patrick.net

#H1b
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article192336839.html
The Department of Homeland Security is considering new regulations that would prevent H-1B visa extensions, according to two U.S. sources briefed on the proposal. The measure potentially could stop hundreds of thousands of foreign workers from keeping their H-1B visas while their green card applications are pending.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article192336839.html#storylink=cpy

The Trump administration is cracking down on companies that get visas for foreign workers and farm them out to employers.

Some staffing agencies seek hard-to-get H-1B visas for high-skilled workers, only to contract them out to other companies. There's nothing inherently illegal about contracting out visa recipients, but the workers are supposed to maintain a relationship with their employers, among other requirements.

In some cases, outsourcing firms flood the system with applicants. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency said in a new policy memo released Thursday it will require more information about H-1B workers' employment to ensure the workers are doing what they were hired for.

Companies will have to provide specific work assignments, including dates and locations, to verify the "employer-employee" relationship between the company applying for an H-1B and its visa recipient.

H-1B visas are valid for three years and can be renewed for another three years. It is a visa that is near and dear to the tech community, with many engineers vying for one of the program's 85,000 visas each year. (20,000 of that quota are reserved for advanced degree holders.) Demand for the visa often exceeds the supply -- in that case, a lottery system is activated.

"Since there is a limited number of H-1B visas it is important that those visa workers go where they are legitimately needed," attorney Sara Blackwell told CNN. Blackwell advocates for American workers replaced by foreigner visa holders.

The government's crackdown is in line with Trump's direction to federal agencies to implement a "Buy American, Hire American" strategy. The administration proposed new rules and guidance for preventing fraud and abuse of work visas -- particularly the H-1B program.

The USCIS says it may limit the length of the visa to shorter than three years based the information an employer provides. For example, if an employer can't prove the H-1B holder is "more likely than not" needed for the full three years, the government might issue the visa for fewer than three years.

The memo also says the administration wants to prevent employee "benching." That's when firms bring on H-1B visa holders but don't give them work and don't pay them the required wages while they wait for jobs. Most projects don't need foreign workers for the full term, according to Monty Hamilton, CEO of IT contractor Rural Sourcing.


http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/23/technology/h1b-visa-abuse/index.html

Trump says he’ll sign executive order to ‘temporarily suspend immigration’ because of coronavirus

President Trump said Monday night he plans to “temporarily suspend immigration” because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump announced his plan to sign an executive order in a 10:06 p.m. tweet.

“In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!” he tweeted.

It’s unclear what effect the order will have on the spread of the deadly disease. The U.S. has already seen nearly 750,000 cases of coronavirus, and more than 39,000 deaths -- more than any other nation.

The order marks an extraordinary and unexpected use of executive power amid the coronavirus pandemic, considering his earlier optimism about some states being ready to reopen their virus-shuttered businesses.

An immigration suspension would serve as an extension on the travel restrictions the Trump administration has already imposed on most of Europe, China, Canada, Mexico, Iran and South Korea.

Trump has spent much of his presidency pushing to restrict immigration into the U.S.

The president has taken credit for his restrictions on travel to the U.S. from China and hard-hit European countries, arguing it contributed to slowing the spread of the virus in the U.S.

But he has yet to extend those restrictions to other nations now experiencing virus outbreaks.Due to the pandemic, almost all visa processing by the State Department, including immigrant visas, has been suspended for weeks.

More than 750,000 Americans have come down with COVID-19 and more than 42,000 have died.

Trump’s late-night order drew immediate fire from Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), who accused the president of trying to create a divisive distraction.

“This action is not only an attempt to divert attention away from Trump’s failure to stop the spread of the coronavirus and save lives, but an authoritarian-like move to take advantage of a crisis and advance his anti-immigrant agenda,” the congressman tweeted. “We must come together to reject his division.”

