In a message dated 12/4/07 11:54:16 P.M. Central Standard Time, News@JobDestruction.info writes:
<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1794 -- 12/04/2007 >>>>>
Senator Grassley is digging deep for the truth. This time, he is demanding
that Fannie Mae and the NIH cough up data on the number of H-1B visa
holders they hire.
Grassley's efforts are much appreciated but he may have let both of these
agencies off the hook. That's because H-1B might not be the only visa they
use to import workers. In order to get a complete picture of how many
foreigners they employ Grassley should have asked how many foreign
nationals are on their payroll, and to ask them to break the list down by
visa.
There are many types of visas that their employees could be on including
L-1, TN, O, EB, and even students on OPT. The NIH in particular hires a lot
of foreign students on OPT visas since they claim that they can't find
enough American graduate students that want to work for grunt wages. Since
Fannie Mae and NIH don't have overseas offices, any L-1 visa holders they
use would probably be brought in by bodyshops like Tata or Infosys.
Grassley has been very successful at obtaining data in the past. He sent
letters to the law firm Cohen&Grigsby, although I don't know if there has
been public disclosure of the lawyers' reply. On another occasion he
obtained a fascinating list of top L-1 visa employers (see the archived
newsletter "Senators Release List Of Top L-1 Visa Employers, No. 1723 --
7/05/2007."
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Materials Used
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http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&ar
ticleId=9049799
Senator questions hiring of H-1B workers by two federal entities
http://www.cioinsight.com/article2/0,1540,2227853,00.asp
Senator Asks U.S. Agencies to Explain High H-1B Use
http://grassley.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detai
l&PressRelease_id=885f5f41-d8e9-a444-4150-1d0b9b92fd52
Press Release
GRASSLEY QUESTIONS FANNIE MAE, NIH REGARDING USE OF H-1B VISAS
http://grassley.senate.gov/public/releases/2007/112820071.pdf
Letter to Fannie Mae
http://grassley.senate.gov/public/releases/2007/112820072.pdf
Letter to National Institutes of Health
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http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&ar
ticleId=9049799
Senator questions hiring of H-1B workers by two federal entities
Patrick Thibodeau
November 28, 2007 (Computerworld) The National Institutes of Health
employed more than 300 H-1B workers during the federal government's 2006
fiscal year, prompting Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to ask in a letter to
NIH officials why a federal agency is hiring foreign workers with temporary
visas.
Grassley, a member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and a leading
critic of the H-1B visa program, today also fired off a letter with a
similar set of questions to the Federal National Mortgage Association, also
known as Fannie Mae. The Washington-based lender began as a government
agency before becoming a private business that operates under a
congressional charter.
During fiscal 2006, which ended in September of last year, the NIH "hired
or otherwise employed" 322 people through the H-1B visa program, according
to Grassley. Fannie Mae had 141 H-1B workers during the same period, he
wrote. Grassley said in a statement that the NIH and Fannie Mae were the
only federal or government-chartered entities among the top 200 users of
H-1B visas in fiscal 2006, with the NIH making the top 100.
"I'm asking questions today to find out how many taxpayer dollars are being
used to recruit foreign workers and how invested our government-backed
entities are in this visa program," Grassley said in a statement.
In the letters, he asked the NIH and Fannie Mae to provide an accounting of
how many full- and part-time H-1B workers they have employed each year
dating back to January 2002, along with the job titles of the H-1B holders.
The senator is also seeking detailed descriptions of the steps that the NIH
and Fannie Mae take to hire American workers before filling jobs with H-1B
holders, plus information on the number of layoffs made by the two
organizations since 2002, including the job titles of affected employees.
Grassley acknowledged in the letters that the H-1B program "provides an
avenue for U.S. employers to temporarily employ skilled foreign workers
when the domestic workforce is unable to meet employer demands." But, he
added, "this system is open to abuse and has raised concerns about whether
American workers are being protected and whether H-1B employers are
skirting the law in order to hire cheaper foreign labor."
The senator addressed the letters to Elias Zerhouni, the NIH's director,
and Daniel Mudd, president and CEO of Fannie Mae. Grassley wrote that as a
senior member of the Judiciary Committee, he has a "duty to conduct
oversight" of federal entities and their immigration practices.
Grassley said he became interested in the NIH and Fannie Mae because they
were among the top 200 users of H-1B visas in fiscal 2006. The NIH was No.
55, and Fannie Mae was No. 199, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of
Citizenship and Immigration Services. That made them the only federal or
government-chartered entities on that list, Grassley said.
Officials at the NIH and Fannie Mae weren't immediately available for
comment on Grassley's letters, which asked that responses to his questions
be submitted by Dec. 12.
