The heated debate over H-1B visa workers masks the much larger influx of other foreign workers into white-collar jobs needed by American college graduates.
The federal government issues approximately 130,000 new H-1B visas each year and an additional 650,000 visas or work permits to other white-collar immigrants each year.
Many of these nonimmigrant workers are allowed to stay for five, six, or seven years. Multi-year visas create a resident population of at least 1.5 million white-collar workers.
This population growth is nearly 20 times the influx of 85,000 new foreign workers each year through the media-focused H-1B program.
“This situation has been out of control for decades,” said Kevin Lin, founder of US Tech Workers, which campaigns against the visa worker program.
This huge benefit means that around two foreign workers are hired every year. all americans Graduated from a four-year university, Proficient degree in science, software, computers, business, healthcare, or engineering.
Two foreign workers have also been sent under the program. Career-Starting Jobs Every Young American Needs People who graduate with a four-year degree in “STEM,” or science, technology, engineering, or mathematics.
Immigrants are not legal immigrants. Because they are government-sanctioned contract workers or recently graduated international students, their weak legal status means that employers treat them worse and reduce the salaries of American graduates.
“The number of work visas issued is about 1 million per year, an increase of about 25% in recent years,” said Jessica Vaughan, policy director at the Center for Immigration Studies.
Vaughn said the program's complexity and lack of transparency is intended to help employers quietly flood more white-collar workers into U.S. jobs.
President Joe Biden's lawmakers are trying to increase the influx of visa workers. On December 17th, the Department of Homeland Security announced:
Announced by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). final rule This will greatly enhance the ability of U.S. companies to fill vacancies. [with H-1B workers] …
“U.S. companies rely on the H-1B visa program to recruit highly skilled talent, benefiting communities across the country,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. said. “Improvements to these programs will give employers more flexibility to hire global talent, increase economic competitiveness, and ensure our highly skilled workers continue to drive American innovation. Masu.”
population number
The federal government is allowing employers to import approximately 450,000 blue-collar H-2A and H-2B visa workers and possibly 150,000 pink-collar visa workers through the J-1 program. .
However, the influx of white-collar workers is larger.
The H-1B program has received a lot of attention, in part because Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy and other West Coast investors sparked heated debates on Twitter with President Donald Trump's voters. It's the cause.
But the H-1B program is just one of the government's many pipelines that funnel foreign college graduates into valuable U.S. careers needed by America's middle class.
The H-1B program hires approximately 130,000 new workers each year, including 85,000 in the private sector. It is possible to stay for more than 6 years.
“The resident population of H-1B infected people is [roughly] 600,000 people,” Vaughn told Breitbart News.
There is no need to offer H-1B jobs to Americans. Additionally, there is no limit to the flow of H-1B workers for nonprofit organizations. That loophole has given rise to a new style of nonprofit staffing organizations that transfer college graduates from one company to the next. private sector jobs.
More than half of H-1Bs are from India, and the Indian government is pressuring U.S. companies to hire Indian graduates, despite their cultural roots. workplace corruption and bribe teeth general.
Lawmakers working for President Barack Obama also gave permission. spouses The so-called procedure for obtaining an H-1B work permit H4EAD. Many people now have jobs alongside their spouses, adding at least 100,000 white-collar visa workers to the U.S. labor market.
The little-known L-1 visa program allows foreign companies to immigrate employees to the United States for five to seven years. In 2022, the Department of State approved 73,000 new L-1s, bringing the resident white-collar L-1 population to approximately 200,000 white-collar individuals.
Spouses of L-1 workers will also be allowed to work, adding an additional 40,000 people to the workforce, according to a 2017 report by the Left. Economic Policy Research Institute.
Many H-1B and L-1 workers are allowed to stay past their visa expiration dates if their employers offer them a deferral bonus for government-issued green cards. The bonus created about 600,000 Indian workers while waiting for green cards. This population contains many L-1s and H-1Bs, which complicates the population count calculation.
