The Innovation Argument

One of the the most widely offered arguments in favor of more H-1B visas is "innovation". American employers claim that they need H-1B workers in order to be able to innovate. They conflate the ability to innovate with the need to remain competitive. In my view, the two issues are not related at all, and I will get to the competitiveness argument and its conflation with innovation in a separate post.

Regarding the "innovation" argument. I feel like asking those who advance it:

-- did we need H-1Bs to create the internet?
-- did we need H-1Bs to create products like iMac and iPod?
-- what are some examples of new products/services that are already developed/in the pipeline -- which would not be possible if not for H-1B employees?

In practical terms, how do people who did not go to school in the U.S., indeed, who are products of educational systems that rely on rote learning and high "marks" and where there is hardly any independent study or critical/analytical thinking component suddenly become "innovators"? How do people who live half a world away become masters of a technology that originates here?

In reality, the irony is this: many of the people now coming here on H-1B visas are graduates of second and third tier colleges. At least some of them are people who paid "coyotes" to apply for their H-1B visas. And, in the extremely competitive job market that currently exists in India, these are people who DID NOT make the cut and failed to get hired by the likes of Infosys. So, rather than getting the so-called "best and brightest", we are getting the detritus.

And, in all the above, I have not even mentioned communication challenges because of a lack of fluency in written and spoken English and cultural differences which come into play whenever people of diverse backgrounds work together. What is being "lost in translation"? What strategies are being used in order to compensate for that? Now, that is where some real innovation might be coming into play!

About Me

I am originally from India and a U.S. citizen. I feel alarmed by the changes taking place in the IT industry as a result of entire categories of jobs being outsourced or offshored. I am a graduate of I.I.T., the elite Indian educational institution that became famous thanks to the CBS 60 Minutes segment a few years ago. I think it would be fair to say that I am just the type of "best and brightest", that Bill Gates and others of his ilk, say they want to welcome under this visa program.

Yet, I have personally experienced discrimination -- at the hands of other Indians, no less -- as a result of these changes. I have been told by, people who turned out to be H-1B recruiters, that I am not the right type of candidate as I am not a "young guy" and I am not "technical enough". When an agent acts as (or, is allowed to act as) the gatekeeper and does so by flouting the equal employment opportunity laws that prior generations fought hard to win, it adds insult to injury.

And yet, the decision to speak out about this issue has not been an easy one to make.

Some people -- the lazy liberals (as I call them) and the corporate fundamentalists ("free trade" above all) -- have a knee-jerk reaction when this issue is debated. Charges of racism fly about as do charges of protectionism. This has the unfortunate effect of creating a corrosive atmosphere and results in a de facto shutting down of a meaningful dialogue. Classic "divide and rule" tactics.

On this background, as an Indian and an American, I feel it is my dharma (duty) to stand up and be counted.

First post

This blog will serve as a clearinghouse for issues surrounding the passage of the "Defending the American Dream" bill (H.R. 4378) in Congress.

Defend the American Dream Act of 2005

Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ) is sponsoring the Defend the American Dream Act of 2005 (HR 4378). "My legislation faces the Americans who have high-tech degrees in one hand, and pink-slips in the other," says Pascrell. "In report after report, government investigators have found serious weaknesses and failings in the H-1B program," IEEE-USA President Gerard Alphonse said. "Contrary to the law's intent, the program can be used to fill any job at almost any wage, and the vast majority of employers are not required to recruit American workers first."

Key reforms of the Defend the American Dream Act of 2005:

1. Strengthens Worker Safeguards

• 1. Requires employers of H-1B temporary workers to use the highest of three methods to determine wages.
• 2. Requires that employers actively recruit American workers and make copies of the H-1B application available to the public 30 days ahead of filing.
• 3. Prohibits contracting agencies from outsourcing H-1B workers with another employer.
• 4. Creates a private right of action for persons harmed by an employer's violation of H-1B rules.

2. Improves H-1 B Program Administration and Enforcement

• 1. Reduces application delays by centralizing Department of Labor H-1B visa processing.
• 2. Enhances compliance and reduces fraud and abuse by authorizing random audits of H-1B visa applications.
• 3. Increases monetary penalties for willful violators.

3. Limits H-1B Admission Ceilings and Stays

• 1. Reduces the H-1B visa limit to the pre-1998 dot-com level of 65,000 per year.
• 2. Authorized stays would be limited to a single, 3-year, non-renewable term or 2 years, renewable for additional years, for a total of 4 years.