– Diana Furchtgott-Roth, former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor, is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. The opinions expressed are her own. —
The first Thanksgiving festival was celebrated in 1621 in Massachusetts by the Pilgrims, immigrants to America, out of gratitude for a plentiful harvest.
As we sit around our Thanksgiving tables this Thursday, almost all of us immigrants or their descendants, we’re reminded that one of President-elect Obama’s most important challenges will be to mend our broken immigration policy.
Instead of a rational immigration system, we have occasional raids by immigration officers on plants suspected of employing illegals. Then come deportations that may separate an undocumented parent and children whose birth in the United States made them citizens.
The most controversial facet of the immigration challenge is what to do about the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants. Most are unlikely to return to their native lands, even in today’s tough economic climate.
Nor would we want them to do so. They work at jobs that few Americans choose to do, both in high-skill area—scientific and medical research, for instance—and in mundane yet essential low-skill jobs, such as gardening, washing cars, and cleaning.
In 2007, Congress did not pass President Bush’s comprehensive immigration proposals, supported by the Democratic leadership and many Republicans. Will Obama succeed where Bush failed?
Obama’s proposal mirrors the bill that failed: increased border protection; more visas for new immigrants; penalties for employers who hire undocumented workers; and eventual citizenship for undocumented workers already here, after payment of a fine. It would be a major improvement.
But with unemployment rising, if Congress won’t pass immigration reform, it could still improve the functioning of American labor markets with narrower action. It could authorize the Department of Labor to decide on its own the number of work permits and temporary visas to be issued each calendar quarter.
Every year, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), as instructed by law, issues 65,000 H-1b temporary visas for skilled workers. These lucky workers are certified by the Labor Department out of approximately 630,000 approved applications from employers. Immigrants who hold H-1b visas must return to their home countries when their jobs end.
Yet, as the numbers show, most applicants do not get a visa. Many skilled foreign college graduates who have been studying in America, often at American taxpayer expense, are denied access to American jobs. They must leave, taking their intellectual achievements and valuable skills with them.
Foreign workers benefit the American economy. They pay taxes. They keep laboratories and motels, high-tech shows and construction sites, running. They cannot if they are sent away.
For 2009, the H-1b visa cap of 65,000 was reached one week after the start of the application process on April 1, 2008. That represents a tiny part of the U.S. labor force of 154 million. Even if the quota were raised to 150,000, that would be less than one tenth of 1% of the labor force. Such a quota would still deny admission to the vast majority of prospective applicants who don’t apply due to the small likelihood of success.
Whereas Congress is ill-suited to change laws each time the economy goes up or down, the Labor Department has both the expertise to evaluate changing labor markets and the flexibility to adjust visa quotas. Congress should consider letting the Labor Department make quarterly decisions about how many visas to issue.
When unemployment rises, the Department would issue fewer visas; when it goes down, visas could be increased. The Department could manage visas without causing undue burden on U.S. workers or community facilities, such as schools and hospitals.
Allowing the Labor Department to adjust legal immigration every quarter would help America. President-elect Obama could leave behind the rancor and division over immigration that have plagued the Bush administration, and set a new tone for a new year. That would be something to be thankful for next Thanksgiving.
Diana Furchtgott-Roth can be reached at dfr@hudson.org.
I question if Americans really don't want to do the jobs that these immigrants perform. But really that is a side issue. The main concern is whether or not we should be support illegal immigration. Nobody would question the importance of immigrants to the workforce - particularly if there is a lack of labor in certain key areas. I am just not certain why we turn a blind eye to illegal immigration. Apart from being fair to those who work legally, I am also concerned by the mistreatment of employees who might have poor communication skills and a low level of education.
Trackback
122 comments so far
Previous | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | … 1 | Next
Kim Berry,
- I gave the link to both 2006 AND 2007
- I failed to mention law?? I was just giving ONE example. Do I have to give an exhaustive list??
- I am studying Computer Science
Finally, where did I say that I support H1B?? All I say is that you people paint a dark picture giving false impression, scaring people away and hurting the industry in the long term. From all of what you are doing, I have the impression just as many others student that the average salary is repressed to the point that it is about 35k/year or so..
Now, for the challenges:
a) Less than 50% of the H1B people work as IT professionals. How can you use the average H1B number to interpolate the average H1B ->IT<- number? As average salary for IT is higher than all others (except management), I would expect the H1B IT number to be higher. And I guess it is 60k. I don’t think that is “low and cheap labor”, I think that’s acceptable.
