85,000 H-1B Jobs Exclude Americans; 78,000 Left in Doubt Ending the concealment of over 78,000 technical and professional job openings left unfilled in the H-1B lottery was demanded of House leadership on April 11, 2008 by Brightfuturejobs.com, a grassroots lobbying campaign formed to counteract claims that Americans can't do science and technology. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have reported that it received nearly 163,000 H-1B work visa petitions during the filing period that ended on April 7, 2008. Chicago, IL (PRWEB) April 14, 2008 Ending the concealment of over 78,000 technical and professional job openings left unfilled in the H-1B lottery was demanded of House leadership on April 11, 2008 by Brightfuturejobs.com, a grassroots lobbying campaign formed to counteract claims that Americans can't do science and technology. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have reported that it received nearly 163,000 H-1B work visa petitions during the filing period that ended on April 7, 2008. The group has for years, already been demanding the chance for Americans to compete for the 85,000 visa jobs presumably filled each year. "Even as unemployment skyrockets, over 78,000 job openings filed with the Department of Labor will remain vacant. We want Americans to get a crack at these job openings," said Donna Conroy, Executive Director of brightfuturejobs.com. "For every employer who loses the H-1B lottery, there could be thousands of US professionals who win--a good paying job!" she explained. Over 78,000 jobs filed by US and foreign companies for H-1B visas will remain vacant for up to one year after the 85,000 visas currently permitted are awarded through the lottery, according to Conroy. "The concealment of these jobs opening in the face of the triple whammy of unemployment, foreclosures and credit crunch constitutes criminal negligence," said Conroy; "these jobs should be published immediately following the outcome of the H-1B visa lottery." "It's a golden opportunity for Congress to make winners of over 78,000 unemployed US professionals," she proclaimed. The demand is directed to Chairman George Miller (D-CA) of the House Committee on Education and Labor which has oversight authority over the Department of Labor and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Ignoring Local Talent
"And we have the want ads to prove it:"
Innovative Revival of Jim Crow
Despite the fact that these are American jobs - most of which will stay in America - employers needn't demonstrate a shortage, according to the Department of Labor. In a letter dated April 1, 2008 Senators Durbin and Grassley, who had introduced bipartisan legislation last year to prevent H-1B and L-1 Visa abuses, wrote to the top 25 recipients of H-1B visas in 2007, "Most companies can explicitly discriminate against American workers by recruiting and hiring only H-1B visa holders. As the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has said: "H-1B workers may be hired even when a qualified U.S. worker wants the job, and a U.S. worker can be displaced from the job in favor of a foreign worker." "Further concealment of these unfilled jobs constitutes an injury added to an insult to American professionals - citizens and green card holders alike. Especially during a developing recession," she asserted. In addition to deprivation of job opportunities, American IT professionals have been subjected to a not so subtle implication of their inferiority to foreign IT professionals. "The constant disparaging of US technical talent points to tech firms' innovative revival of 19th century Jim Crow laws," Ms. Conroy further charged, "It recently reared its ugly head again when the study "H1-B Visas and Job Creation", released by the National Foundation for American Policy came to the conclusion that H1-Bs created between 5 and 7.5 jobs. This conclusion was reached without offering any data on the productivity of foreign workers nor was an indication that such study was even undertaken. If you simply substitute the term white for H1-b, the illogic and defamation of the assertion becomes abundantly clear," complained Conroy. But that's nothing new she observed; "for years want ads specifying 'H1-b only' have constituted but the latest manifestation of "No Irish Need Apply". These sound bites are just the latest developments in the propagation of the myth of American technological incompetence." Bright Future Jobs
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