In recent years, many Americans – including Russian-speaking ones – have started to complain that more and more foreigners are working at their companies and gradually forcing out permanent residents.
Let me stress right away that these people are not undocumented immigrants who made their way into the United States, by hook or crook, and are prepared to take on any work; no, they are people with a higher education, who came to America on H1-B visas, and who only apply for work at prestigious companies. A great many of these highly qualified workers are employed at high-tech firms, and the vast majority of them are immigrants from India, for whom, it would appear, the H1-B visa serves as an entry “vehicle,” similarly to what Jewish spouses did for citizens of the Soviet Union.
Now, as an economic crisis is raging in the United States and hundreds of thousands of Americans are losing their jobs, many of our fellow citizens have started to view foreign colleagues as a real threat to their future. The Indian computer programmer is regarded almost as the same “antihero” as the undocumented Mexican sweating it out at a construction site or in a meat processing plant.
“Our company is full of foreigners: Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis,” a young Russian-speaking programmer who was educated in the United States and works at a reputable Manhattan company complained to me in a conversation. “Yes, they are all hard-working, knowledgeable and decent people, but there are also many Americans like this. Foreigners are hired first because they can be paid less. Sometimes they are even hired to the detriment of the business.”
As I have already noted, holders of H1-B visas – which are issued for a period of six years – are not menial workers, but people who have valuable knowledge and skills. However, the people who complain about them are the same people who complain about undocumented immigrants, maintaining that many Americans remain unemployed because of foreign qualified workers. And the problem of hiring foreigners with H1-B visas raises the same arguments as the question of using the cheap labor of the undocumented.
On the one hand, there are fears that foreigners with or without legal status not only force Americans out of large companies and small businesses, but also radically change the face and future of the United States. On the other hand, there are assertions that present-day Americans are spoiled, pampered and lazy. Not only do they not lower themselves to take on the dirty work that they readily shift onto the shoulders of undocumented immigrants, but they also waste time in college, acquire a minimal amount of knowledge, and cannot compete successfully with foreigners, who are used to poring over textbooks and working conscientiously.
There are also arguments about who is to blame for the “invasion of foreigners” – greedy businessmen (capitalist sharks), who believe the most important thing is saving money, or the all-powerful unions and leftist activists (workers’ rights advocates), through whose efforts American salaries have become so high that it is more profitable for entrepreneurs to hire “cheap” workers from abroad.
One way or another, the “invasion” continues. Qualified workers from different countries (including the former Soviet Union) are playing a larger role in the American job market. At the onset of the economic crisis, when American companies started to sharply reduce their workforces and lay off thousands of workers, rumors abounded: The “greedy capitalists” will, over time, exchange the laid-off Americans for another batch of Indians (Chinese, Pakistanis, etc.); or export jobs to India or other developing countries; and the government is going to humor these businessmen because, as liberals, Obama and his team will always sacrifice the interests of U.S.-born Americans to the interests of immigrants and foreigners.
Believe it or not, there is no truth to these rumors, at least not at this stage. The U.S. Congress recently prohibited companies that the government is helping financially from hiring H1-B visa holders if the latter would be taking the place of laid-off Americans. This ban is one of the provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a piece of legislation better known as the stimulus bill, which was signed by President Obama on Feb. 17. Incidentally, conservative Republican opponents of this bill refer to it as the “spendulus bill,” meaning that it makes provisions for unprecedented and unjustifiable expenditures.
Under this provision, companies (specifically banks and other financial institutions) that were “saved” by the government do not have the right to hire H1-B visa holders over the course of two years. The services of gifted foreigners may only be used if they are not being hired in place of laid-off Americans.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) are the main sponsors of the provision. According to their data, banks, which received $150 billion in the form of emergency aid from the government during the crisis, obtained H1-B visas for 21,800 foreigners to replace laid-off Americans.
“Now, when thousands of people in the financial sector are unemployed, the assertion by banks that they cannot find suitable employees is simply absurd,” said Sen. Sanders. “We are experiencing the greatest crisis since the Great Depression. And during this time the very least we can do is guarantee that banks that receive funds from the government – that is, from American taxpayers – cannot seek cheap labor abroad and throw Americans out onto the street.”
The ban extends to companies in other sectors if they receive money from the government under the Troubled Asset Relief Program or loans from the Federal Reserve.
As could be expected, the business world greeted this news without particular delight. In particular, high-tech companies, which requested an increase in the number of H1-B visas issued to foreigners, are outraged. For almost two years, the number of H1-B visas issued exceeded 195,000 per year, but amendments made brought the number down to 65,000 per year. Since then many American companies have been trying unsuccessfully to have this “ceiling” raised.
Americans of Indian descent are also criticizing this legislation. The renowned economist, Jagdish Bhagwati, an immigrant from India, asserts that in limiting the number of workers with H1-B visas, America is keeping the most talented people from all corners of the world out of its companies (and its economy).
“People who come to the United States on H1-B visas are generally very well educated and have extraordinary abilities. Progress and prosperity in our country depend on the presence of such people in our companies,” said Professor Bhagwati, who currently teaches economics at Columbia University.
Immigration lawyers also oppose the ban on hiring foreigners. Directors at the American Immigration Lawyers Association have expressed their displeasure with the provision, calling it “disappointing.” Like Professor Bhagwati, they stated that the bill prevents American companies from hiring the most talented people in the world, but it is not impossible that the lawyers are guided by other considerations.
Diverse groups – from super-patriots who yearn to clear foreigners out of America to advocates for American workers – have come out in support of the bill. And, of course, there are the workers themselves – especially computer programmers, including Russian-speaking ones – who support the bill. But how much the new law will actually help these workers remains to be seen. After all, it only applies to certain companies, which are not banned from exporting jobs overseas.
