H-1B Program Myths and Absurdities

The ITAA's Deal to Send Business to India

U.S. slump poses threat to Indian programmers EE Times March 28, 2001

"During his visit, [Harris] Miller signed an agreement between the ITAA and India's National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom). The deal seeks to bring opportunities to India despite the slowdown in U.S. business. Nasscom will hold a series of road shows in the United States designed to convince more U.S. companies to outsource software development projects to Indian companies."

This flies in the face of the ITAA's claim that it is pushing for H-1B to keep jobs in America.

Harris Miller's Speech to NASSCOM (The Indian ITAA Equivalent) March 13, 2001

"Finally, I must mention that many leading Indian IT companies that started out as staff supplementation firms then moved and then moved on to project development now aspire to become full blown IT solution providers, planning to compete with well-known US firms such as EDS, Accenture, and IBM"

ITAA Seminar on How to Send Software Development Offshore Sept 26, 2002

ABA body wants tighter rules on licensing lawyers trained abroad The National Law Journal April 26, 1999

The American Immigration Lawyers Association is one of the major forces behind the push for more H-1Bs, holding fundraisers for Sen. Spencer Abraham in conjunction with their gatherings. Apparently it is all right to import foreign programmers, but not foreign lawyers. Who says the legal profession is two-faced?

If Companies Can't Get H-1B Visas They Will Move Software Development Offshore

Intel Memo June 24, 2002

More Bangalore For Their Bucks Business 2.0 April 17, 2001

Describes how H-1B helps companies move operations overseas.

Dewang Mehta dead at 38, infotech loses one-man PR machine Indian Express April 13, 2001

Obituary describing the intense efforts of Indian industry to lobby for H-1B.

Indian software companies look to profit from U.S. tech slump Bloomberg February 2, 2001

Describes to "blended rates" were work is done both in India and on customer sites (H-1B).

Face time boosts a project's chance of success eWeek August 7, 2000

The reality is companies use H-1B to move development offshore. This article describes the process. Without H-1B, there would be no large-scale offshore software development.

US H1-B hike to 600,000 can be big software export boost Business Line October 10, 200

Who Gets H-1B Visas

Statement of John Fraser Department of Labor U.S. House of Representatives May 25, 2000

Mr. Fraser's testimony presents some data that might be surprising to people who have not followed the H-1B issue closely.

The median wage for H-1B computer professionals was $47,000
38% of H-1B workers are from India (a significant decline)
44% of H-1B workers are computer professionals (down from a majority)
40% of H-1B workers were already in the U.S. and adjusted status
24% of H-1B workers were in the U.S. on student visas and adjusted status

During the question and answer session (transcript not yet available - we'll put it here when we get it) Mr. Fraser described most H-1B workers as "entry-level" or "journeymen". In other workds, H-1B workers tend not to be "highly-skilled" as described by the press.

Think it's Expensive Getting An H-1B Visa?

Visa Now, But Immigration Later Wired, August 28, 2000

Go online and get an H-1B visa for $1,500.

Foreign Competition

Advocates for the H-1B program claim that if we don't give out more H-1B visas, other countries will take the "highly-skilled" workers from us. Often cited is Germany's new Gast Arbeiter program for computer professionals.

Wire Story on Germany's Gast Arbeiter Program AP Februrary 23, 2000

Germany looks outside to fill high-tech jobs But filling slots with workers USA Today May 16, 2000

Opposition parties are using the slogan "Kinder statt Inder" to attack the Gast Arbeiter program.

German visa offer fails to tempt India's IT experts Guardian Weekly May 25th, 2000

Germany's Gast Arbeiter is "an embarrassing failure", having attracted only 200 applicants.
Indian workers would rather come to the U.S.
Germany's foreign minister was snubbed during a visit to India.

Germany's first guest worker gets 'green card' AP August 1, 2000

Tech visas fall short in filling Germany's labor shortage San Jose Mercury-News, October 8, 2000

Alan Greenspan Supports H-1B????

Greenspan's Testimony Before the House Banking Committee July 20, 2000

Chairman Greenspan testifies that he has no opinion on an H-1B increase.

Everyone in High Tech supports H-1B

IS Staffing Research Center CIO Magazine August 1, 2000

ComputerWorld Magazine Forum July 18, 2000

H-1B Is Supposed to Make Foreign Companies More Competitive?

India seeks more U.S. visas, less control for tech San Jose Mercury-News, August 21, 2000

Indian companies are demanding more H-1B visas, the elimination of geographical restrictions on H-1B holders (ie allow them to certify the prevailing wage based upon Hog Holler, Arkansas and have the H-1B holder actually work in Silicon Valley), and not pay social security tax.

Indian Group Seeks Hike In High-Tech Visa Caps CRN, August 21, 2000

Infosys urges easing of US visa restrictions Times of India, August 29, 2000

Infogain Can't Find People?

Tech-visa boost mired in politics San Jose Mercury-News, July 25, 2000

The San Jose Mercury-News gives us Infogain's sob story about how much business they are losing because they can't find people without H-1B. We have done a little more research than the Mercury-News did and have included information on what Infogain pays its H-1B workers.

Americans are Incompetent

In order to justify the H-1B program there is a not-so-subtle attempt to give the impression that Americans are not good at technology. In spite of our technical dominance, H-1B supporters spread the "Johnny can't read" myth. The H-1B debate in the press is so shallow that no one has bother to ask "What is it about the educational systems in India and China the U.S. should be emulating?"

Why is it that resumes of H-1B workers rarely have education listed at all or, in the rare cases when they do, the university is hardly ever listed (The degree almost always being the ever popular "master in computer applications") ? No American programmer would be considered for a job without listing both degrees and institutions on a resume.

Often these attacks are out in the open, as in this discussion posting

Name: Shantanu Email: shanta2356@mindspring.com
<mailto:shanta2356@mindspring.com> Location: america Occupation: Fortran
programmer
Americans are lucky to have programmers from India. I work for half the pay
of the rest of the people at my company. I support my entire family in India
for an entire year on one month salary. Older American programmers are lazy
and not up to date and must be replaced for the good of the companies.

Usually, they are a little more subtle, as in these:

Are U.S. programmers slackers? ComputerWorld April 15, 1999

U.S. programmers, their jobs protected by the labor shortage, have become complacent and less productive than their international peers, according to a study of 16,000 information technology professionals in 28 nations.

Holy irreproducible results, Batman! Before jumping to the conclusion that American programmers are lazy, read this story (Was IT's Mission Impossible In '98? InternetWeek, January 20, 1999) that comes to a different conclusion on productivity....written by the very same author.

Political arithmetic ComputerWorld, October 18, 1999

What a shame, I thought, as I read last week's Page One
story about the Immigration and Naturalization Service's screwup in granting
visas for foreign-born IT workers ("H-1B Miscount May Alter '00 Quota").
What a shame the INS didn't have a Russian software expert on staff.

Give us your wired elite! U.S. News & World Report, July 7, 2000

Another Einstein. But Wadhwa was fed up at the time with the work he was
getting from several U.S. subcontractors: You presented them with a problem,
he says, and they would always say they could solve it-just to get the
contract. In St. Petersburg, he met Andrey Terekhov, the head of a Soviet
software team who is "the closest thing I've seen to an Einstein." When
Wadhwa laid out his problem, Terekhov and a couple of colleagues spent three
hours considering it and came back with a credible plan of action. "He was
the first one who said yes for the right reason," Wadhwa says.

Stock Options Are Common for Programmers

Some Secrets Of IT Compensation Information Week, April 26, 2000

H-1B Leads to Permanent Residency

For Export Only The Industry Standard, June 4, 2001