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Legislation planned to nearly double H1-B visas

A P Kamath

Defying criticism from union leaders and anti-immigrant politicians, three high profile Republicans are getting ready to introduce legislation to hike the number of high skilled workers allowed into America under H1-B visas.

Another proposed legislation aims to create a new visa that would make it far easier for international college graduates with science and engineering degrees to stay back in America.

Critics of the program are expected to cite numerous HB-1 visa abuses, including the highly-publicized case of Lakireddy Bali Reddy, a Berkeley real estate agent and restaurateur and his son, Vijay Kumar Lakireddy, charged with bringing minors and non-professional workers over using false documents.

The two have denied the charges. Critics of the H1-B visa program also cite the arrest of nearly 40 Indian programmers recently in San Antonio who were reportedly given visas to work in Houston.

But the backers of the visa program insist that the loopholes must be taken care and legitimate high-skilled workers allowed in in bigger numbers.

The senators leading the effort, Orrin Hatch of Utah, Phil Gramm of Texas and Spencer Abraham of Michigan, are among the more visible and influential of Congressional leaders. They believe the increased visa quota is in the best interest of American businesses.

Led by Microsoft chief Bill Gates, major American corporations have been persistently asking for more foreign-trained high-tech workers, arguing there is a chronic shortage of such workers in America.

Gramm, one of the most conservative of Congressmen and a critic of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, wants to increase the current 115,000 cap to 200,000. About 70 per cent of H1-B visa holders are expected to come from India, immigration sources say.

Two years ago, 65,000 highly skilled workers, including university professors and journalists, were allowed into America.

The ceiling is to go down to 107,500 this year starting October 1 and then drop back to 65,000 next year if Congress does not support the increase proposed by Gramm and others.

While the bills muster support in the Congress, a proposal by a San Jose congressman is also getting some attention. But he has not yet found vocal support for his proposal from a sizeable number of his colleagues.

Zoe Lofgren, Democrat representing the hub of Silicon Valley, had announced a few months ago that he plans to push a measure that would create a new visa that would make it far easier for international college graduates with science and engineering degrees to stay back in America. His measure would require employees to pay at least $ 60,000 per year to international students.

He believes his bill is in the best interest of high tech industry, unless the H1-B program focuses on science graduates too. The H1-B visa program now covers specialists in arts, medicine and academic fields.

Currently international programmers make $ 35,000 to $ 50,000 a year. While that salary is impressive by American standards, critics of the H1-B visa programs, including Senator Edward Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat, point out that Americans with similar experience could easily get about $ 70,000.

Lofgren has said he felt disturbed to see some of the brightest foreign students migrate to other countries while American industry keeps protesting the shortage of hi-tech workers.

His proposal has not excited industry much because of the $ 60,000 salary he has proposed, industry insiders say.

Next: 'There are lots of thing money cannot buy'

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