Last spring, Grassley and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) released data showing
that the largest user of H-1B visas during fiscal 2006 was Bangalore,
India-based offshore services provider Infosys Technologies Ltd., which
received 4,908 visas. It was followed by Wipro Ltd., another
Bangalore-based outsourcing firm that used 4,002 visas.
Microsoft Corp. was the third-largest H-1B user that year, with 3,117
visas, and Bill Gates, the software vendor's chairman, has been among the
most vocal advocates of raising the annual cap on the number of visas that
can be issued. The cap currently is 85,000, including 65,000 regular visas
and 20,000 that are set aside for foreign nationals who have advanced
degrees from U.S. universities.
The NIH wasn't the only public-sector agency that was a major user of H-1B
visas during fiscal 2006. New York City's public school system was issued
642 visas that year, putting it in 22nd place on the list of visa users.
Grassley sent his letters to the NIH and Fannie Mae on the same day that
Compete America, a lobbying group with heavy backing from IT vendors, said
that it had sent a letter to Congress urging legislators to take action on
a proposal to increase the H-1B cap before they adjourn for the year.
Citing an effort by the European Union to attract skilled workers with its
Blue Card temporary visa program, Compete America contended that the visa
system in the U.S. "should better reflect the realities" of the global
economy. "At a time when other nations are aggressively taking steps to
improve their own competitive position, the United States is failing to do
so by sustaining a visa system that turns away future innovators," the
organization said in its letter.
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http://www.cioinsight.com/article2/0,1540,2227853,00.asp
Senator Asks U.S. Agencies to Explain High H-1B Use
December 4, 2007
By Deborah Perelman, eWEEK
Sen. Chuck Grassley, long an advocate of transparency in the H-1B program,
has found a new target: the Federal government.
The Iowa Republican has fired off two letters to two federal agencies--the
only two among the top 200 users of H-1B temporary worker visas in
2006--asking them to disclose why they made these hires.
"While the H-1B program has served a valuable purpose in allowing companies
to bring in temporary workers for high-skilled jobs, Congress has a
responsibility to make sure that Americans are not overlooked in the
process," Grassley wrote. "I'm asking questions today to find out how many
taxpayer dollars are being used to recruit foreign workers and how invested
our government-backed entities are in this visa program."
From Fannie Mae and the National Institutes of Health, Grassley requests a
better understanding of the way they use H-1B visas in their workplaces by
asking them to provide him with an annual listing of H-1B workers they
employ, the job titles under which those workers are employed and a
detailed description of the efforts that the two organizations make, if
any, to hire a domestic worker before hiring an H-1B worker.
It is this last point that has been the stickiest issue for H-1B
proponents, who claim that due to a shortage of available U.S. workers,
typically in engineering and technology, they have little choice but to
hire foreigners to fill their talent gaps.
Grassley, along with Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, sent letters
to the nine Indian firms that were issued nearly 20,000 of the 65,000 visas
issued in 2006, requesting details on the way they use their H-1B visas. In
April, the two senators proposed a bill that would give U.S. workers first
dibs on jobs that were to go to H-1B visa holders.
In June, Grassley asked the Department of Labor to review a video in which
an immigration law firm offered advice on how companies could avoid hiring
U.S. workers when foreign workers were preferred, and investigate the law
firm's "unethical procedures."
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http://grassley.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detai
l&PressRelease_id=885f5f41-d8e9-a444-4150-1d0b9b92fd52
For Immediate Release
November 28th, 2007
GRASSLEY QUESTIONS FANNIE MAE, NIH REGARDING USE OF H-1B VISAS
WASHINGTON - Senator Chuck Grassley today asked Fannie Mae and the National
Institutes of Health to provide details regarding their use of H-1B visas
when hiring new employees.
"While the H-1B program has served a valuable purpose in allowing companies
to bring in temporary workers for high skilled jobs, Congress has a
responsibility to make sure that Americans are not overlooked in the
process," Grassley said. "I'm asking questions today to find out how many
taxpayer dollars are being used to recruit foreign workers and how invested
our government backed entities are in this visa program."
Fannie Mae and the National Institutes of Health are the only federal
government or government chartered entities on the list of the top 200
companies that use the most H-1B visas.
Last March, Grassley and Senator Dick Durbin began an extensive look at
waste, fraud and abuse in the H-1B and L visa programs. The Senators have
raised issues with the Citizenship and Immigration Service as well as the
Department of Labor. They have also asked questions of companies that use
H-1B visas. Grassley also raised issues with attorneys who had advised
their clients on how to get around the permanent employment regulations.