The State Department's J-1 program places approximately 90,000 white-collar workers through multiple categories, including “short-term scholars,” “research scholars,” and professors, for up to five years and in some cases seven years. allowed to stay. The agency does not disclose J-1's resident population, but 300,000 white-collar employees is a reasonable estimate.
0-1A's so-called “genius visa” program currently employs at least 9,000 white-collar workers annually. 6,500 people in 2019. This program, like the L-1, TN, and H-1B programs, has no cap. This visa is valid for three years, so the resident population of 0-1A is approximately 25,000.
In the TN program, you will meet experts recent graduates Stay in Canada and Mexico to get a job in the United States via a TN visa created by the Commerce Treaty. Government officials said they are not counting Tennessee immigrants entering the United States from Canada. Vaughn said he estimates there are about 120,000 foreign graduates living in Tennessee.
The OPT and CPT programs were created for international students at American universities. These programs produce the most new workers each year, but they only work for one or three years. largely 340,000 students and alumni Work permits obtained in 2023 suggest a resident population of approximately 400,000 people, most of whom work in technology-related jobs.
The OPT (Optional Practical Training) and CPT (Curriculum Practical Training) programs were not created by Congress, but by officials working for President George W. Bush.
Although the CPT and OPT programs are advertised as study programs, the OPT program is a pipeline for foreign nationals to obtain green cards through employers and the H-1B program. These pipelines often run through ethnic employment networks in Fortune 500 companies, or through vast networks of “software sweatshops” that have implemented outsourcing policies at nearly every major U.S. company.
Many OPT and CPT workers are unable to participate in the H-1B program and join a growing number of “overstaying” illegal white-collar immigrants, many of whom work alongside their legal compatriots as software subcontractors.
This illegal white-collar foreign labor force is also increasing due to the growing population of airport immigrants. They enter the country legally as tourists or “business visitors” called B-1/B-2 visas. However, they typically work illegally as freelancers or contractors within ethnic networks of legal immigrants. The federal government does little to control or count this population.
During the Biden administration, there was no cap on the number of white-collar illegal immigrants. That's in part because his pro-immigrant border chief, Alejandro Mayorkas, has implemented a policy of not arresting migrants who have not been found guilty of serious crimes.
In addition, Mr. Mayorkas imported approximately 1 million immigrants through the quasi-legal “parole pipeline.” This influx includes many white-collar workers who are excluded from eligible professions because their qualifications are not recognized.
Vaughn suggested that these various pipelines have brought 3 million illegal white-collar workers into the U.S. workforce, in addition to 1.5 million legal visa workers.
Lin estimated the white-collar population of illegal immigrants at about 1.5 million and legal immigrants at 1.5 million.
In December, Milokas announced loosening the J-1 program to help immigrants from China and India remain in J-1 white-collar jobs. 2 years or more.
Mayorkas also announced changes to the H-1B program to help U.S. companies import white-collar workers. The new rules will allow more companies to be treated as nonprofits, allowing them to import unlimited “cap-exempt” H-1B workers for jobs sought by Americans.
rule state:
Specifically, through this rulemaking, DHS defines “nonprofit research organizations” and “government research organizations” by replacing the terms “primarily engaged” and “primary mission” with “essential activities.” ” to allow nonprofit or government research organizations to: Non-profit research organizations or governments that conduct research as an essential activity but are not primarily engaged in research or where research is not their primary mission for the purpose of establishing an exemption from the statutory annual limit. on an H-1B visa to meet the definition of a research institution.
Additionally, DHS will consider H- The regulations are being revised to recognize eligibility for the 1B cap exemption. , the mission, purpose, or function of the eligible organization.
Meanwhile, reports in December revealed that a large number of American experts were being laid off. forbes:
Professional and business services jobs, such as accountants, consultants and legal staff, face significant job cuts in 2024. These jobs account for 3.7 million of most employed jobs. 14.9 million people will be laid off nationwide through the first nine months of this year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
