According to the USCIS the H-1B visa was created to employ ‘foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialized fields’. The visa is valid for three years from the date issued and may be renewed for another three years. Visas may be applied for during a short period of time at the beginning of each fiscal year in October. The H-1B is considered a ‘non-immigrant’ visa but it does have dual intent. This means a holder of the H-1B can have current legal immigration intent. The visa itself though, does not bring a person to the US for longer than three to six years. This short term concept is in line with the purpose of the visa which was to ensure that highly technical jobs in the US could be filled in the event that there was no one suitable in the US to fill that role. In this situation the H-1B allows foreign workers to be brought into a job until qualified US citizens become available. Many US employers have however viewed these visas as an alternative, cheaper work force to US labor. There have been repeated claims from industry to support the high demand for H-1B workers. A claim made in a report funded by the bill and Melinda gates foundation was that our education system is not producing enough STEM-capable students to keep up with demand both in traditional STEM occupations and other sectors across the economy that demand similar competencies. They have said there is a major lack of skilled workers to fill stem positions. US companies are often pushing to raise the cap on the number of visas issued annually. In 2007 Bill Gates urged a warning of ‘danger to the economy if employers can’t import skilled workers to fill job gaps’ [1]. Currently 65,000 visas are issued annual... ... middle of paper ... .../2007/back407.html> [3] N. Charette, Robert. "STEM Education Funding in the U.S. – Is More or Less Needed?" IEEE Spectrum, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, June 8 2012. Web. December 6th 2013. [4] Durbin, Dick. "Floor Statement: H-1B Visa Reform" United States Senator Dick Durban, Internet Archive, June 5 2007. Web Archive. December 6th 2013. < http://web.archive.org/web/20110106210436/http://durbin.senate.gov/showRelease.cfm?releaseId=280890> [5] Snyder, Tom. "Degrees earned by foreign graduate students: Fields of study and plans after graduation" National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education Sciences National Center for Education Statistics, November 1997. Web. December 6th 2013.
(2005). Immigration stance. Senator Robert Byrd's Record On Immigration Reform And Illegal Aliens, Retrieved from http://immigrationstance.diggersrealm.com/
Hennessey, Kathleen and Brian Bennett. "Obama urged to reduce deportations; Immigration reform advocates push the president to take executive action, or risk losing Latino voters' support." Los Angeles Times 8 March 2014: A.7.
Chairman Lamar Smith "Immigration in the National Interest Act of 1995" Register , 12, May, 1995
13 Thompson et al. (2010). The government's proposals for higher education funding. The government's proposals for higher education funding. 12 (4), 5-6.
Federal legislation on immigration issues must include an ambitious skills strategy that allows those on a pathway to citizenship as well as current citizens to obtain the skills and credentials that employers need. Similarly, federal legislation on adult education and workforce issues must take into account the changing demographic profile of American workers, and the increasing role of
In recent headlines, the H-1B visa has come become a debatable topic. The number of visas distributed to skilled workers (H-1B) and who receives them, and whether the United States should increase or decrease the amount. Currently, the H-1B visa system is structure to administer 65,000 H-1B visas (Services, H-1B Fiscal Years (FY) 2014 Cap Season). According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration, 124,000 petitions were received during the 2013 fiscal year. (Services, H-1B Fiscal Years (FY) 2014 Cap Season). Some are suggesting that we need more skilled immigrant labor within our country for innovative and entrepreneurial exploration, while others are opposed to such a change and would prefer a decrease in the number of H-1B visas distributed, or are content with the current number of visas distributed. Such a decision requires research, and investigating in order to make a sound decision, on what is the best option. This paper discusses the purpose of H-1B visas, the main participants, the policy issue with the number of H-1B visas distributed, policy options and their costs and benefits, the importance, and the economic implications .
There are other important leaders at the top echelons of the US government that are calling for the complete end of the H-1B program. The US Attorney General Jeff Sessions claimed, the H-1B program is a “tremendous threat” to Americans. Opponents of the H-1B visa has used rhetoric and false propaganda to build animosity to between American workers and foreign workers. Pundits and politicians claim that there is no need for the visa program and the program has hurt Americans more than it has helped. They have accused the program of driving down the wages of Americans by outsourcing cheap foreign workers.
