H-1B Class Action

H-1B Grievances

H1-B program flaws - Skirting the letter and/or intent of the program

How it happens/Why it happens

- A foreign national with any input in hiring gives preference to 
  their compatriots regardless skillset.
- A hiring manager is pressured by H1-Bs to hire their friends.
- Companies see them as bargains financially.
- H1-Bs are more willing to accept abuse and intimidation.
- H1-Bs are unaware of their legal rights and/or unfamiliar with
  how to enforce them and/or unwilling to enforce them.
- Foreign nationals network and assist each other seeking employment
  opportunities whether they know each other or not.
- There is no validation of the H1-B applicant's credentials by the
  consulates or INS.
- There is no enforcement of the requirement employers are to notify
  the INS that the H1-B is no longer employed by them.
- There is no enforcement by the INS to make out of status H1-Bs
  leave after their 10 days are up or at any time.
- There is no requirement that given two employees with equal skills,
  one resident and one H1-B, that the original criteria of not being
  able to find a resident with the skills be used to choose in a 
  layoff.
- There is no requirement that should a resident be laid off, that
  that resident be recalled before hiring an H1-B to replace them.
- There is no requirement that a resident employee or company cannot
  train an H1-B.  If training is needed then a resident can just as 
  well be trained.
- There is no requirement for an employer to send the resume of a
  hired H1-B to the resident applicants who weren't hired.  Without
  this a resident has no proof they were equally or better qualified
  for the job.
- There is no sensible definition of "H1-B dependent".  The current
  definition is 15% H1-B of the entire set of employees of a company
  and not the profession being flooded, as in the current state,
  engineering.
- There is no motivation for a company to hire a resident if they can
  sponsor an H1-B for a green card and retain a longterm stronghold
  over an employee.

Please add any I've missed.


- There is no accounting of how many actual visas are
written.  INS and DOL counts are of "petitions" which
document up to 999 aliens on one I-129.


SIDE EFFECTS

- College bound have no reason to choose an industry not hiring
  residents.
- H1-Bs sending money home does nothing for the US ecomony though
  it is good for their nation's economy.
- High unemployment means not only less money going into our 
  economy but also being drained from the economy for unemployment
  benefits.
- Growing and long term unemployment radiates fear into the rest of
  the population and affects their spending.
- Issues of sex, age, race and marital status discrimination are
  reseeded into the hiring and compensation practices of the industry.
- Abandoning the limitations on per nation visa and green card 
  allotments abandoned the goal of assimilation.
- The cultural business practices and work ethic of the predominant 
  nationality of the department staff becomes the practices and work
  ethic of the department.
- Intentional or unintentional exclusion of resident staff in
  technical discussions by foreign national staff undermines 
  productivity.
- The flaws in the H1-B program are not discussed publicly as often
  as they should be because of repeated accusations of xenophobia.
- H1-Bs with bogus credentials are bad for businesses, unemployed
  residents and genuinely talented H1-Bs.  The totally inept may be
  caught in an interview but a quick study can be employed before
  it's discovered.
- This issue has become a source of campaign fund income for 
  residents' representatives.


UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

- Are predominantly H1-B engineering staffed businesses
  continuing to succeed?
- Are businesses aware of of the change in their business
  practices and work ethic introduced into departments or the
  costs associated with it?
- Is the influx of "temporary" foreign national labor into IT 
  an irrelevant factor in the length and depth of the industry bust?
- Can a mainly or totally H1-B engineering staff produce
  a viable product in the American market with no experience in 
  or knowledge of inherent requirements?
- Is the IT industry's demand for a perfect skill match forcing a
  migrant IT population and what is the effects/costs?
- Has the IT industry's demand for perfect skill matches and H1-Bs
  done anything for the growth and expansion of useful technology
  or national engineering knowledge base?
- How has the IT industry determined that it can only succeed
  hiring perfect skill matchs instead of taking up the task of
  training as with other businesses?
- How has the IT industry convinced the government they have no
  responsibility in training workers in it's skill requirements
  unlike other businesses?
- Are our representatives influenced in their voting for or against
  this program because of IT illiteracy?
- Considering the spewing of new development and application
  technology into the marketplace, is the requirement of a perfect
  skill set match an insatiable requirement that will burn itself 
  out by it's own nature, having hitting the wall nationally and 
  then possibly internationally?
- Could a university ever produce a four year study program to meet
  the needs of a skill volatile industry like IT?
- If an IT company cannot predict what it will need for skill sets
  in the near future then how can it claim the need for an LCA?
- How much has a "temporary" H1-B visa influenced layoff decisions?
- How much has a "temporary" H1-B visa, extentions and LCAs misled
  visa holders as to their real status of being temporary or 
  permanent?
- Should an unemployed resident IT worker invest any more time/
  effort/expense in employment in this industry?
- Why are people who train H1-Bs to replace them not taking up the
  legal issue that the requirement the visa was granted on was the
  condition that a resident could not be found with the same skills?
- Why should a company laying off resident IT workers with equivalent
  skills to their H1-Bs ever be granted an H1-B visa (actually, yes, 
  they are granted to the company), an extention to visas or an LCA?
- Is the very definition of the H1-B program a lack of commitment
  of the IT industry to it's employees and technology?

Please add any questions you may have.