H-1B Visas and Unemployment: A Federal Case

Well folks, the drama continues about New Jersey-based Vision Systems Group. Could it be that a can of worms has been opened in the H-1B world? Let's take a closer look at the Federal case being pursued. This is today's URL reference:

http://blogs.eweek.com/careers/content001/h-1b_foreign_workers/h1-b_visas_and_unemployment_a_federal_case.html

Here's the significant question asked in this new bit of news:

"The U.S. government, at least the part that is fighting H-1B visa fraud, is looking to prove a point about the program: that fraud in H-1B visa program and the number of visa holders in U.S. tech jobs are putting current struggling American technology workers out of work."

Given the "hand in the H-1B cookie jar" that I mentioned in my last posting, the spotlight now is captured in this final quote from today's referenced article:


"The problem is that while there appears to be a strong case for fraud and abuse relating to the visa program, it is harder to substantiate the full impact on American workers and all the layoffs and unemployment occurring. The two are not dependent on each other. Layoffs would be happening regardless of whether there was an H-1B visa program or not."

As always, I don't forget the "greed virus" negative effect on business ethics and moral values. As always, I now ask for your comments out there. Cheers !

US: H-1B workers outnumber unemployed techies

Hello to everyone in cyberland! You're here because, at some level, you're curious about this blog's theme that outsourcing American jobs is a manifestation of the "greed virus". Now we have some more fire to heat the flames of frustration as a company called Vision Systems Group" was caught with its hand in the H1B cookie jar referenced by a May 26, 2009 Computerworld article at:

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9133529&source=rss_news


Note: * Vision Systems Group in South Plainfield, NJ URL found at http://www.vsginc.com/ "

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** Here's a bit of that Computerworld article quote that caught my attention:

"Vision Systems was included in a sweep that led to arrests of some 11 people in six states. The government, in announcing its action, said the companies and people involved were "displacing qualified American workers," but didn't identify how many. In court papers filed last month, the U.S. indicated it may be getting ready to do just that. The U.S. said it is "prepared to demonstrate to the court the manner in which the defendant's schemes, along with similar schemes by similar companies have substantially deprived U.S. citizens of employment." The government then points out that "in January of 2009, the total number of workers employed in the information technology occupation under the H-1B program substantially exceeded the 241,000 unemployed U.S. citizen workers within the same occupation."

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There is mention of "similar companies" in this quote and makes me wonder how many others are on the H1B gravy train?
The article continues to provide another troubling factoid to "digest" as follows:

"In the case of Vision Systems, the U.S. said the company "consistently hired only foreign workers in order to fill information technology positions within the United States." The government said "although the exact amount of loss to U.S. citizen workers has not yet been determined, there is no question that the amount of lost wages and benefits to U.S. citizens has been substantial"

Given our current economic crisis ( both state and federal ) wouldn't it be nice for this country to have Americans spending those paychecks rather than non citizens? Ok...nuff said ... any opinions out there about this latest bit of news?