Gomez, Alan. "White House immigration plan offers path to residency." USA TODAY 17 February 2013, n. pag. Web. 24 Apr. 2013.
Hal Salzman claims, “The United States college system is now producing twice the amount of STEM graduates annually who are unable to find jobs in their respected fields.” Salzman’s claim attempts to blame the high skilled immigrants for taking away jobs from American workers because they are filling in the jobs that are supposed to be for those graduating in the STEM fields. Salzman continues by adding, “guest workers currently make up two-thirds of all new IT hires, so even as half of Americans with STEM degrees can’t find STEM work, 2 in 3 new jobs in the information technology field are going to labor imported from abroad.” Essentially, if high skilled immigrants continue to be integrated into the STEM field jobs, these high tech companies will have enough immigrant workers to take up a significant percent of the new hire positions. As a result, this will take away jobs from current American employees and the unemployed, which ultimately holds down wages and takes away
Jonathan Rothwell from the Brookings Institution justifies “Half of all STEM jobs are available to workers without a four-year college degree, and these jobs pay $53,000 on average—a wage 10 percent higher than jobs with similar educational requirements” (Rothwell para. 4). This opens the door to vast opportunities for all Americans. From this, we can determine half of STEM jobs can be fulfilled with a degree from a community college. President Obama’s proposal would give more opportunities for Americans to take these jobs. STEM jobs are currently experiencing a shortage, as “only one unemployed STEM worker for two unfilled STEM jobs throughout the country. Many jobs are going unfilled simply for lack of people with the right skill sets” (Engler para. 7). This establishes there is a direct need to enact free community college in order to fulfill these stem jobs. Not only will community college allow Americans to take jobs in the STEM sector, but there is also a significant shortage in these job fields which community college would solve. Proponents of free community college argue the fulfillment and shortage of STEM jobs as reason to support the President’s
There are an estimate of 3 million migrant and seasonal farm workers in the United States. About 72% of the workers were born in a different country; which 68% of them were born in Mexico, 3% born in Central America and 1% born elsewhere. An estimate of 35% of them could not speak English at all and about 40% of farm workers stopped attending school after grade school. But, many ask why do immigrants want these jobs? Well the main answer is that a majority of these immigrants are uneducated to work in a higher paying job and would rather work in a hard low paid job.
Bozick, Robert. "Job Opportunities, Economic Resources, and the Postsecondary Destinations of American Youth*." Demography 46.3 (2009): 493-512.
Illegal and legal immigration is a concern in the U.S. and people’s opinions over the topic are always very conflicted between those that oppose legal and illegal immigrants to those that see them as an opportunity to boost the U.S. economy. “We are told that the United States is a "nation of immigrants," built by people who came from many lands to make an even better nation. But this belief was relatively new in the twentieth century, a period that saw the establishment of immigrant quotas that endured until the Immigrant and Nationality Act of 1965” (Fleegler, 1). The biggest concerns about jobs is that legal immigrants are taking away jobs from Americans, especially in the sector of technology and engineering. Thus keeping graduate students
The data set given for STEM occupations vs traditional occupations shows the income difference between the two styles of employment and their contrary incomes. This is beneficial to improving the poverty line because it is a nominal increase in pay from a traditional post-bachelor degree occupation in the field of interest in their area of study. Due to the lack of opportunity within an impoverished lifestyle college is usually hard to attain, but by offering STEM programs in schools with qualified teachers we can spark interest and commitment to a STEM lifestyle
Today’s science standards require real world scenarios and questions that force students to be able to apply their learning (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2014). The United States Department of Education has implemented programs to meet the growing demand of students to be prepared to enter professions with real world experience. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, also referred to as STEM, focuses on developing standards in leadership while educating students in those corresponding subject areas. President Barack Obama stated that “...Leadership tomorrow depends on how we educate our students today- especially in science, technology engineering and math (par.1)” (Ed.gov,