Seriously, I don’t think companies are willing to save a few thousands a year when the chance for the H1B lottery is only 40%
b) Didn’t the career center at your university tell you that more than 80% of jobs never get posted?? People need to build a network, get out doing stuff for free, finish a project at school, show the potentials with that. A piece of paper with your GPA and the line ‘Bachelor of science in Computer Science at …’ is not enough. In the summer, do some project outside of class instead of a vacation in Europe.
Last words, I do have sympathy for people who lose jobs because they are replaced by younger and faster-thinking kids. IT is a tough place to stay. The way I see it is that most good IT jobs are non-routine, complex, intellectually challenging. Like high performance sports, except that people use brain instead of muscles. And we all know the older we get, the worse our brain gets, just like sports stars, they have to retire when experience can no longer offset their failing physical. It’s sad..
This is the thing that I myself will have to worry too.
And I think that kind of nature of IT jobs really are the problem here. (yes certain H1B might well be used for cheap labor, but it’s not the main problem here) so please, don’t lay blame on H1B or immigration.
I hate seeing that tired statistic of 12 million undocumented immigrants. That statistic is years old and was a low-ball estimate then. I’d say we have 30 million undocumented immigrants.
Also to comment on H1-B visa sham. In the year 2000, my colleagues and I were gradually replaced by foreign H1-B visa holders whom we trained to replace us at half our pay. These were coveted engineering positions. The so-called knowledge based jobs, that we worked hard to get. Only to be replaced by broken English speakers with a credential of some foreign university. We don’t need H1-B visas, U.S. companies just want to push down labor costs for skilled American jobs, by making us compete against imported poverty sticken workers from foreign countries. That’s just un-American.
You bet we need to fix immigration. Low paid workers are taking our best jobs right here at home. Unless we want to continue to drive our wages down to third world status, we have to stop this tidal wave of immigrants washing over us. Immigration id fine, but lets moderate it.
When it comes to highly skilled jobs, you are not talking about jobs Americans do not choose to do, you are talking about jobs Americans used to love doing and would gladly do again. These Americans were displaced by unneeded foreign guestworkers, brought by their managers precisely for the purpose of replacing them. That’s not what the H-1B was intended for.
Hey Trevor H,
You cannot take a single snapshot “2006″ and draw any conclusion about wage trends.
You admit that a better and easier path to “riches” is via liberal arts and medicine (and you failed to mention law).
I presume you are not pursuing computer science - if it’s the highest paying profession, why not?
You blame me for “scaring students away from Engineering.” Why don’t you blame HP - laying off Americans while sponsoring foreign workers:
http://www.programmersguild.org/docs/hp_ perm_layoffs.html
Why don’t you blame SJ Mercury News for reporting in 2004 that 25% of tech workers in the area had been forced from the profession (FRAME 2)
http://www.programmersguild.org/docs/slo anwest_kimberry_programmersguild_files/f rame.htm
Why don’t you blame Congresswoman Lofgren, for publicizing that From FY 2001 to FY2005, average H-1b wages fell from $55k to $50k? (FRAME 5 above)
CHALLENGE TO TREVOR:
a) As you cite average programmer wages of $34/hour, how do you explain that average H-1b earn substantially less? Industry claims they are “best and brightest.” Are they underpaid, or underqualified?
b) Please open you Sunday classifieds tomorrow and report back on all the “new grad” (no experience other than a BS degree) required ads in your newspaper. You’d think if things were so bad that we DHS executed an emergency order extending OPT so that foreign students could remain in the USA and work for 30 months - that there would be a few ads for new grads?
Governments from the top down have a brilliant plan on how to handle immigration. Shove everyone else aside and make them this decades ‘most favored of all races’ at of course the expense of those most conveniently left out-not the ones in charge. At the top don’t even bother to apply for disaster aid if you checked Caucasian but across the street FEMA agents are almost rear-ending one another trying to give aid to my Mexican/American buddy Sam…same storm. At the bottom a wreck no insurance if their car still runs they can drive away. Us handcuffed and taken to jail. Am I against a large group of people moving in and not abiding by the laws, drawing a ton of free benefits, having my own rights subjugated to second-class citizen as a result of it? Yes but it’s not them..it’s our own ’save itself first’ government.
While I think controlling flow of foreign workers by H1 visa issuance is a good idea from economical point of view, it doesn’t address an illegal immigration problem. How many H1 visa have been issued to gardeners and car washers? If I understand correctly, H1 visa is issued for positions which require extensive education and/or skills rare in US. Gardening and car washing requires neither of them. Unless the federal government drastically changes their policy on H1 visa, increasing H1 visa quota will just result in more job opportunities for highly educated foreign students, who are unlikely to stay illegally in US anyway by becoming car washers when they can get much better job and status in their home country. I do believe giving more job opportunities to these highly educated people will benefit to American society. However, it is irrelevant to illegal immigration, a main topic of immigration debate. I’m afraid this author is mixing two separate issues.
