The H-1B visa discussion never gets as hot as it does in political season. But a number of groups think the current crop of candidates is skirting the issue and they want to make it center stage.
The high-tech workers union TechsUnite today put out a call for everyone who cares about the issue to make it a significant portion of the upcoming CNN debates at the end of the month. You can do that by visiting Presidential Debates and submitting a question to be asked of the candidates on Jan. 30 for Republicans and Jan. 31 for Democrats.
The union was none too thrilled recently by answers to H-1B questions by Democrats John Edwards and Joe Biden. Hillary Clinton has in the past called for an increase in H-1Bs. In a meeting last summer with Indian business leaders in California walked a very fine line however. While advocating increased H-1Bs, she also said: “If the United States continues to outsource jobs to India in increasingly large numbers, people will begin to feel insecure. There is a better way with leadership in the public and private sectors.”
Republican candidates such as John McCain have been in favor of increasing H-1Bs as well. President Bush has during his tenure always been in favor of increasing H-1Bs.
And tech jobs in general seem to be doing well. The American Electronics Association in October said that the U.S. high-tech industry added 118,500 jobs between January and June of 2007, a 2% rise, for a total of 5.94 million workers. This is slightly less than the 143,000 tech jobs added in the first half of 2006.
The business of H-1B visas has never really been uglier. Last year two U.S. senators took aim at nine prominent outsourcing companies, demanding that they explain their use of the H-1B program. Recently, the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Service hit its limit for 2008 H-1B visas within hours. And earlier this month other U.S. senators introduced a bill that says companies that lay off workers will be barred from using H-1B visas. Then of course there was the now infamous video of lawyers holding a panel discussion on the ins and outs of helping employers side-step immigration law.
All indications are the current crop of mainstream candidates would be unlikely to change H-1B law all that much but without a doubt they should make their positions as clear as possible.
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