http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/stories/columns/0,4351,2437953,00.html


PC Week Commentary

Just Managing
H-1B: Is this the American dream or nightmare?
By Stephanie Neil
February 21, 2000 9:00 AM ET

Surprise! The senate this month proposed legislation that would
temporarily raise the cap for H-1B visa holders, the foreign IT
professionals recruited to fill jobs in the United States. The
petition to raise the H-1B ceiling was filed because last year the
115,000-person limit was met within six months. Similarly, there are
estimates that this year's H-1B allotment—which is also 115,000,
up from 65,000—will likely max out by March.

The Senate proposal would increase the number of guest workers in the
United States to 195,000 through 2002. This temporary boost,
proponents of the movement say, will empower the technology community
by creating competition and energizing the economy.

It's also likely that the more people brought into the United States,
the more opportunity for fraudulent use of the H-1B system where
low-paid guest workers are exploited in "body shops." In addition,
filling up open programming positions with H-1B visa holders who will
be leaving after the six-year term expires robs IT college grads of
the chance at those jobs and to gain some proficiency in their field.

A better solution would be to keep the quota low, focus more on
educating here at home and recruit key foreign IT professionals who
have expertise in desired areas. Then we should treat the individuals
we do let into the country as valuable participants in our
society—not as migrant laborers to be exploited and then sent
home.

Many IT business leaders are doing their part to build a skilled work
force for tomorrow, yet they are fighting to raise the H-1B quota
today.

Susan DeFife, president and CEO of womenConnect.com, an e-commerce
development company in McLean, Va., that caters to businesswomen, says
we are undermining our ability to flourish by not having enough
skilled technologists.

DeFife, who runs the 25-person venture-backed company, testified at
the Senate Immigration Subcommittee hearing last October to make the
case for the H-1B increase. There she made some plausible arguments
that relate back to the IT skills shortage. But are more H-1B visa
holders the answer? Women and minorities are underrepresented in the
IT community, and as a result, we as a country may be ignoring a core
group that could get us out of this skills slump without having to
recruit masses from abroad.

DeFife says 75 percent of her staff are women, some of them
African-American. And she agrees that we can't afford to ignore this
part of the population. But, she says, the benefits of training or
retraining will come too late to help her today.

Still, H-1B increases are just a Band-Aid. The real panacea will come
from training and a controlled immigration program for IT
professionals.

As it is, many H-1B holders are accepting these positions in the
United States hoping that they'll be lucky enough to get green cards.
Many don't. Still, they're living among us and contributing to our
economic growth. So shouldn't they also be given all the privileges of
citizens?

Continually raising the H-1B cap is just a symptom of short-term focus
and, even worse, of greed. We can't callously welcome people into our
country, take the best they have to give and then send them back.
That's not the American way.

How many times do we have to raise the cap? Write me at
stephanie_neil@zd.com.