Sacramento Region H-1B and Permanent Labor Data
H-1B – Legally Displacing U.S. Workers
The H-1B visa allows employers to legally displace qualified U.S. workers. Immigrants from the middle-east, for example, can legally choose to ignore Americans and hire their fellow nationals – friends, classmates, and relatives. Congress mandates that DOL rubberstamp these visas. Employers challenged with displacing Americans with foreign workers can correctly claim that they are “in full compliance with the law”:
THE FOUR ATTESTATIONS UNDER 20 CFR 655:
- 655.731 pay a prevailing wage (many LCAs are granted for experienced and degreed professionals for salaries under $40k per year.)
- 655.732 provide similar working conditions
- 655.733 no strikes and lockouts
- 655.734 post the LCA at the jobsite
The data below is the 1000 H-1B visas for FY 2004. The majority of these employers never advertised in the Sacramento Bee and never recruited at the local colleges. DOL concealed these records from jobseekers until after October 1, 2004 – effectively holding U.S. positions open for foreign workers.
The bulk of the jobs are software-related – even though up to 28% of U.S. programmers and related tech workers are unemployed or have been displaced from their profession. Many are for teachers, even though qualified teachers in Sacramento cannot find work. DOL approved “high skilled” jobs such as “manager at Red Lobster,” “social worker,” and “food service manager”:
VIEW THE 1000 H-1B APPLICATIONS FOR SACRAMENTO IN 2004
- Sacramento Region 2004 H-1B Data – (Excel 250k)
- Sacramento Region 2004 H-1B Data – (html 1 meg)
Why is Congress opposed to requiring employers to consider qualified U.S. applicants before granting these H-1B visas? Americans are being defrauded out of their professions! The jobs could appear on DOL’s database for 30 days, allowing U.S. workers to publicly view and apply for the positions – before the LCA is granted.
Permanent Certification (PERM) – Green Card/RIR – Defrauding Americans out of their Professions
Unlike the H-1B, certification for a green card is supposed to require “proof” that no qualified Americans are available to fill the position. But employers and immigration attorneys make a mockery of this requirement. Under “Reduction in Recruitment” (RIR) an employer must only demonstrate an attempt to recruit. (20 CFR 656.21) This sham entrusts the employer to proxy for the DOL, and results in bogus job ads, meant to deceive U.S. applicants. The employer in fact has no intention to hire the American – because the position is already filled by an H-1B worker.
This DOL page explains that, under RIR, there is no requirement or expectation that employers interview qualified applications – ALL THEY MUST DO IS PLACE HELP WANTED ADS – then legally ignore the flood or resumes. (The flood of resumes from qualified U.S. job seekers is deemed one of the drawbacks of using RIR – see page 4. – the goal of RIR is to NOT hire qualified Americans!)
“Our firm is yet to see an RIR labor certification which was rejected.” – immigration attorney Carl Shusterman
DOL Chief orders Labor Certifications issued in violation of U.S. Law
An April 2004 letter to DOL explains that DOL Chief Bill Carlson visited California in July 2003, and, in a private meeting with immigration attorneys representing foreign workers, with no one representing the interests of U.S. workers, agreed to order the SF DOL to approve “Reduction in Recruitment” (“RIR”) certifications – even though the local office had already found that sufficient U.S. workers were available.