This is a nation of laws. The immigration law presently in place must be enforced until appropriately ammended. There is no excuse to ignore the law. If you disagree with terms of the law, contact your representatives, complain, work for responsible reform, but do not condone lawless actions. Such an approach has led to the present state of anarchy, with resultant criminality, confusion and encouragement of legal dichotomy.
Do not rest on the unfairness of immigration control, it will always be unfair to someone. We cannot accept all who wish to come here from the rest of the world. Such a policy would overwhelm our economic system to everyone’s detriment. Work out a reasonable compromise.
Congress must accomplish this work. Congressmen (and women) must be held accountable for shaping immigration law. And we must hold them accountable. Vote them out of office if they ignore this problem. Each has taken an oath to uphold this nation and its laws.
Finally, do not allow your buttons to be pushed by the words: honest, well meaning, hard working, family oriented, oppressed, poor, deserving, needey, low wage, fair treatment, and the like. Be ruled instead by equity in granting a limited (set in law) number of immigrants legal residence in this country. Every other country does the same.
Kim Berry,
I am writing a term paper for one of my course about the decline of computer science enrollment.
I feel that people like you really hurt the IT industry in the long term. So please stop.
Take a look at the statistics
http://www.bls.gov/oes/2006/may/table1.p df
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.t 03.htm
at $34.71/hr
how can you say that the wage for computer professional are repressed ???? answer me ????
This is the second highest, only management jobs have higher average.
(even higher than healthcare practitioners average!!)
It’s people like you who painted a scary outlook about IT. This scares people away from Engineering and Computer programs. What’s next ??
The quality of students coming into these programs go down… The standards at University for these programs are lowered to accommodate… The graduates quality lower too -> they can’t find jobs, scream louder, join your union -> Scare even more people away -> even lower quality of next new grads -> the cycle continues on and on..
(and YES, I am seeing students studying Computer Science these days a lot less ’smart’ than in previous years. Many smart highschoolers now are studying Life Sciences at Univ. in order to get rich easily in the future as a doctor..)
I imagine at some point the US will rely solely on foreign workers in IT because of people like you.. you are hurting American long-term technology security!!!!
So please stop all the lies about wages being repressed because of H1B…
And yea, affiliate yourselves with Union likes the auto worker one (UAW). I think it’s very appropriate.
(btw, not all H1Bs work in IT, many many of them work in hospitals too. I only wish the wage repressed were true.. because that will lower the health care cost a lot, guess what, everyone would love it..)
Diana Furchtgott-Roth,
The problem is that you start with the false premise that we “need” any foreign workers. With the possible exception of migrant farm labor (which comprises only about 2% of illegal aliens), the U.S. does not “need” any foreign workers.
You claim that “WE would not want the 12 million illegal aliens to return to their native lands.” YES, WE WOULD:
a) Rather than paying any federal income tax, many get “earned income credit” rebates.
b) Clinton and the Bush undermined the global economy by their calls on FHA and FannieMae to institute special loans to “make housing attainable by immigrants and minorities.”
c) Many are holding jobs that unemployed Americans need.
d) Rather than recirulating their paychecks within the local economy, these workers send billions “back home” each year, contributing to our trade/balance deficit.
e) They are bankrupting hospitals by bringing their snot-nosed kids to the emergency rooms (because employers of illegal workers don’t provide medical benefits) and are bankrupting states like California with their use of Medi-Cal.
Although the Hiltons and large AG companies might benefit from cheap illegal labor, they are dumping the true costs of cheap labor on taxpayers.
30 years ago the construction trades: electrician, roofer, framer … provided good union wages - and homes were more affordable. Now these professions have been displaced by low-paid, predominately Spanish-speaking immigrant workers - legal and illegal. There are many Americans who would take good-paying construction jobs.
