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FROM ITC NEWS:
In the July issue we discussed the flap over the H1-B visa program,
which organizations such as the Independent Computer Consultants
Association (ICCA) felt was unnecessary and harmful to IT workers. The
ICCA's position was that the program allowed the importation of foreign
computer workers at a time when many IT contractors and in-house
employees were being dismissed, decimating the IT market for the
domestic workforce. IT workers make up the lion's share of H1-B
workers, comprising just over half of the total.
Now it seems that the problem may not be as pervasive as earlier
thought. In 2000, Congress passed a bill boosting the annual cap for
the H1-B program from 115,000 to 195,000, mostly because of a fierce
lobbying campaign by firms which use high-tech workers. The cap hadn't
yet been reached by the end of the 2001 fiscal year on September 30,
but the total number of foreign workers imported by that time still
stood at an all-time high of 163,200.
This year the story is much different. As of June 30, the INS had
processed only 60,000 visas, less than half the number for the same
period in the previous year. Groups such as the Information Technology
Association of America, which has long supported raising the H1-B
quotas, say that the shortfall proves that the program is working as
designed.
The current cap of 195,000 is scheduled to stay in place through FY
2003, after which it will drop to 65,000 in 2004. Lobbying groups
backed by large technology firms are expected to begin campaigning for
another boost in the quota, but with H1-B applications dropping,
Congress will likely turn a deaf ear.
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