Hire American Provisions

[EM_PS]

Discussion fodder:

Foreign Students Frustrated By "Hire American" Provisions.McClatchy (5/1, Hotakainen) reports, "At Duke University in North Carolina, where foreign nationals account for 60 percent of this year's master's class in engineering...students struggle to get jobs. Some of them are getting employment offers withdrawn, while others are frustrated and ready to move back home." Some educators say "it's the result of xenophobic messages coming out of Washington;" specifically legislation Congress passed earlier this year that "forces banks that receive federal bailout money to hire American citizens over foreign guest workers." Now, "its reverberations are being felt across the country, particularly on college campuses," where foreign nationals account for a large proportion of higher degrees in engineering. "Immigration lawyers and educators warn that it could become much more difficult for universities to recruit foreign students, particularly if students fear there will be no jobs for them after they graduate."

Workforce

My 2 pennies is that best candidate for the job should get the best consideration, regardless of nationality. that said, in this employer's market, i imagine it wouldn't be hard to find exceptionally qualified 'American' candidates that'll go head-to-head w/ any foreign candidates anyways (old discussion, i know). Part of the bigger picture unfortunately is so-called talent drain out of America, if there is truth to above snippet.

 

[SuperAlpha]

US Export laws cover the export of technology (schematics, plans, conversations, etc) to foreign nationals. Foreign nationals is anybody who is not a US citizen or green card holder. Visa holders (ie: H1B) are FOREIGN NATIONALS. Fines up to $1M per infraction on both the company and the individuals involved (including criminal) make it difficult to use H1B without classifying the technology and getting blanket export licenses.

For more information: see EAR

 

[SuperAlpha]

More info here:

http://www.itaa.org/upload/isec/presentations/1864.ppt

 

[McEngr]

Discussion fodder:


My 2 pennies is that best candidate for the job should get the best consideration, regardless of nationality. that said, in this employer's market, i imagine it wouldn't be hard to find exceptionally qualified 'American' candidates that'll go head-to-head w/ any foreign candidates anyways (old discussion, i know). Part of the bigger picture unfortunately is so-called talent drain out of America, if there is truth to above snippet.

My 2 cents is that it is American dollars meant to stimulate the American economy. If we were worried about foreign nationals' well-being, then we would provide a stimulus bill for their country, not ours.

 

[Dleg]

Go to any of the countries these foreign engineers are coming from (India, China, etc.) and see what kind of hoops you have to jump through to get a job as a foreigner there. Let alone the "preference" for their own nationals working on government-funded jobs. Everyone always expects the US to be the paradise that their own countries are not, and all you have to do is get through our borders and you will have a job. But that only works when there are more jobs than US citizens ready to fill those jobs. When that's not the case, then tough luck. Get yourself naturalized, or stay in your country and try to make it a better place, so less of your countrymates want to run away to the US.

 

[Vishal]

Being the one who "ran away to the US", I would like for you or anyone else to really know how many "legalities" one has to go thru in the US to get a job (of course I am talking of a real, legal job). Not to mention the enormous costs associated with all the processes. Do you even know how many dollars (application fee + lawyer fees) does it take to get naturalization (I have already paid somewhere to the tune of $25K and I am still waiting to get my green card)? On top of that, try waiting for 5-7 years to just get the green card. Mind you, getting the green card doesn't get one into any governmental agencies as they require US citizenship. I would like for the US citizens cursing the "immigrants" to realize a fact that all the applications for the non-immigrant/immigrant visas gets back into the US economy and it keeps several thousand US workers employed at immigration offices in addition to the several immigration lawyers. Also, I still pay the same amount of taxes like everyone else does and spend all of my money in the US.

Speaking of the preferences, as an international student I paid three times the fees (around $7000 per semester) for my graduate studies. There are approximately 70,000 students per year coming to the US from India alone. It is a big industry.

Anyway, I thought that it might be useful to get to know the other side of the story. I didn't mean to sound rude or anything, I am sorry if I came across as one.

 

[Dleg]

OK, I think my first response was too harsh, and I've reconsidered. I understand it is a difficult process to become naturalized, and that America was built on the backs of immigrants (we're all pretty much immigrants). I also realize that many of our greatest achievements as a nation came about as a result of recent immigrants (the space program, the nuclear program, even our own Revolutionary War - would we have won without the help of Lafayette and the other immigrant soldiers and officers?)

So that said, I think it may not be the best policy, in all cases, to require "hire American" provisions. Obviously, there is a question of balance, or tipping point, or whatever, in the entire immigration question, let alone how much "stimulus" money should go to to benefit non-American workers or companies. But I have no idea what that balance should be, and I doubt any agreement could ever be obtained on that, so I will defer to the politicians on that question (although my personal conviction is that we should not be spending money the way we are right now, anyway).

 

[EM_PS]

more fodder:

USA Today Calls On Congress To Reassess "Counterproductive" Immigration Policy.USA Today (5/12) editorializes that the US has "a self-defeating immigration policy," as the current rules force thousands of foreign students with science and engineering degrees each year "to hit the road" after graduation - "and take their sought-after skills and brainpower to countries and companies that compete with the USA ." A number of large technology companies "have long lobbied to eliminate this counterproductive system," and recently "gained a powerful ally" in Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who told a Congressional panel that current "immigration laws discriminate pretty heavily against highly talented scientists and engineers," and added that "by opening doors to more people with top technical skills...'you'd keep companies here, and you'd have more innovation here, and you'd have more growth here.'" USA Today calls on Congress to "reassess and make the system flexible enough to meet employer needs," as "the nation needs all the smarts and innovation it can muster."

this sentence seems to be a leap. . .

and added that "by opening doors to more people with top technical skills...'you'd keep companies here, and you'd have more innovation here, and you'd have more growth here.'"