FACT: DOL is approving H-1b visa LCAs regardless of whether there are Americans available. Many American tech workers, new grads and recently laid off, are having trouble finding work. Regardless, Congress and DOL dumped another 85,000 H-1b workers in the U.S. last month. And last month unemployment in Silicon Valley increased from 6.2 to 6.9%. Cause and effect? Possibly to some extent:
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_1 1041994?nclick_check=1
Silicon Valley unemployment rate jumps to 6.9 percent
By Pete Carey - Mercury News
Posted: 11/21/2008 09:26:49 AM PST
It is blatantly apparent that the author of this article supports a global position , other than what is in the interest of Americans, and I question why she should be allowed to talk down to us as if she were ” the chosen one “, to represent what is in American interest when it is clearly not. Americans need the work , they need to have the jobs for THEMSELVES, not Illegal s who would, send money overseas, not vote, and support for American Policies, and eliminate the ability to earn a fair wage, because there will always be some illegal or hungry immigrant, waiting in the shadows to do ANY JOB, AT MUCH LESS THE AMOUNT that you would be willing to do it for, further bringing down the quality of life, that is just bearable now, to that of a minimum wage reality for for those of us who actually listen to this dirt bag.
This is the usual “we’re all immigrants” GARBAGE that comes from the out-of-touch-i-only-see-them-at-school liberal elite. She makes no mention of the vast social services bills for illegals (schools/hospitals).
Apparently, the term “immigrants” applies to the euro settlers who killed and otherwise pushed the native population 1000 miles west. And then took most of that land too. Sounds more like “conquering” to me.
Any new immigration thing will fall flat…especially with this bad economy. Plenty of Americans will be willing to sweep floors before it’s all over.
kevin p
Why have you selected the most uninformed post as “Best Comment” when you have been supplied with many other commenters who actually are affected by the programs you speak of?
Let’s not loose sight of the real issue which is, ILLEGAL immigrants need to be kicked out of the country. Go back to your own country and stop using a million and one excuses to break our laws. I couldn’t wait, we were so poor, my kids need a better life, etc……. Go back home, go through the process like millions of others do, then come back and we;ll welcome you with open arms. If you really want a better life, go home and work as hard as you did to get here illegally, to make your country a better place! American politicians get on board with that!
SUPPORT THE ALL-AMERICAN STIMULUS PLAN!!!
THE ALL-AMERICAN STIMULUS PLAN WILL PROVIDE JOBS FOR 8.7 MILLION UNEMPLOYED AMERICAN WORKERS AND IT WON’T COST ANYTHING!!!
Illegals, using forged, and/or stolen identities, have illegally obtained up to 8.7 million jobs; these are jobs that Americans will do, jobs in food processing, jobs in manufacturing; these are jobs that rightfully belonged to American workers in the first place.
MANDATE E-VERIFY, FOR ALL EMPLOYEES, AND FOR ALL EMPLOYERS, AND IT WILL GENERATE 8.7 MILLION JOBS FOR UNEMPLOYED AMERICAN WORKERS!!!
THE ALL-AMERICAN STIMULUS PLAN WILL SAVE AMERICAN TAXPAYERS 300 BILLION DOLLARS EACH, AND EVERY, YEAR (the estimated annual cost of illegal immigrants to American taxpayers)!!!
SUPPORT THE ALL-AMERICAN STIMULUS PLAN!!!
REMEMBER, IT WON’T COST ANYTHING!!!
ENFORCE OUR LAWS AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION!!!
THERE WILL BE NO AMNESTY!!!
OUR ACCEPTABLE IMMIGRATION REFORM
#1. Make Illegal Entry a Felony Permanently Barring Citizenship
#2. Secure Our Borders with our National Guard!!!
#3. Mandate E-Verify for ALL Employees!!!
#4. Cut Off ALL Public Assistance to Illegals and Their Children!!!
#5. Stop the Underground Economy!!!
#6. End Birthright Citizenship for Illegals!!!
#7. End Chain Migration!!!
#8. Make English our Official Language!!!
#9. Cut Off Federal Funds to Sanctuary Cities!!
NOTHING MORE!!! NOTHING LESS!!!
STOP THE INVASION!!!
BUILD THE FENCE!!!
MANDATE E-VERIFY!!!
Southwest Border Patrol Sector Apprehensions (Source DHS/CBP)
Fiscal Year————-2005———2006———2007——-2008 (ends 9/30)
San Diego————126,879—–142,104—- 152,460— 162,390
El Centro————–55,725——-61,465—– 55,883—– 40,961
Yuma—————–138,492—–118,549—– 37,992—— 8,363*
Tucson ————–439,053—–392,074—- 378,239— 317,696
El Paso—————122,624—–122,256—– 75,464—– 30,312
Marfa ——————10,532——–7,520——- 5,536—— 5,391
Del Rio —————–68,547——42,636—– 22,920—– 20,761
Laredo —————–75,268——74,840—– 56,714——43,658
Rio Grande Valley –134,136—-110,528—— 73,430—– 75,473
Apprehensions—-1,171,386–1,071,972—–858, 638—-705,005
*The Yuma Sector presently has a total of 94 miles of fencing. The difference is apparent.
