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USCIS is challenging an unusually large number of H-1B applications

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Re: USCIS is challenging an unusually large number of H-1B applications

#101

Post by pmoriarty »

majormajor wrote: post #38
ashleyn wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Paleoconservatism/populism isn't concerned about the economic benefits of immigration; it's concerned about "protecting" culture so that immigrants don't have the opportunity to reshape it in any capacity. A sizeable portion of Trump's base believes that they are in danger of becoming a minority in "their own" country and will sidestep the economic benefits of immigration to retain a demographic majority. To these vo…

What US Democrats ignore is that practically every damn country in the world does this too, often to a higher degree than the US. So there's a pragmatic question of how to avoid putting yourself at a disadvantage by being comparatively overgenerous that you don't have to be a "paleoconservative" or Trump supporter, or even Republican, to be concerned about.

"practically every damn country in the world does this too, often to a higher degree than the US. So there's a pragmatic question of how to avoid putting yourself at a disadvantage by being comparatively overgenerous..."

A disadvantage or an advantage? It's always seemed to me that people from other countries and cultures contributed very positively to what the US is today.

Re: USCIS is challenging an unusually large number of H-1B applications

#102

Post by smsm42 »

Terr_ wrote: post #5

The particular anecdote in this article almost seems anti-convincing to me... It suggests a job that should get challenged: > For Centro, a company in Chicago that makes technology for ad agencies [...] applied for visas for three young employees who already had the legal right to work for a limited time after graduating from college. > To Clark's eyes, the position — which consisted of writing algorithms and require…

This is all theater in 99.999% of the cases. I mean, the legal requirement is to prove you can't hire anybody with these exact specs in the US. It's usually complete bullshit - of course you could find an SQL programmer or a Javascript developer in the US, those are not extinct yet, and of course, you do not need any special unique knowledge to fill up a junior position, or at least not one any competent developer can't gain in a month. What happens is that you already know that particular person, maybe hired him as a freelancer, maybe did some contract work, maybe did it as a student, or maybe just like that person for that position. Or maybe it's just a bit cheaper.

So what you do is your write a tailored job description, which apparently requires exactly the same skill set the person you want to hire has, up to specific versions of the database system, you "publish" it, go through the motions (without really making an effort to hire anybody - it's usually not very hard for a knowledgeable HR person to do) and in a while you can get your H1B.

Pretty much everybody knows it's a game - the pretense that the only reason foreign people are hired is because there is absolutely not a single matching candidate anywhere in the US is false, but it is impossible to prove. But the game continues because the industry does need the influx of foreign talent, and the only politically viable excuse is the one we have. So we have this game.

Re: USCIS is challenging an unusually large number of H-1B applications

#103

Post by gozur88 »

ashleyn wrote: post #32
komali2 wrote: post #13

Conservatives may generally view this as "good" regardless of the impact because (according to arguments I've heard) "the less globalization, the better." In my mind, however, it boils down to two pretty simple points: Given that (1) the US is lagging far behind every developed nation in education, and higher education in the US is prohibitively expensive compared to other developed nations, (2) the only way for the…

Paleoconservatism/populism isn't concerned about the economic benefits of immigration; it's concerned about "protecting" culture so that immigrants don't have the opportunity to reshape it in any capacity. A sizeable portion of Trump's base believes that they are in danger of becoming a minority in "their own" country and will sidestep the economic benefits of immigration to retain a demographic majority. To these vo…

>A sizeable portion of Trump's base believes that they are in danger of becoming a minority in "their own" country...

Why did you put scare quotes around "their own"? Is it not their own country?

Culture changes over time no matter what you do, but is it completely unreasonable to want your culture to change slowly enough that you can still function in your dotage?

Re: USCIS is challenging an unusually large number of H-1B applications

#104

Post by fortythirteen »

I'm having a hard time finding sympathy for an industry that has systematically abused this system, with the direct intent of artificially lowering wages.

I also find it hilarious that the same people who are always going on about the "evil rich" and the wage gap are the most likely to be against culling one of the biggest loopholes out there.

Re: USCIS is challenging an unusually large number of H-1B applications

#105

Post by BatFastard »

smsm42 wrote: post #69
komali2 wrote: post #13

Conservatives may generally view this as "good" regardless of the impact because (according to arguments I've heard) "the less globalization, the better." In my mind, however, it boils down to two pretty simple points: Given that (1) the US is lagging far behind every developed nation in education, and higher education in the US is prohibitively expensive compared to other developed nations, (2) the only way for the…

> the US is lagging far behind every developed nation in education I'd like to hear the list of places doing far better than MIT, Caltech, Stanford, Berkeley, etc. in STEM fields. I mean I know there are pretty good schools around, but can you really say MIT is "lagging far behind" them? > higher education in the US is prohibitively expensive That's because when you buy "higher education" in US you buy something enti…

Totally correct! Most education comparisons are Apples to Samsungs. While the national average might not be the highest, the top students are amazing!

