US eyes cap on Filipino IT workers

With the United States still feeling the pinch of the global financial crisis, two American senators are seeking to limit the number of foreign information-technology professionals entering the country through the H1-B visa program, an advisory on the senators’ websites said.

The H-1B visa program allows US companies and universities to employ temporarily migrant workers who have the equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree in a job category that is considered by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services to be a “specialty occupation,” often in high-tech industry. Those in favor of the program argue that it helps the American economy by allowing employers to hire needed foreign workers.

But US Senators Richard Durbin (Democrat from Illinois) and Charles Grassley (Republican from Iowa) want to review US immigration policy that they say might be taking American jobs from Americans.

“The reality is that too many H-1B visas are being used to facilitate the outsourcing of American jobs to other countries. Some employers have abused the H-1B program, using it to bypass qualified Americans,” Durbin said in a statement posted on his website.

“I want to set up safeguards for American workers, and provide much-needed oversight and enforcement of employers who fail to abide by the law. Our immigration policy should seek to complement our US workforce, not replace it,” he added.

Grassley, on the other hand, wants to put any increases in the quota for H1-B visas on hold.

“We can’t let powerful outside interests cloud our view of the harsh reality that highly skilled Americans are being passed over for jobs for cheaper, foreign labor,” he said on his website.

“I’m in favor of the program but believe that reforms need to be made so that the H-1B program can be a benefit for US businesses and American workers,” Grasley added.

The two senators have written the top 25 companies that have received approved H-1B visa petitions in 2007, asking them detailed information on how they used the visa program. These companies were responsible for nearly 20,000 of the available H-1B visas last year.

“The H-1B program can’t be allowed to become a job-killer in America. We need to ensure that firms are not misusing these visas, causing American workers to be unfairly deprived of good high-skill jobs here at home,” Durbin said.

His and Grassley’s letter dated April 1, 2009, was sent to: Infosys Technologies Ltd., Wipro Limited, Satyam Computer Services Ltd., Cognizant Tech Solutions, Microsoft Corp., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Patni Computer Systems Inc., US Technology Resources LLC, I-Flex Solutions Inc., Intel Corp., Accenture LLP, Cisco Systems Inc., Ernst & Young LLP, Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd., Deloitte & Touche LLP, Google Inc., Mphasis Corp., University of Illinois at Chicago, American Unit Inc., Jsmn International Inc., Objectwin Technology Inc., Deloitte Consulting, Prince Georges County Public Schools, JPMorgan Chase and Co. and Motorola Inc.
— Llanesca T. Panti, Manila Times