Trump H-1B visa crackdown hit with legal double whammy: Tech giants, Chamber of Commerce challenge rules
- Reference: 1604437512
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/11/03/h1b_visa_lawsuits/
- Source link:
Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and dozens of other leading tech companies have submitted a joint amicus brief
[1]PDF
against new rules that would increase the minimum wage requirement for H-1B visas to above market levels, effectively blocking immigrant talent from working in America.The companies argue that the [2]latest criteria will “bar many foreign born scientists, engineers, developers of emerging technology, and other highly skilled workers from obtaining an H-1B visa and as a result will make it much more difficult for amici to hire the employees they need to compete in the global economy.”
The rules will also apply to extensions of existing visas – something the companies say will cause “tremendous business disruption” as they are effectively forced to fire workers for not being paid tens of thousands of dollars more than market rates. They warn of knock-in impacts on “our nation’s economic recovery and future economic competitiveness.”
On the one hand, the likes of Facebook and Apple can afford to pay immigrants the proposed minimum H-1B salary for tech workers, some $208,000 a year. On the other hand, the amicus brief argues America as a whole will suffer as a result of turning away skilled workers, which will "lead to greater reliance by US companies on operations outside of the United States — inflicting long-term damage to our nation’s economic growth."
US govt ups minimum H-1B tech salaries to $208,000 a year, more than startups can hope to afford, say VCs [3]READ MORE
Meanwhile, the US Chamber of Commerce has sued the Trump administration for ignoring a [4]court injunction taken out against [5]previous changes to the H-1B rules.
“Plaintiffs are gravely concerned that Defendant Department of State and its officers and employees have not appropriately complied with this Court’s injunction of October 1, 2020,” the court filing
[6]PDF
states.It gives an example of the US consulate in Milan saying it could not approve a visa because it hadn’t received clear guidance about the injunction. And it says that applicants for a range of work visas across the world are being told they need to apply for and receive a “national interest exception” before their visas can be processed, effectively continuing to enforce an executive order from President Trump despite the injunction that was issued a month ago.
Processing
The court doc also claims that even those consulates that are accepting interviews are “failing to approve visas on a timely basis, citing a purported need for ‘administrative processing’ that may take weeks or months to complete.”
In other words, the US government is purposefully acting a go-slow when it comes to work visas even though the courts put a temporary stop on rules that were intended to limit the number and approval of work visas, the case claims.
The group wants the court to make “make certain clarifications of its order” in order to make it abundantly clear that such delay tactics are not allowed and it asks the court to force the State Department to hand over docs to see whether “its officers and employees have acted in good faith compliance over the past month.”
It’s not just the tech industry and business that is opposed to the new rules, either. The American Immigration Lawyers Association has also [7]sued on behalf of various university and higher education institutions, as well as trade associations, claiming that the new requirements “smack of whim and caprice" and will inflict immediate and significant harm.
Among those affected by the new rules will be front-line healthcare workers battling the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, they argue, as well as scientists developing a vaccine for the bio-nasty. ®
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[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2020/11/03/amicus_h1b.pdf
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/29/h1b_visa_change/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2020/11/03/h1b_wage_hike/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/02/trump_h1b_visa_ban_block/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/06/h1b_visa_changes/
[6] https://regmedia.co.uk/2020/11/03/commerce.pdf
[7] https://www.law360.com/articles/1325023/tech-giants-warn-h-1b-rules-will-push-businesses-abroad
[8] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The jobs are in the US, the dispute is over who gets to do them; the US companies are arguing that there'll be fewer jobs in the US if these rules are implemented: (i) they were using H-1Bs to fill these positions, which means formally declaring that sufficient local talent could not be found; and (ii) with these rules they won't be able to use foreign talent either.
There are companies that abuse the H-1B system and poison the well, but I don't think any of the big tech companies do so.
Just get rid of the second-class labor force
Although I'm sure the tech companies abuse the H-1B as well, getting super-expensive experts for way less than they'd have to pay domestically, my major concern is the "labor replacement" use of H-1B slots. These are the ones snapped up by IBM, Tata, Infosys, Accenture, Cognizant, Wipro, etc. and used to fill on-site positions. These body shops use their H-1B slots for one of two things:
1. Placing a staff-replacing person for a customer who absolutely demands someone on site instead of offshore. (I.e. swap a customer-employed DBA for a cheap outsourcing firm-employed DBA)
2. Rotating "train your replacement" staff between outsourcing customers - these are the people that collect all the procedures and credential from IT department workers before they're fired and replaced with the faceless 1000 person call center admins.
Especially in expensive markets like the Bay Area and NYC, the H-1B is an easy way for companies to pay way less than they would have to for a way more exploitable worker. Even if the visa is somewhat portable, companies know the holder needs to find a new company to sponsor them in 30 days. They also know that it's extremely easy to game the "labor certification" process and get an insanely good deal. That's what the focus of any reform should be...there's no reason companies should be allowed to have a second-class labor force.
Manglers in training
That pretty much describes the average tech person in the USA. I get that companies would like to cherry-pick the best from wherever, but I also get that they should properly use the best from the domestic crop first. Instead the mangler-wannabees create so much chaos and confusion that the companies believe that there is no local talent to be had. Such talent as does exist spends most of the time cleaning up after the incompetents.
Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and dozens of other leading fat-ass tech companies have submitted a joint amicus brief [PDF] against new rules that would increase the minimum wage requirement for H-1B visas to above market levels, effectively blocking immigrant talent from working in America leveling the playing field and making it more likely said fat-ass companies will (finally) start hiring American workers .
There, FTFY.
Those of you who follow my posts know I'm no fan of the Orange-utan. But here, I seem to recal an old saying; something about a blind squirrel and a nut....
I used to work at one of the companies you list, in the US, and as a rule there was so much money sloshing around that they'd make an offer to absolutely anybody who passed the interviews. Foreign workers weren't taking the place of US workers, they were strictly augmenting them.
So I think the firms petitioning here aren't the problem. I'm not saying there isn't a problem.
"Market Rates"
Maybe the only reason they will be "... forced to fire workers for not being paid tens of thousands of dollars more than market rates" is that the market rates are being dragged down by dirt cheap "bussed-in" overseas labor?
create jobs in the US you twits. you are US companies. Other countries do it. how dumb can the "tech giants" be.