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-trump-suspend-immigration-20200421-4nmzcee2azg5tds4mox3q3znty-story.html

How could we NOT suspend all H1Bs right now?


https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/06/15/indias-nasscom-companies-ask-trump-to-keep-the-h-1b-pipeline/

https://dailycaller.com/2020/06/29/tragesser-opponents-argue-trump-ban-on-foreign-guest-workers-will-cripple-economy-heres-why-they-are-wrong/

On June 22, President Trump signed an executive order suspending several temporary foreign guest worker programs in an effort to create economic opportunities for displaced Americans who lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the president’s clearly stated intentions, the order received immediate critical scrutiny. Many argued it would reduce skilled workers, since Americans do not offer the same skill sets as those abroad. This could not be farther from the truth — the truth is that America offers a robust work force that should be prioritized during an unprecedented economic crisis, and the president’s order could not have come at a better time.

The president’s executive order simply prioritizes millions of unemployed Americans who offer the same, if not arguably better, skillsets than workers abroad. The proclamation suspends several foreign visas categories — including the H1-B, H2-B, J, and L visas — and range from high skilled positions in the tech industry to lower skilled positions in the hospitality industry. The notion that businesses cannot find Americans who can fill in for these positions is comical. ...

Foreign labor, especially during a global pandemic, brings economic consequences —and this idea is far from being fringe. Americans have made clear that competition from foreign labor at a time of record unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic warrants immigration restrictions. Curtailing immigration and guest worker admissions is supported by 79 percent of the American public and cuts across all party, ideological, and demographic lines. In other recent polling, strong majorities of voters in ten battleground states agreed that “limiting admission of new immigrants and guest workers will improve the chances of laid-off American workers being rehired. ...

The corporate business lobby has painted a distorted image that only further reinforces their greed and self-interest. Americans know they boast the skills to replace most foreign guest labor and are hungry for better economic opportunities during an unprecedented economic crisis that shows no sign of abating soon.”

The whole point of all these programs is prevent Americans from being paid well so that stockholders can take all those savings as profit.

There is no other reason they exist. It is pure political corruption.

71% of Silicon Valley is H1B's doing easy ordinary work that most Americans could do, like QA. Tech shareholders are the beneficiaries of these programs, at the expense of American workers' wages.

BLM and the protesters should be egging the houses of the CEOs of Apple, Facebook, Google, and Amazon. They are the enemies of fair wages for US tech workers, and they contribute exclusively to Democrats in order to keep US citizens poor.

Trump is right, and the Democrats on the take from tech CEOs are wrong.

Please share this with friends.

Sorry Big Tech HR Girls and CEOs.

Nobody is buying the bullshit that lowering H1Bs will stop the next Werner von Braun or Einstein from being scooped up by the USA.

Everybody knows Raj probably doesn't have the 1-2 year nonname, fly-by-night Mumbai tech schoo degree. I suspect most couldn't pass a basic Linux Foundation or COMPTIA Core Test. You just want them because you don't have to pay them unemployment, work them 50-60 hours for 40, and that 40 at less than having the job done by an actual basic certified American (much less a CS degree from any university or college).

We have a visa for real world-class researchers, it's the O-1 Visa.

Of all the people who have suffered from H1B discrimination, WHY HAVEN'T YOU CREATED YOUR OWN JOBS? You have had a MASSIVE opportunity to create businesses. One of the best at this moment in time (imo) is SAAS. GET ON IT!!!!!!!!

Yawn, some temporary shit here, some lip service there, but things remain basically the same.

This is related to work visas as Panama City Beach area (Bay County, Florida) has a lot of work visa employees in the hospitality and tourism industries.

A friend told me today there was a line out the door of job applicants for Auntie Ann's (pretzel shop) in Pier Park Panama City Beach.

Yet the local power brokers claim we need work visas since there is not enough of a local labor pool.

Just go to Employ Bay County page on Facebook to see how a lot of people cannot find work.

Hmmm....maybe I will go back into Tech again:

Big changes are underway for U.S. visas, quietly.

The age of cheap, temporary H-1B labor is ending.

