Most H-1B workers are imported for entry-level jobs and trained by experienced U.S. workers who are then laid off. This process has introduced a new expression and acronym into the English language: DYOG: “Dig Your Own Grave.”
Phyllis Schlafly
When President Obama was participating in a live video chat, Jennifer Wedel asked him, “Why does the government continue to issue and extend H-1B visas when there are tons of Americans just like my husband with no job?” Her husband is a semiconductor engineer laid off three years ago and still unable to find an engineering job.
We all would like the answer to that question.
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that, counting only U.S.-born individuals, there are 101,000 with an engineering degree who are unemployed, another 244,000 who are not working or not looking for work and therefore not counted in unemployment statistics, and an additional 1.47 million who have an engineering degree but are not working as an engineer.
Obama’s answer to Mrs. Wedel sounded like he had been well briefed by the big corporation lobbyists. He even expressed bewilderment that any U.S. high-tech engineer could be out of work because industry executives tell him there is an unfilled “huge demand” for engineers.
Obama said, “H-1Bs should be reserved only for those companies who say they cannot find somebody in that particular field.” Yes, indeed, they should. But in fact they are not.
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