The Yuma Border Patrol Sector is under control:
——-Yuma Border Patrol Sector Apprehensions——–
———–OCT
FY2009—338
FY2008–1094
FY2007–3478
FY2006–9428
FY2005–8872
The El Paso Border Patrol Sector will soon be under control
——-El Paso Border Patrol Sector Apprehensions——–
———–OCT
FY2009–1468–
*The El Paso Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol is currently in the process of constructing 80 miles of vehicle fencing in New Mexico and approximately 56 miles of pedestrian fencing in New Mexico and Texas, officials said.
FY2008–3605
FY2007–6183
FY2006-11027
What Furchtgott-Ross doesn’t mention is that work visa programs such as H-1B are powerful conduits for importing illegal aliens. At the CIS.org website, please review the March, 2008 backgrounder by David Seminara, “No Coyote Needed.” About half of the U.S. illegal alien population are visa overstayers. See the 19 February 2008 article, “Indians a growing face of illegal immigration” by Mike Swift in the Oakland (California) Tribune for more details.
A common-sense legislative proposal, the SAVE Act of 2007 which would require the use of E-Verify for all new hires by larger employers has been opposed by an employer interest advocacy group (CompeteAmerica) that receives funding from Microsoft Corporation. See the PDF version of their 27 February 2008 letter to Speaker Pelosi here http://competeamerica.org/news/alliance_ pr/Speaker_Pelosi_Letter.pdf
I am an electrical engineer with a degree in physics from Florida State University. I have been unemployed for several years because of the H1-B program. In 1990, I remarked to a recruiter that there seemed to be a dozen applicants for every job. He replied “No, it’s more like forty.
This is the way it has been ever since I graduated from college in 1956. I keep reading the ESP, or Engineer Shortage Propaganda, and it never ceases!
There is no shortage of engineers. There is a severe shortage of jobs for engineers!
The economic elite are demanding their “government subsidy” (more H-1B visas) in the 2002 words of Nobel Economist and free-market advocate Milton Friedman. Another example was the March, 2008 speech by William Gates, III to the House Science and Technology Committee in Rayburn House Office Building. Gates must have demanded more H-1Bs about 50 times in the course of his two hour comments! NumbersUSA.com gives American citzens powerful tools to demand reform of this corruption!
To those who think illegal immigrants are taking our good jobs, I grew up in South West Michigan on a small farm. For summer work I picked blue berries, cherries, and strawberries right alongside of immigrants. The work was hard and the pay was not great. The immigrants usually had way more fruit picked at the end of the day then I. A lot of immigrants lived in 24’x24’ single room white buildings we called “help houses”. It was common to see families with a dozen kids packed in the help houses. There was an old help house on the farm where I lived. It did not even have running water. The outhouse next to it was a 2 seat model.
When I went to college some of the brightest students had to really struggle to get green cards. I had an excellent Computer Science teacher who had to move to Australia because he could not get a green card. In the office building, I noticed that most cleaning staff is often of Spanish origin.
Seems to me that it would be quite beneficial for this great country to figure out a way to reward conscientious hard working individuals who what to make something for themselves. Perhaps we need to bring in a lot more immigrants and put them on probation. When they work hard and it becomes obvious they are an asset to the country, let them stay!
There is no shortage of tech workers - there is a shortage of young workers fresh out of college willing to work at the price you are willing to pay. Since the expansion of the H-1B visa program, smart U.S. students have indeed abandoned the IT sector (where according to the BLS, employment has dropped from 3.7 million to 3 million over the past 7 years). The H-1B visa is a labor subsidy - by importing cheaper labor from abroad to keep down U.S. wages in key fields.
Tech is not a field where experience adds much value. Due to fast changing technology, the half life of a software engineer’s knowledge is just 2 to 3 years. Companies have found it far cheaper to lobby government to import cheap young workers from abroad than provide on-going continuous education - again, experience itself adds little value in these fields. Tech has structured itself to always require more new, young workers - even as total employment in the field is collapsing.
Academic economists support temporary workers from abroad - but they all have “tenure” - a guaranteed job for life. If global competition is so great for the rest of us, then perhaps academic economists will be willing to give up their tenure and compete with the world as they wish for the rest of us?
I dare any economist to give up tenure and compete on the world stage as they wish for the rest of us. Until then, forget it.
We’ve watched YouTube video and seen how immigration lawyers advise U.S. firms on how to avoid hiring Americans while complying with the law. The goal is to not hire Americans.