To: H-1B/L-1/offshoring e-newsletter

Thu Mar  7 11:02:05 PST 2013

Interesting article at 

http://www.startribune.com/business/190622251.html?refer=y

about Amy Klobuchar, a Democratic senator from Minnesota who either has
introduced or will introduce (can't find it online) her own foreign STEM
worker bill.

Readers of this e-newsletter who are programmers or engineers will find
these passages of interest:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

      Tom Grones, founder of public safety software company Geo-Comm in
      St.  Cloud, hires international students as interns. But he does
      not try to get employment visas for them because he sees no need
      "to provide a wider international pool of people on temporary
      visas."

      "We have found plenty of excellent knowledge workers in central
      Minnesota," Grones said.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

and

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

      Chris Fuller, a Twin Cities radio frequency engineer, worries that
      more visas will lead to more situations like the one he
      experienced when he recommended an experienced American engineer
      for a job at a Minnesota med tech company where he used to work.

      "They never even bothered to call him" before hiring an H-1B
      worker, said Fuller. "I thought if there was a qualified U.S.
      national, they would have to consider him."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

But after reading the article, many of you (I hope) can spot the
paragraph that most caught my eye:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

      Companies where H-1B visa holders make up more than half the
      workforce "is where these abuses have taken place," Klobuchar
      said. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

This of course refers to the Indian bodyshops.  This is the old "Intel
si!, Infosys no!" notion.  I wonder where Klobuchar got information on
this, which is certainly false.  Abuse of H-1B occurs throughout the
industry, including in the mainstream U.S. firms.

Norm