H-1B Tech companies shall not be allowed to hire foreign workers at the expense of American jobs

Americans consider H1B program is a economic murder

• Government has set up a formal email address that lets workers submit tips and report fraud.
• If there is fraudulent use, those fraudsters would be blacklisted
• America is a nation of laws and the president has the duty to protect American workers in the entire immigration system

Washington, April 06, 2017

NRIpress.club

On Wednesday, April 05, 2017, the Department of Labor announced plans to crack down on the program and has outlined new methods for weeding out fraudulent applications and abuse. Blame is generally directed at the companies and politicians, not the workers.

It says it will work with federal agencies to investigate and prosecute violators, and it aims to change aspects of the Labor Condition Application, a required part of the H-1B application process that specifies the working conditions and proposed wages. Also, for the first time, the government has set up a formal email address that lets workers submit tips and report fraud.

It has drawn the criticism of President Trump, however, who claims that it has allowed U.S. companies to hire foreign workers at the expense of American jobs.

Employers are likely to face increased scrutiny and paperwork requirements as a result of this directive. Many tech companies rely on the ability to secure H-1Bs, and have spent millions lobbying Congress to raise its annual cap.

·        calls this recent move "a small step in the right direction."

·        anticipates that the email address may be more symbolic than practical, inasmuch as employees might still be loath to file complaints for fear of getting 'blacklisted.'

·        helped IT workers to file complaints of H-1B visa abuse

Obama gave these legal immigrants permission to work. Trump may take it away.

Americans consider H1B program is a economic murder

NRIpress.club representative contacted  five IT Indian students at The University of California, Los Angeles to evaluate THE HIB program reaction in American students.  After 10 days study, they said:

·        Mostly American parents feel that American kid coming out of school with a mountain of debt being forced to compete on a very uneven and unjust playing field.

·        American students or computer programmers are forced to go in other fields because they are "sick of watching American workers be replaced by foreigners.”

·        IT companies won't hire people over forty  EVEN they are highly skilled people and later on  claim a shortage. Do you really believe this such a great lie to make fool Americans?

Most of IT American workers (including NRI IT workers) consider it economic murder because H1B program is so pervasive and so detrimental to us.

Group of IT workers in California brought a lawsuit brought against the federal government,  who argue that the spousal visas hurt American workers.

In US-IT profession, the annual salaries have gone down by 10-20 thousand dollars per year and this reduction is directly tied to the overabundance with H1B visa workers

In some States, like Michigan and Ohio, they say,” Trump is for the USA and Obama was trying to please- multinational corporations. The Obama administration had extended work privileges to spouses of foreign workers- some economists say the policy is unfair. Many American tech companies have forced American employees to train their H1B replacement before they are fired. This disgraceful practice by IT companies made American very angry who spent millions lobbying Congress to hire HIB workers

Visa curbs on Indians will also hurt US: Sushma

New Delhi, March 30 (IANS) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday said if the US puts restrictions on H1B visas, immigration or business outsourcing, it will not just hurt Indians but will be bad for the US too.

"We are not just talking with the US authorities (on H-1B visas and related issues), we are talking with logic and concrete statistics," Swaraj told the Rajya Sabha during the Question Hour.

"This is a mutually beneficial partnership, and we have told them (the US) that if you snap these ties, it will not hurt us alone, it will also hurt you," she said.

She said that the Indian information technology (IT) companies operating in the US are generating jobs there and contributing to the US exchequer.

"We have told them that it is not true that Indians are stealing their jobs. On the contrary, Indian companies in US are generating employment for the Americans. So far, Indian companies have given direct employment to 1.56 lakh Americans and supportive jobs to 4.11 lakh," she said.

She added that between 2011 and 2015, the Indian companies have made an investment of $2 billion, paid taxes worth $20 billion and Indian workers have contributed $7 billion to the social security scheme.

Besides, she added, the American companies in India are earning $27.5 billion annually.

The Minister informed the House that the Foreign Secretary and the Commerce Secretary visited the US between February 28 and March 3 this year and held meetings with cabinet ministers and senior functionaries of the new US administration as well as with the Congressional leadership.

"We have emphasized that Indian skilled professionals have contributed to the growth and development of the US economy and have helped the US retain its competitive edge and innovation advantage," she said.

Swaraj said that the Trump administration has so far not announced any comprehensive policy changes impacting non-immigrant work visa programmes.

"There are 13 bills for consideration before the US Congress. Four of them are about H1B visas, six bills pertain to outsourcing business to India and three bills are about immigration. But none of them has been passed so far.

