Firing U.S. workers and keeping H1-B visa foreign workers

The federal government has found companies who have fired U.S. workers and keep H1-B foreign workers. An IT firm in N.J. has been indicted on visa related fraud charges. It appears that the senate has approved stricter rules on hiring H-1B workers.

According to arrest records in six states, the companies involved were firing qualified U.S. workers and replacing them with H1-B visa workers. The fraud related to H-1B visa has deprived many U.S. citizens of employment. In January 2009 the number of workers employed in the H-1B visa program exceeded 241,000 unemployed U.S. citizens in the same occupation. Essentially,these companies were giving our U.S jobs to foreign workers.

According to statics, the number of technology jobs were down 200,000. Currently the cap of 1-B visa is 85,000 visa annually. The company in N.J. only hired foreign workers to fill I.T. jobs which resulted in lost wages and benefits for thousand of U.S. citizens.

My opinion is, any program that encourages moving or displacing U.S. workers should be limited. The drive for profits seems to lead to some form of corruption even if it means hurting U.S. workers.