

Landlord case highlights visa issue     San Francisco Examiner January 23, 2000

Visas for High-Tech Foreign Workers Debated     Chicago Tribune May 28, 2000

Byting the Bait     The Week    August 29, 1999

Other Cases

Companies underpaid foreign workers, U.S. says   Boston Herald August 24,2000

Stat Medical

Five Massachusetts firms ordered to pay back wages     Boston Globe March 21, 2000

Envitec, Intergalactic Research and Development, M&R Consultants Corp., McDonnell Associates Inc., Summit International Inc.

Competition from abroad    Daily Record May 2, 2000

Criterion

White-Collar Visas: Back Door for Cheap Labor?     Washington Post October 21, 1995

AIG, Syntel, Rehab One, SeaLand, NASD

Indentured Servitude

Immigration Lawyer explains how Green Cards can be used as a bargining chip

High Tech Migrant Labor    American Prospect December 20, 1999

Slave trade still alive in U.S.     San Francisco Examiner February 13, 2000

Indentured servants for high-tech trade     Baltimore Sun February 21, 2000

Amnesty! Los Angeles Weekly June 16-22, 2000

High Tech's Indentured Servants     Red Herring, July 2000

H-1B workers are promised green cards in return for low wages. 40% of green card applications are for H-1B workers but only 20% of green cards go to H-1B workers.

Slave Trade Endures In the 21st Century     San Francisco Chronicle, July 2, 2000

Contract labor program by any name hurts all workers     Asian Week, August 4-August 10, 2000

Green card, red tape: Visa program under fire for labor drain    Dallas Morning News August 6, 2000

"They don't have to use the H-1B program," said Harris Miller,
president of the Information Technology Association of America, which
represents tech companies. "They can stay in their own country or they
can go to another country. They are trying to turn this into an
entitlement program."

After baiting foreign H-1B workers with the prospect of green cards (which only 15% get), the industy lobby tells us the bad news.

Opinion

Americans are being replaced by H1-B's     EE Times August 9, 1999

Sowing digital nationalism    eWeek June 1, 2000

Other Abuse

Immigration Lawyer explains how to hire foreign workers instead of Americans

Immigration Lawyer reports on the high rate of credential fraud (74%) among Indian H-1B applicants October 1998.

Bills Reopen Debate Over Visa Limit     New York Times August 31, 1999

Audit details abuse of worker visa program     San Jose Mercury News January 22, 2000

Furor over visa program rages on     Contra County Times January 22, 2000

INS turns blind eye to visas for high tech     San Francisco Examiner February 22, 2000

Visa program open to abuses    San Francisco Examiner January 23, 2000

An American Dream that Depends on an American Visa     Washington Post June 5, 2000

Congressional Testimony

Statement of William Yates of the INS     U.S. House of Representatives May 5, 1999

Statement of Jill Esposito if the Department of State     U.S. House of Representatives May 5, 1999

Statement of John Ratigan    U.S. House of Representatives May 5, 1999

Low Pay for H-1B Workers

You're Fired, Go Home    Washington Post, May 10, 2001

Rupal Kothari, a Washington immigration lawyer, and several Indian executives in the area said some programmer analysts are being paid $30,000 to $40,000 less than prevailing salaries, about $100,000, even though companies must sign documents stating they are paying H1-B visa holders the same salaries as their American counterparts. The law exists to prevent U.S. workers from being displaced by lower-paid foreign employees.

U.S. slowdown hits Indian tech workers     CNN April 9, 2001

Describes "benching" of H-1B and their low average salary of $45,000.

Immigration Lawyer explains the Labor Certification Processes    (How the Dept. of Labor only checks that the form has been filled out correctly.)

U.S. view: Shortage or no shortage?     ComputerWorld December 7, 1997

CIA Focuses on Y2K Problems in Former Soviet Union     ABC News January 29, 1999

WashTech calls for study of foreign-worker visas     Seattle Times March 15, 2000

LG Soft India Kick Starts U.S. Startups With 24-Hour Programming    Forbes May 21, 2000

An H-1B Visa as a Contest Prize

A solicitation for a contest where "H-1B Sponsorship" is the prize.

H-1B Holders Only

Copies of  E-mail solicitations for "H-1B Only" jobs directly mailed to the editor

Copies of Job postings for H-1B workers only forwarded to the editor

Imagine a company advertising a position and stating that they were "focusing on hiring white males". Here is a press release where the company says they are doing the same for H-1B holders.

Jobless Texans: Remember the Adea     Wired News    May 25, 2001