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http://grassley.senate.gov/public/releases/2007/112820071.pdf
November 28, 2007
Via Electronic Transmission
Daniel H. Mudd
President and Chief Executive Officer
Fannie Mae
3900 Wisconsin Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20016-2892
Dear Mr. Mudd:
As a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee (Committee), which
oversees our country’s immigration and visa policies, including the H-1B
visa program, it
is my duty to conduct oversight into the actions of government sponsored or
congressionally chartered companies and their immigration practices. In my
ongoing
oversight of the H-1B visa program, I have been particularly interested in
learning more
about the use of H-1B visas by entities such as yours.
As you well know, the H-1B visa program provides an avenue for U.S.
employers
to temporarily employ skilled foreign workers when the domestic workforce
is unable to
meet employer demands. However, this system is open to abuse and has raised
concerns
about whether American workers are being protected, and whether H-1B
employers are
skirting the law in order to hire cheaper foreign labor.
According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), Fannie
Mae is
among the top 200 H-1B employers nationwide. During fiscal year 2006, CIS
records
indicate that Fannie Mae hired or otherwise employed 141 individuals
through the H-1B
visa program. In light of this information, I would like to get a better
understanding of
this issue from Fannie Mae’s perspective. I appreciate your providing the
following
information. The applicable time-span for each of these questions is
January 2002 to the
present.
1) An annual listing of the number of H-1B visa workers employed by Fannie
Mae,
including both full and part time workers.
2) The job titles under which H-1B visa workers were employed, including
the
number of positions corresponding to each job title. This includes both
full and part time
workers.
3) A detailed description of the efforts that Fannie Mae makes, if any, to
hire a
domestic worker before seeking an H-1B worker. Include in your response
documentation of each such attempt.
2
4) The expenses that Fannie Mae has incurred in the H-1B visa process, if
any,
including any expenses paid to outside counsel.
5) The number of layoffs or reductions in force, by year, by Fannie Mae
since 2002
and any details related to the layoffs. Please include the titles of the
job titles subject to
the layoff, as well as any relevant documentation relating to the layoffs.
We look forward to your prompt response by no later than December 12, 2007.
Should you have any questions regarding this letter, please contact
Christopher
Armstrong of my staff at (202) 224-4515. All documents responsive to this
request
should be sent electronically in PDF format to
Brian_Downey@finance-rep.senate.gov.
Sincerely,
Charles E. Grassley
Ranking Member
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http://grassley.senate.gov/public/releases/2007/112820072.pdf
November 28, 2007
Via Electronic Transmission
Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.
Director
National Institutes of Health
9000 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, Maryland 20892
Dear Director Zerhouni:
As Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, it is my duty to conduct
oversight into the actions of the executive branch, including the
activities of the National
Institutes of Health (NIH). I also serve as a senior member of the Senate
Judiciary
Committee, which oversees our country’s immigration and visa policies,
including the H-
1B visa program. In my ongoing oversight of the H-1B visa program, I have
been
particularly interested in learning more about the use of H-1B visas by
federal agencies.
As you well know, the H-1B visa program provides an avenue for U.S.
employers
to temporarily employ skilled foreign workers when the domestic workforce
is unable to
meet employer demands. However, this system is open to abuse and has raised
concerns
about whether American workers are being protected, and whether H-1B
employers are
skirting the law in order to hire cheaper foreign labor.
According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), the NIH
is
among the top 100 H-1B employers nationwide. During fiscal year 2006, CIS
records
indicate that the NIH hired or otherwise employed 322 individuals through
the H-1B visa
program. In light of this information, I would like to get a better
understanding of this
issue from the NIH’s perspective. I appreciate your providing the
following information.
The applicable time-span for each of these questions is January 2002 to the
present.
1) An annual listing of the number of H-1B visa workers employed by the
NIH,
including both full and part time workers.
2) The job titles under which H-1B visa workers were employed, including
the
number of positions corresponding to each job title. This includes both
full and
part time workers.
3) A detailed description of the efforts the NIH makes, if any, to hire a
domestic
worker before seeking an H-1B worker. Include in your response
documentation
of each such attempt.
2
4) The expenses the NIH has incurred in the H-1B visa process, if any,
including any
expenses paid to outside counsel.
5) The number of layoffs or reductions in force, by year, by the NIH since
2002 and
any details related to the layoffs. Please include the titles of the job
titles subject
to the layoff, as well as any relevant documentation relating to the
layoffs.
We look forward to your prompt response by no later than December 12, 2007.
Should you have any questions regarding this letter, please contact
Christopher
Armstrong of my staff at (202) 224-4515. All documents responsive to this
request
should be sent electronically in PDF format to
Brian_Downey@finance-rep.senate.gov.
Sincerely,
Charles E. Grassley
Ranking Member
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