Re: USCIS is challenging an unusually large number of H-1B applications

#106

Post by learc83 »

TylerE wrote: post #85
leakybit wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"the US is lagging far behind every developed nation in education" I wouldn't say that for college level education. Why is then the US the top study abroad destination in the world?

As with many things in the US, the top end is truly elite, for the small minority that can be accepted/afford it. But the average is mediocre at best.

>But the average is mediocre at best.

This just isn't true at all.

Average state schools that are affordable to the vast majority of students through income based student loan repayments are far better than mediocre.

The US has 1/3 of the top 500 ranked colleges in the world, and nearly 1/4 of the top 5000.

http://www.webometrics.info/en/node/54

There's a reason that international students flock to even low ranked state schools in the US.

Re: USCIS is challenging an unusually large number of H-1B applications

#107

Post by Terr_ »

frankc wrote: post #83
jarsin wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup cant stand journalism today. Straight up mouthpiece for the rich. Why did they not ask the company what the wage for that position is. How many people in Chicago did they interview. Did they interview anyone over 50 who has that exact experience? Did they approach anyone currently working in similar jobs and offer them raises and other benefits to entice them over? Truth is the Company did none of those things so…

The problem is that you think they went out and investigated this topic then wrote about the results of their investigation. In reality, they had a narrative and agenda they wanted to pitch and then went out to find confirmatory evidence, while largely discarding contradictory evidence.

Relevant: http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html

Re: USCIS is challenging an unusually large number of H-1B applications

#108

Post by sumitgt »

throwkgaj wrote: post #63
sumitgt wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not like that. Most top companies do detailed paperwork. This causes other side effects and stress. For example, you could be working at Google / Facebook earning top $$$$ every year and you paperwork could be spotless. But the stress of having to go through an uncertain renewal process every 3 years prevents you from investing in big things like buying a house or having kids. You are always worried about being…

This was me. Working at big tech firm, $190+ salary, 6 years. Green card applied and approved in 2014. But Indians have to wait at least 5years for a green card(EB-2). And this was before the current admin. I’m now in Canada. Permanent Resident (took 8 months), $180k+ salary, big tech company. Going to buy a house in the summer.

Actually it's currently looking more like 15 years. People with priority dates in 2009 are just getting in. So if you account for the number (plus consider the fact the people in EB-3 become eligible for EB-2 after a few years), it looking more like 15.

The silly thing is, there is bipartisan bill in congress and Senate to fix it (HR 392). But it is stuck is legislative limbo.

Re: USCIS is challenging an unusually large number of H-1B applications

#109

Post by jordanb »

komali2 wrote: post #13

Conservatives may generally view this as "good" regardless of the impact because (according to arguments I've heard) "the less globalization, the better." In my mind, however, it boils down to two pretty simple points: Given that (1) the US is lagging far behind every developed nation in education, and higher education in the US is prohibitively expensive compared to other developed nations, (2) the only way for the…

You have a really mercantile view of things: Team Murika is gonna Win the Trade War by signing all the primo players from the other teams!

An alternate way to look at this is that the economy and society of the USA is failing its own citizens by either giving them an inadequate education or not providing them opportunities to succeed. And your proposal is to simply write everyone who's already here off, declare them to be rejects, and import new people over the top of them to be worker bees for the elite.

I can say that I'm not really personally concerned with how many billionaires we have in the US, or how many multinational corporations are headquartered here. I'd be fine if that all went to China, so long as the USA stayed the land of fairness and justice.

Re: USCIS is challenging an unusually large number of H-1B applications

#110

Post by solotronics »

dahdum wrote: post #23

> Aegis applied for a half-dozen visas this spring, and only one of them made it through the lottery. The year before, Aegis secured a visa for someone filing a type of job he’s filled with H-1B workers in the past. So Narayanan set up a client project for the prospective new employee, a woman who was living in Dehli, India, at the time. Sounds like they are exactly the type of consulting firm the administration is a…

I always wondered why not make the H1B salary minimum the same as someone exemplary in that field ( H1B salary 1.5x the average for the position ). If someone is truly extraordinary then a company wouldn't mind paying a little extra but it would influence the average price up and not down for the field.
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