The Trump administration isn’t just slowing new approvals.
It’s laying the groundwork to make visa sponsorship financially painful.

Under the H-1B Modernization Rule and USCIS’s new fee schedule, costs are rising.
And now, wage floor increases are back under review, targeting exactly how much employers must pay to keep a visa worker.

This isn’t about protecting workers.
It’s about shrinking demand without needing Congress.

These changes affect existing visa holders.
If your role is up for renewal, transfer, or amendment, your employer may soon face higher wage requirements or new documentation standards.

Promotions may be delayed.
Transfers could be reconsidered.
And companies are already rethinking whether H-1B staffing is worth the long-term cost.

They’re starting to prioritize workers they can keep permanently.
That means U.S. citizens.

If you're on a visa and in a cost-sensitive role, understand this clearly.
The pressure is already building.

Citations in comments.
Shout out to my checkers who caught a citation error. Thx.

https://x.com/niftyswell/status/1912256349653590029

It's nice, but not nearly enough. H-1B should be reserved for jobs paying half a million a year or more.

How does the Indian IT industry survive without giving Pakistanis and Bangladeshis H1Bs?

Clearly Modi must pass a law allowing at least 100k H1Bs into India to work in call centers, before India loses their competitiveness.

hahaha

MolotovCocktail says

The age of cheap, temporary H-1B labor is ending.

Occurs to me that this could have a very positive effect on real estate in the Bay Area, meaning lower prices and lower rents.

Fewer H-1Bs means less competition for housing.

MolotovCocktail says

Doubtful. I do not think selling Teslas in India is an issue. This sounds like a completely contrived hit piece.

I agree, sounds like EDS.

HeadSet says

Doubtful. I do not think selling Teslas in India is an issue. This sounds like a completely contrived hit piece.

India just negotiated the same thing with the UK and Indian government officials are boasting about doing the same with the US.

Indian H1B workers not subject to FICA is a godsend for corporate America and the final deathknell for remaining US tech workers.

We shall see, tho.

The ones that actually go home, maybe. But if they transition into Greencard status, they should be forced to pony up the FICA that wasn't paid while they were H1B. Because clearly they never went home.

And their employers should be forced to pony up retroactive the employer's half, too.

But we all know THAT won't even happen.

Grok on this:

H1B Workers and FICA Taxes (Relation to US-India Context)
The UK-India FTA’s Double Contribution Convention is relevant to your query about H1B workers and FICA taxes, as it mirrors India’s push for social security totalization agreements. However, the UK deal does not directly involve H1B workers or FICA taxes, which are US-specific. Here’s how it connects:

UK NICs vs. US FICA: The UK’s NIC exemption for Indian workers is analogous to a potential US-India totalization agreement that would exempt Indian H1B workers from FICA taxes (7.65% for Social Security and Medicare). India has sought such an agreement with the US to reduce costs for its IT firms, but no deal exists.

US-India Trade Deal Status: No finalized US-India trade deal addresses H1B workers or FICA exemptions. Discussions have been speculative, with posts on X suggesting India seeks FICA exemptions to save $4 billion for its firms, but these lack official confirmation.

UK Precedent: The UK-India deal’s social security provision could serve as a model for US negotiations, allowing Indian H1B workers to pay into India’s social security system instead of FICA, avoiding double contributions. However, US political resistance (e.g., concerns about cheaper foreign labor) makes this unlikely without broader trade concessions.

MolotovCocktail says

UK Precedent: The UK-India deal’s social security provision could serve as a model for US negotiations, allowing Indian H1B workers to pay into India’s social security system instead of FICA, avoiding double contributions. However, US political resistance (e.g., concerns about cheaper foreign labor) makes this unlikely without broader trade concessions.

Holy shit!

https://x.com/amandalouise416/status/1938223305359798597

KgK one says

What's strange is, if you apply to same jobs as us citizen, there is no reply. Who can you ask why they hire h1b over local talent. Can you send email to hr and ask to justify what unique talent h1b had?