Under DOL Chief Bill Carlson’s directive, effective November 2003, DOL staff under Martin Rios are directed to approve all RIRs – even if sufficient qualified U.S. workers are available and no labor shortage exists – provided the employer claims that the position requires at least a college degree and three years experience. Since tech workers are not among the “Schedule A” professions (“physicians, nurses, and persons of exceptional ability”), this order was a blatant violation of DOL mandate, as codified at 8 U.S.C 1182(5)(A) – certifications are continuing under that directive, in spite of abundant evidence of a surplus of qualified U.S. workers:
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8 U.S.C. 1182(5)(A) Labor certification Before a foreign worker can be admitted to the U.S. for permanent employment, the prospective employer must obtain a labor certification from the Secretary of Labor. The Secretary must certify that there are not sufficient U.S. workers who are able, willing, qualified and available, and that the employment of an immigrant foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers. (20 CFR 656.10 and 656.22 – pertain to Schedule A exceptions. Programmers are not exempt ) |
LOW-BALLING AMERICANS OUT OF THEIR PROFESSIONS
Here’s the best part: If qualified U.S. workers apply for a position, but then decline because the offer is too low or doesn’t offer benefits, DOL deems that “no qualified Americans are available.” See page 2 of the ABS ELECTRONIC Ruling – applicants #2 and #3 were qualified, but declined the job because it didn’t offer any benefits. Hiring foreigners rather than increasing an offer or providing benefits to what the market will bear clearly “adversely affects the wages of similarly employed U.S. workers,” in violation of 8 U.S.C. 1182.
Supply and Demand can fill virtually every job in the U.S.A. This rubber-stamp sham that thwarts market labor forces and undermines U.S. workers should be suspended immediately.
But it only gets worse. DOL intends to transfer the certification of aliens to work in the U.S. to a private contractor. (Rumor is that this private contractor has picked up 20,000 cases from SF to begin “processing.” ) DOL is instituting a PERM process that will issue permanent labor certifications in as little as seven days. SEE: The Changing Face of Labor Certification
The largest user of RIR to convert H-1B to Green Card in this region is Intel. They claim that there are dozens of positions in Folsom that they cannot fill with Americans. Yet they have not run a help wanted in the Sacramento Bee for over a year, and have laid off U.S workers. They have not recruited at CSUS.
VIEW THE 500 PERMANENT LABOR APPLICATIONS FOR SACRAMENTO IN 2004
- Sacramento Region 2004 Perm Data (Excel 100k)
- Sacramento Region 2004 Perm Data (html 500k)
Best Western Hotel attempted to claim that they could not find an American hotel clerk – one of the few applications that DOL denied. So why do they let Intel slide?
Applicants include Cognitum, which we alleged in an April 2004 letter to DOL was “running multiple fake ads to obtain greencards for his fellow countrymen: Vipin Suneja – President – 916-983-1359 – vipin@cognitim.com (Americans need not apply)” Z-World CEO, granted two certifications, stated in July 2004 that their help wanted ads generated 250 responses from U.S. workers. A more recent FOIA of Permanent Certifications reveals that, as I had alleged, R-Systems, InsWeb, and HealthNet were also running bogus job ads in the Sacramento Bee for RIR Recruitment:
- FOIA for Perm Certs for specific employers – October 2004 (Excel 30k)
- FOIA for Perm Certs for specific employers – October 2004 (html 30k)
Of these, R-Systems is the most insidious. This is an Indian company that hires almost exclusively foreign workers – mostly from India. They now claim that they cannot find any Americans with common skills like ASP and SQL 2000. (EDD – has denied our request for the RIR documention in their possession. We suspect that would have revealed that the remaining employers cited in the April 2004 letter were also running fake ads to submit as RIR evidence.)
Additional Info
Latest CFR Statues at findlaw.com
10 Key Questions on PERM – by Immigration Attorney
The PERM Book – only $499 – written by this guy:
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Lawyer’s Guide to PERM Labor Certification
Martin Rios
ALC Certifying Officer
U.S. Dept of Labor
Employment and Training Admin.
71 Stevenson Street,Suite 820
P.O. Box 193767
San Francisco, CA94119
(415) 975-4601
(415) 975-4660 FAX
Employment Development Department
Foreign Labor Certification Office
P.O. Box 269070
Sacramento, CA 95826-9070
(916) 464-3400
(916) 464-3467 FAX
FedEx/UPS Deliver to:
Employment Development Department
Foreign Labor Certification Office
9815-B Goethe Road
Sacramento, CA 95827