The H-1B Visa Spin: The special interests have this thing spinning fast and furious…right out of President Trump’s White House. What, you say?  How can that be?  Donald Trump promised to end the abuses of the H-1B Visa underwriting program for big companies. He said these companies must fill the jobs with American workers first.

Wall Street Journal Fake News: This program has been going on, and growing on, for years now. The Wall Street Journal posted an article on page A6 on Tuesday titled; ” U.S Puts a Curb On Visa Program”. Great propaganda….or as Mr. Trump would say, “Great Fake News Story”.

Read the first paragraph….” The federal government began accepting visa applications for a fresh round of high-skilled foreign workers, without the wholesale changes President Donald Trump promised in his campaign. ” Just how does this opening paragraph line up with the Wall Street Journal headline….”A Curb on Visa Program”? Well, it doesn’t. The headline says one thing and the article another.

Smoke and Mirrors:  (page A6 contd.) ” The companies say they are adhering to the program’s rules and only hire foreigners because they can’t find Americans for the jobs, but they are under substantial political scrutiny.” Last year the government gave out 85,000 visas of which 20,000 were for people with advanced degrees. The implication being these were well scrutinized by the government and found to be valid needs.

Campaign Statement: President Trump said during the campaign these visas are for temporary foreign workers , imported from abroad, for the explicit purpose of substituting for American workers at lower pay. He went on to say he was committed to eliminating rampant wide-spread H-1b abuse.

How It Works: It does not take a rocket scientist to see the H-1B program for what it really is;

1.H-1B is nothing more than a back door entry to America. Jobs for these foreign workers and their families. Yes, they can bring their families, which very often leads to American born babies… which leads to anchor residency. You get the picture.

2. H-1B is a way for companies to cut significant costs from paying highly skilled and educated American workers, of which there is no shortage. We have the greatest Universities on the planet and this is a cow dung claim of  “we just can’t find skilled American workers”. This is a lie folks….a doosey too!

3. H-1B is nothing more than a “Recruiting Shell Game”. How, you ask, can these companies claim they have tried to find American, skilled and highly educated, workers to fill these jobs and just cannot do it?  Here is how they do it. They use a recruiting program that sorts out all applicants by their applications and resumes and educations. They present such tightly wound requirements for the jobs that not many, if not most, applicants simply do not fit and the computer rejects them. Then when the program comes up wanting the companies go to the government and say “see, we tried, visas please”. This Zip Recruiter on steroids is how they do this. The government then meekly agrees…got to give these guys visas washing their hands of it….taking the money.

4. H-1B is big money for the politicians. K Street lobbying is how these companies operate. I guarantee you folks there is no K Street lobby for your son or daughter who is just graduating with that science or computer degree and looking for one of these jobs only to be told he or she does not meet the requirement. No sir, no ma’am,  we just cannot find these “highly skilled workers”.

H-1B Visa Hypocrisy:  President Trump wants to build a wall to keep our borders and our nation safe from people illegally entering the United States. He wants to have legal immigration with proper vetting to insure fairness. He has called for all people to get in line saying, “America wants immigrants, but we want those most deserving and willing to contribute”. Then, it would appear, he winks and nods on this H-1B visa program just like GW and Obama did.  H-1B is simply a way to cut in the line. It is not fair by any stretch of the imagination.  If you believe there are 85,000 jobs that cannot be filled by our very best and. Brightest then you are just plain stupid. The fact is, last year there were 85,000 H-1B visas granted…. while companies applied for a whopping 236,000 visas.

H-1B Visa Transparency Please: Companies should have to not just present the unfilled job needs to the government when seeking these visas, they should have to publish them in newspapers, colleges, and on web sites for 180 days. All Americans, and more importantly all American job seekers, should be able to view these jobs and challenge the claims of these companies.  They should also not be allowed to put the “micro filter” on the recruiting program, which is just a manipulative technique designed to keep our sons and daughters on the outside, and foreign workers on the inside.

H-1B Foreign Companies: Many of the high tech foreign companies do not want American workers. Their goal is to bring workers from their own countries. You can look at communities where these companies are located and you mostly find their workforces being foreign born and H-1B visa legal. We should demand honesty for our workers and students. After all you would never be able to put American companies in China, India, or anywhere else and bring in American workers. So why are we so stupid?

The University Link: I would be remiss if I left out the link of our Universities to the H-1B Visa lie. American schools have been selling seats at the table to foreign students at record rates, and making good profits doing so. In the process your kid and mine has been faced with the “college application nightmare”. Not just Universities but Community Colleges are also taking foreign students. The result is our students have impacted classes, difficulty getting class schedules filled, and longer time finishing a two year program. Think of it this way you pay taxes on the schools for 20 years and then when your kid gets to college the schools are impacted.

Once these foreign students, who are here on student visas, graduate they are supposed to return home to their country of origin. American schools are supposed to feel good about providing highly educated workers for their home countries. A kind of  indirect “Peace Corps” benefit if you will.

The problem is these students do not want to leave. So enter the companies who can tap them for a lower cost to do the high tech job. H-1B to the rescue. Not only do these students get to stay, the can now bring their families. So when you look at the big picture here is what you see. We are bringing in foreign students so colleges can make big bucks, then we are letting them stay so companies can make big bucks, and then our own citizen students can get the H-1B shaft, high student loans, and limited job opportunities.

“Winners and Losers”…..”Liars and Fools” :  The H-1B Visa program is a big lie. The politicians support the lie. There are more than enough American highly educated and skilled workers who can meet the requirements of these companies. Do the companies need to pay more for the American workers?  You bet they do! We have created a system that allows for back door immigration at the expense of our best and brightest. Why you might ask?  Greed…..it is all about the money.

To President Trump a little advice from the Gipper: ….”

“Dance with the one that brung you”.

Michael Hawke