There is some benefit to stealing some really smart phds, not only they help innovate local companies, they also do brain drain other countries. If e.g. 100 start up were in other country, us would lose out on those profits.

Amazon, google, tesla... so many have h1b.

there’s no such thing as brain drain. it was just a made up excuse to sucker fools to support hb cheap labor. i was one of fools who believed it, wasn’t my thing and it sounded ok, but then i saw it wasn’t the case. they lied again, as usual.

Birthright citizenship is not 'gone'. So I wonder if he's right about even half of this shit.

..but even if only half is true, that's good.

Visa Worker Tide Turning!

• Birthright citizenship? Gone.
• Remittance tax? Coming.
• H‑1B approvals for 2026? Cut by 50,000.

But it doesn’t stop there...

• Visa overstays now trigger lifetime bans
• H‑1B visas revoked after 60+ days abroad... no official rule, just enforcement
• Palantir software now tracks visa holders in real time, linking travel, payroll, and DHS records
• Mandatory 30‑day registration rule now active
• Student and visitor visas paused, revoked, or delayed
• 19 countries blocked from new visas over overstay rates

Applicants are panicking. Students are backing out. Visa holders are racing home. Staffing firms are losing leverage.

And Americans? They're not just exposing the system anymore…

• They're applying to PERM jobs en masse - crashing fake job filters
• They're documenting fraud, flooding forums with screenshots
• And they’re confronting the globalist politicians who sold them out - in town halls, in comment sections, and in primaries

This isn’t just a policy shift. It’s a revolt.
The foreign labor pipeline is cracking.
And finally… it’s cracking in America’s favor

https://x.com/ChiefNiftyswell/status/1939404962053632060

AmericanKulakMaximumTrumper says

Why are outsourcing firms allowed at all? They have to work direct for the company.

That one i’ve seen a lot when i worked in manufacturing. you own a factory, you want cheap illegal labor. can’t hire them. but a loophole, you use an agency to hire for you. legally you are not at fault that some run of the mill hired illegals. it’s legal cover. that practice is widespread.

there’s always some mexican running agencies that hire illegals for their clients. seen that everywhere. and that Indian stuff you talking about, it sounds all same.

Fortwaye says

but a loophole, you use an agency to hire for you. legally you are not at fault that some run of the mill hired illegals. it’s legal cover. that practice is widespread.

Ditto for open discrimination against white males for DEI. The employer says to the recruiter, "we want more diversity' and the agency openly discriminates on candidates for them. Because they are not doing the actual hiring, they legally get away with it.

Booger says

This fellow is contesting for Governor of Ohio. I won't be voting for this H-1B supporter in November (but so is Trump)..all rich people are, it seems, at the cost of American middle class.

https://www.h1bselection.com/

https://x.com/RobertMSterling/status/1873174358535110953

Basic Facts about H1Bs:

* Was started based on a late 80s National Science Foundation secret report that whinged that American BS and MS in STEM fields were paid too much

* And weren't becoming PhDs because their salaries were adequate, and complaining PhDs were also overpaid: It was ALWAYS about wages, not supply.

* Does not provide "Companies with workers they are short of". It provides AGENCIES with workers they then subcontract out. Cognizant and Tata are the prime "employers" of H1Bs

* TWO THIRDS of H1Bs are in the bottom segments of wages and experience. Not "Rare Skills" but entry level and a few years experience equivalency. We can thus replace H1Bs very rapidly with natives, especially given the large supply of discouraged native STEM trained workers in other fields.

All those jobs should be going to American kids, not h1b foreigners. But that’s not how big tech works, all ran by unpatriotic assholes.

Indians who get here always try to gift and ingratiate themselves with US citizens. They know how good a ride they're getting.

Once they achieve influence, however, the gloves are off.

"Gee, why are we becoming a low trust society?"

"My Uncle Raj works at Mumbai Tech School. For $200 I can get you a certified, real diploma from there"