FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 29, 2000
CONTACT: Leslie A. Dunbar
Email: ldunbar@nul.org
212/558-5438


NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE CALLS UPON CONGRESS TO HOLD OFF
ON ANOTHER EXPANSION OF THE H-1B SPECIAL VISAS PROGRAM


Statement By
Hugh B. Price
President
National Urban League


The National Urban League is very concerned that Congress is
considering another increase in the H-1B visa program. We find
that such action would be very premature and would distract from
far more important immigration issues that need immediate attention.


Under the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement
Act (P.L. 105-277) enacted in 1998, Congress directed the National Academy
of Science (NAS) to undertake a study that would determine the short and
long-term employment needs of the high tech and information technology
(IT) sector. The completed study is due in October 2000. Congress should
hold off on any action pertaining to H-1B visas until the NAS study is
released. Then, Congress should hold hearings to thoroughly examine the
findings and their implications for the American workforce.


Instead of focusing on another H-1B expansion, Congressional action on
immigration issues should be focused on addressing the gross inequities
imposed upon certain immigrant groups. In the interest of fair play, the
National Urban League fully supports the "Fix `96" legislative effort to
restore a fair balance to our nation's immigration laws.


Key issues that must be addressed this year include:
- the late legalization class action lawsuits
- Central American and Caribbean refugee parity in deportation relief
- relief for Liberian refugees
- restoration of access to public benefits, and
- restoring due process in U.S. detention and deportation policies


Should Congress proceed with legislation on the H-1B visa program, the
National Urban League urges that any legislation that goes to the
President's desk must include provisions that offer the best
opportunity to insure that all American workers receive first
opportunity (in a non-discriminatory manner) to fill information
technology jobs. American workers must also be afforded the education
and training opportunities to fill those jobs and subsequently be
hired by the IT sector before we recruit temporary foreign workers.


The legislation must also ensure against fraudulent use of the H-1B
visa program. And finally, any H-1B visa bill must include provisions
to restore a fair balance to our nation's immigration laws. Specifically,
the National Urban League urges adoption of the following:
*
Require a minimum salary of $40,000 to the H-1B participant;
*
Require petitioning companies to demonstrate that they have increased
the average compensation to American employees over the last year;
*
Require the Department of Labor to issue final regulations
implementing all provisions of the American Competitiveness and
Workforce Improvement Act (ACWIA) of 1998 by September 1, 2000;
*
Extend the expiring worker protection provisions under the 1998
ACWIA through FY2002;
*
Order a GAO study on H-1B employer recruitment of qualified American
workers from underrepresented groups such as African Americans,
Hispanics, women, and individuals with a disability;
*
Order a GAO study on H-1B employers' continual training and updating
of skills of present employees, as well as their promotion whenever
possible;
*
Require additional basic documentation for companies that cannot meet
a minimum asset requirement of $250,000;
*
Eliminate the current provision which allows H-1B employees to
substitute work experience for a college degree;
*
Require that employers submit annually to the Department of Labor the
"W-2" wage withholding statements for their H-1B employees; and
*
Impose a $100 fee on H-1B petitions that will be used for H-1B
anti-fraud work and split evenly between the Immigration and
Naturalization Service (INS) and the State Department.


Until the National Academy of Science findings become available and
the hearings to assess their meaning occur, the National Urban League
cannot support legislation that expands the H-1B special visas
program. But if an expansion passes, we insist on the above safeguards
as a minimum level of protection. So, in the House, this requires that
members reject the approach embodied in the bill (H.R. 3983) offered
by Representatives David Dreier (R-CA) and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), and
instead support a rule and vote on the House floor for the worker
protection provisions embodied in (H.R. 4227), a bill offered by
Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) and reported out of the House
Judiciary Committee. Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Congresswoman
Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) have included key worker protections and a
provision to ensure outreach to underrepresented groups in the IT
industry.


While the Senate H-1B bill (S. 2045), sponsored by Senator Orrin Hatch
(R-UT), would extend through fiscal 2002 the provisions of the 1998
H-1B law requiring employers to show they cannot find Americans to
fill vacancies, it does not include the added worker protections in the
sections of H.R. 4227 that we support, nor does it restore fair balance
to our nation's immigration laws.


All available data show that there is already a sufficient American
pipeline to feed the labor pool for workers in the various specialty
professions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that job
openings in the professional specialties in the next several years
will average 920,000 per year. These openings are created by growth in
the occupation and the need to fill vacancies created by retirees and
workers leaving for other fields.


Currently, U.S. colleges and universities are graduating approximately
two million people each year with degrees ranging from Associate to
professional and Doctorates. African Americans are especially impacted
by discriminatory hiring practices in the IT field. Data from the BLS show
that the hiring of African Americans in high technology has improved
only slightly during the past decade.


According to a 1999 report, Silicon Ceiling: Solutions for Closing the Digital
Divide, approximately 80% of the high technology companies in Silicon
Valley do not file EEO-1 forms or affirmative action reports with the Joint
Reporting Committee representing federal civil rights enforcement agencies.
Clearly there's work to be done to ensure that African Americans have fair
access to the lucrative high tech labor market.


Therefore, we at the National Urban League find that, without the
National Academy of Science study, we must fill those IT sector
positions by recruiting first from the American workforce, provide
education and training where necessary to continue feeding the
American IT labor pool, and seek vigorous enforcement of our civil
rights laws in the high technology companies where racial, gender, and
age discrimination persist. Congressional action on immigration issues
should first and foremost be focused on restoring a fair balance to
our nation's immigration laws as embodied in the "Fix `96" legislative
effort.
# # #
Hugh B. Price is President and Chief Executive Officer of the National
Urban League, the nation's premier social service and civil rights
organization serving African Americans and others who are striving to
enter the economic mainstream. He was appointed on July 1, 1994.