H1B VISA POLICY

H1B Visa Policy



Abstract

The H-1B visa program opened the US information technology labor market to temporary, skilled immigrant labor. But the immigrant worker was bound to a specific employer for the duration of the visa. The paper also discusses about the Caribbean education in a holistic context from its past to present status. It focuses on the Caribbean education in the relationship of education. The non-portability of the H-l B visa has benefitted the employer at the expense of immigrant and domestic workers. Much of the political debate surrounding the H-1B program has focused on raising the annual visa cap based on inconclusive evidence of a domestic IT labor shortage. The labor shortage question has obscured the more important issue of reforming the H-lB program to level the playing field between business and labor.

Table of Contents

Abstract1

Introduction4

Policy Regarding H1B Visa6

Policy Analysis6

H-IB program: Pitfalls for Immigrant and Domestic It Workers6

Institutes of immigration policy up to 20039

Policy Explanation10

The Reform of Institutions of Immigration Policy10

The main areas of immigration policy in the U.S.15

DOE project with the Caribbean Teachers15

Caribbean education15

Caribbean education in the Colonial Period16

Caribbean education in the Post independence Period, 1776 to the Mid-1800s17

Caribbean education in the mid- and Late Nineteenth Century18

Caribbean education in the Twentieth Century20

Impact of Caribbean education on American Society21

Entry into the U.S22

Family Reunification25

Labor Migration26

Students28

The "ethnic diversity"29

Refugees29

Illegal immigration30

Further Analysis: Neo-Liberal Economic Priorities31

Neo-Liberal Governance and Immigration36

Policing Non-Immigrant Flows40

Conclusion and Discussion45

References50

Bibliography59

Appendix61

It Labor Shortage: Fact or Fiction?61

IT Industry Arguments for Increasing the H- I B Cap64

No shortage of IT workers68

The Expansion and Stratification of Non-Immigrant Flows71

H1B Visa Policy

Introduction

The H l B visa program was created as a channel to facilitate temporary, skilled immigration to the United States, and has now become the center of a charged political debate. This debate, between information technology (IT) industry executives and H l B foes, largely has focused on whether to increase the visa cap to alleviate what the industry describes as a shortage of domestic IT labor. I argue, however, that this debate obscures fundamental flaws in the Hl B program that deserve greater attention. These flaws privilege the IT industry at the expense of H l B holders and domestic IT workers, and should be remedied to ensure that both business and labor abide by free market principles. The employers' ability to hire globally must be balanced by workers' rights to seek out better opportunities.

The HlB program expands the labor supply of IT workers, but at the same time restricts the ability of H -1B holders to compete in an open market. This is because workers who hold H-IB visas are bound to a specific employer for the duration of their six-year visa. As a result, employers can abuse the program by paying a salary often below market value. Moreover, this restriction indirectly affects the wages and job security of domestic IT workers because employers can threaten to replace them with cheaper, temporary immigrant labor. In this article, I examine industry claims of a shortage of domestic IT labor, as well as efforts to ...