Tancredo Wants to End Work Program for Foreigners

Special short-term visas that helped American companies fill jobs when the economy was booming now are robbing U.S. workers of needed employment

July 18, 2003
By Jennifer Beauprez, Denver Post Business Writer

Special short-term visas that helped American companies fill jobs when the economy was booming now are robbing U.S. workers of needed employment, according to U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., the sponsor of a bill that would abolish the controversial H-1B visa program.

He wants to end the program - or at least reduce the number of available work permits to 5,000 per year.

H-1B visas allow foreigners to work in the United States for up to six years. Experts estimate about 90,000 of the permits will be issued this year, about half the number that are available.

Tancredo and the unemployed tech workers backing him argue that tech companies abuse the program to hire foreigners who will work for as little as half of what Americans demand.

The H-1B visa program doesn't require companies to attempt to first recruit American workers.

"I want to make it much more difficult to import cheap labor when there are American citizens who need jobs," Tancredo said. "I want American workers first in line."

HR 2688 was introduced July 9 and was assigned to the House Judiciary Committee. Tancredo has not formally asked his colleagues to sign onto the bill, and so far the only co-sponsor is Virginia Republican Rep. Virgil Goode Jr.

Tancredo acknowledged that his stance has not made him very popular among big businesses that might otherwise back a Republican initiative. "The only support I've gotten is from people who have been thrown out of their jobs and replaced by H-1B visa workers," he said.

Tancredo's effort may be for naught, said Norm Matloff, a University of California at Davis professor who has studied the H-1B visa debate. He doubts the measure will pass.

"Congress is totally beholden to the industry, due to the industry's campaign contributions," Matloff said. "Prominent members of Congress have publicly admitted that Congress voted to expand the H-1B program only because of the money."

One trade group that represents the nation's most powerful tech companies also doubts Tancredo will gain momentum on Capitol Hill.

"I haven't heard anyone talk about the measure," said Jeff Lande, vice president of Information Technology Association of America, which represents about 500 major corporations, including Microsoft, AOL Time Warner, Lockheed Martin, Intel and Hewlett-Packard.

Lande said the debate in Washington will likely be centered on how many visas Congress should issue this year, rather than whether to end the program.

Lande's organization lobbied Congress twice to increase the yearly cap on the visas, from 65,000 to 115,000 in 1998 and to 195,000 in 2000. The cap is revisited every three years.

Lande said the demand for tech workers has dropped significantly, as has the use of H-1B visas by companies. "I think they'll finish the year with 90,000 (visas)," he said.

Lande said the Senate immigration subcommittee will consider the H-1B visa cap later this month. If Congress takes no action, the cap will roll back to its original level of 65,000 in September.

Some tech firms say they have no desire to recruit overseas because there are plenty of laid-off workers to choose from here.

The hassle of jumping through the immigration and homeland security hoops and getting the workers acclimated may be more trouble than it's worth, said Hamal Jhaveri, chief executive of SofTech Solutions, a Denver software firm that in the past has hired H-1B workers.

"It's picking them up from the airport, finding them a place to live, giving them a stipend," he said. "They're like a houseguest."

Yet eliminating the option of H-1B visas isn't necessarily smart, because some companies may want an option if they can't find the skilled people they need here, said Vic Ahmed, a Denver entrepreneur and chairman of the Colorado Internet & Software Association, a statewide trade group.

"My preference is to look for talent locally, but I'd like to have this program in my back pocket," he said.

Plus, H-1B visas are still needed to fill jobs in other industries - such as health care and biotechnology, which have a shortage of people with specific skills and training, Lande said. Eliminating the program would also violate international treaties, he said.

Yet Tancredo's office estimates that 1.5 million H-1B visa holders reside in the country, and as many as 1 million Americans sit unemployed.

Those numbers infuriate thousands of jobless tech workers, who are organizing online. Websites with names like NoMoreH1B.com and TechsUnite.org have popped up in the past two years, urging people to write to their Congress members and urge them to end H-1B visas.

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