Good day all. Over the weekend, President Trump began to make good on his promises to deal with the immigration and refugee mess left behind by The Great Mistake, Barack Obama. One of the changes that are being looked at is the H1B visa system.
The H1B visa is, or was, designed to bring in very high quality tech workers for specific projects, and only if there were no suitable people in the United States. It has since morphed into a system to get rid of American and Legal Resident Alien workers and replace them with H1B Visa holders who are paid a lot less and can’t look for other jobs. (The term “Wage Slave” would be appropriate)
Now that President Trump is starting to dig into Immigration, the Silicon Valley robber barons are beginning to panic. Here are the details from the New York Times:
American technology companies for years have relied on a steady stream of skilled engineers from overseas to help them create their products.
At the expense of American workers.
Now many of those companies and their workers are girding for expected changes to immigration policy under President Trump that the companies say could hurt their ability to tap the technical talent they need to stay competitive.
What they really mean is that they will actually have to pay people what the jobs are worth.
Mr. Trump, who has signed a series of executive orders related to immigration, is expected to soon take similar action on visa programs for foreign workers.
A draft of a proposed executive order on the matter was leaked this week. While it is not clear how the final order will look and the draft contains some changes many in the technology industry support, some language alarmed people in Silicon Valley.
The technology industry relies heavily on the H-1B visa program, through which highly skilled workers like software engineers are permitted to work in the United States for companies like Microsoft, Google and Intel.
What they’ve come to rely on is a steady flow of low paid coolies to come in who are, in many cases, marginally qualified, to slave away for salaries far below what American and Green Card holders would demand.
The draft proposed a regulation to “restore the integrity of employment-based nonimmigrant worker programs” and to consider options for modifying the H-1B program to “ensure that beneficiaries of the program are the best and the brightest.” That language rattled some executives and lawyers representing technology companies because of its implication of sweeping changes.
“You’d be shocked at the number of people who are feeling fear, calling our firm alarmed based on what’s coming out,” said Priya Alagiri, an immigration lawyer based in the Bay Area who has tech clients. “It’s not just the undocumented. Even people who are here on green cards, legally. Citizens. They’re scared.”
Some technology companies have started warning their investors of potential threats to their business from the changes. In a filing on Thursday with securities regulators related to its quarterly financial results, Microsoft included new language related to immigration.
“Changes to U.S. immigration policies that restrain the flow of technical and professional talent may inhibit our ability to adequately staff our research and development efforts,” the company said in the filing.
Translation: “We’re going to have to start paying people what they’re worth now, damn it!”
On Friday, Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Facebook, waded into the broader immigration debate with a post in which he said he was concerned about Mr. Trump’s actions. Mr. Zuckerberg said his great-grandparents came from Germany, Austria and Poland, while his wife’s arrived from China and Vietnam.
Yes, and like mine, they came here legally with the intention of becoming Americans.
“We are a nation of immigrants, and we all benefit when the best and brightest from around the world can live, work and contribute here,” Mr. Zuckerberg wrote. “I hope we find the courage and compassion to bring people together and make this world a better place for everyone.”
So, Zuckerberg, how about hiring Americans or, if you want immigrants, (which is fine), you hire those who have become permanent resident aliens and hold green cards? Oh, I know! You don’t want to do that because then you would have to actually PAY them! By the way, people here on H1B visas are only temporary people. They are not staying, unlike immigrants who have green cards.
“The effect would end up being exactly the opposite of what Trump wants. Companies would go offshore like Microsoft did with Vancouver, Canada” to seek talent, said Robert D. Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a research group sponsored by several tech firms.
And I would say, “Don’t let the door hit you on your way out.” You want to move Microsoft overseas, go ahead. See what happens. Under the worst case scenario, your new HQ in Elbonia might be targeted with a few cruise missiles when the Elbonian government starts supporting terrorists…or something.
You also lose any protections from the United States Constitution. You think you have trouble now with subpoenas, National Security letters and search warrants, once you leave the United States, the NSA, CIA, DOD, and every other intelligence service is going to declare open season and blast through your network like Sherman marching to the sea.
Mr. Zuckerberg has been an outspoken proponent of immigration issues and how they may affect those inside and outside of Silicon Valley. In 2013, with other tech leaders, Mr. Zuckerberg backed Fwd.us, a nonprofit group dedicated to comprehensive immigration change.
What Zuckerberg wants is no borders at all and letting anyone come in. Then he can have all the cheap labor he wants. If a few terrorists get in, and kill a few hundred Americans, Oh well, that’s the cost of doing business.
People like Zuckerberg have never been in touch with reality. Part of that is why they’re successful, but the downside is the damage they cause to everyone else who is not a part of “His bubble.” Over the last 15 years, we’ve seen the number of H1B Visa’s skyrocketing, and the people coming in have been used to replace Americans. We’ve seen it at Disney and other companies. Even some universities have forced their American IT workers to train their replacements and then terminated them.
The threats by the Silicon Valley CEO’s are meaningless. In today’s world, you can work from anywhere. Programmers especially don’t need to be on location, thanks to instant messaging and video conferences. The only reason I can see that companies like Facebook, Google and Microsoft want to bring in cheaper, and in many cases, less competent people, is the protections that the United States constitution, security systems, (Military), and legal protections provide. Many other countries not only won’t provide them, they will force these “Tech Giants” to do what they want. (Install back doors, censor comments, things like that)
The Tech CEO’s, like many of the Moonbats in California and other Progressive states, can’t get their heads around the fact that their ideas have been soundly and thoroughly rejected. These threats to leave are the equivalent of a 2 year old holding his breath because he can’t have any more cookies, and will have the same results. A spanking and being forced to stand in the corner to contemplate their actions.
Thatisall
~The Angry Webmaster~
[yasr_visitor_votes size=”large”]
Looks like Meteor Crater in Arizona.
It represents the bad feelz of the crypto-progeressive cis-gendered Black Lives Matter transnational impact of the evil white privileged oppressed if they leave the country. 😉