"The government of India is closely monitoring the developments that may have a bearing upon the movement of Indian workers and professionals to the US. We remain in active dialogue with the US administration and the US Congress at senior levels to safeguard the interests of Indian workers and professionals," she said.

No need to worry about H1B visa issue for now: Sushma

 (14:58) 

New Delhi, March 23 (IANS) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday said there was no reason to worry about the curbs on H1B visas or the job security of Indian IT professionals working in the US for the time being as the Indian government is in talks with the US regarding this.

"Currently there are four bills in the US Congress about curbs on H1B visas. We are engaged (in a dialogue) with the US at very high level regarding this... We are making all efforts (through diplomatic channels) to ensure these bills are not passed," Sushma said in the Rajya Sabha.

"So there is no reason to worry about it as of now," she added.

The Minister pointed out that even before Donald Trump became President, there had been a "flip-flop" in the H1B visa policy by the US.

"In 1990 when H1B visas were first introduced, the cap was 65,000. In 2000 it was raised to 1,95,000 for three years. In 2004 the number of these visas was again reversed to 65,000 by the US. So there has been a flip-flop on this policy even before Donald Trump government," she said.

The Minister also informed the house that the visa facility extended to the spouse of the Indian professionals has not been withdrawn by the US so far.

On illegal migrants, Sushma said that the US authorities have given a list of 271 persons who they have identified for deportation.

"We have asked for more details about these 271 persons. Once we check their antecedents and find they are actually Indian citizens, we'll provide them travel documents back to India so that they are not put behind bars by US authorities," she said.

She said India will once again raise the issue of totalisation once "the jobs of Indian IT professionals are ensured to be secure".

Recent Shootings of NRIs and H-1B Indians, Raise Concerns about Security

• "Go back to your own country".. shouting comments by Gunmen

• Americans are losing jobs to foreigners and training their replacements

• President Trump promised to 'buy American and hire American.

Washington, March 09, 2017
NRIpress.club/Ashok Verma/Gary Singh Grewal

Shootings of NRIs (Non-resident Indian) and Indian HI-B visa holders in the United States are raising concern, as four of them have been shot in recent weeks in different areas of the country.

Hotelier Bharat Patel told NRIpress: “ NRI Community and NRI entrepreneurs in US are really concern about a danger to our NRI kids in schools, workplaces, businesses and even NRI doctors working in hospitals.

The frustration in Americans started when American laid off by Disney, filed lawsuits in federal court in Tampa, Fla., against Disney and two global consulting companies, HCL and Cognizant, which brought in foreign workers who replaced them. They claim the companies colluded to break the law by using temporary H-1B visas to bring in immigrant workers, knowing that Americans would be displaced.”

“Most of the NRIs feel that NRIs developed good reputation in North America by their hard work and honesty for the past 3-4 decades,” Dr. Ashok Agarwal  said. “ Now 2nd Generation-NRI children are also getting top positions and involve in politics. They become upset when  American colleges at work place ask questions about IRS Phone Scam calls, TV DISH discounted calls, HP Computer virus and window scam call received from India’s call centers.”

According to the US Justice Department, the scam trapped thousands of American citizens, who ended up losing over $300 million (over Rs 2,040 crore) to people who posed as IRS officers.

Americans are losing jobs to foreigners and training their replacements. (Employees cried to Trump in election time)

Disney laid off 850 American workers, some of whom were given 90 days to train their replacements with the threat of losing their severance pay if they didn’t stay to the end. “We all felt humiliated when the foreign workers sat next to us and watched everything that we did,” wrote one Disney employee going through the experience. The training sessions prove that the H-1B workers don’t hold special skills that American workers lack. “If our own pool of IT professionals were so incompetent, then why would companies like Disney have us train our replacements and spend months teaching them?” wrote the displaced worker.

Disney posted $7.5 billion in profit in fiscal year 2014, a month after major layoffs in October 2014. The company continued to lay more Americans off until 850 lost their jobs from Orlando, Florida to Anaheim, California…..Read

Republican Senator from Arkansas Tom Cotton, who met U.S. President Donald Trump this week, said the current system does not bring in the brightest and the best from across the world. “They don’t bring in PhDs and computer scientists. They bring in mid-level and they replace mid-level data management workers. That’s why you get controversies like people losing their jobs at companies like Disney and Southern California Edison that were just replaced by foreign workers who weren’t necessarily high skilled,” Mr. Cotton argued.

“It’s really an empirical question where we do have gaps in our economy. But I will say this, there is no job that an American won’t do. Americans, with the right pay, will do any job. That’s just the fact of the matter,” he noted.

The new bill is a effort from California’s Republican congressman Darrell Issa and Democrat congressman Scott Peters. They want to curb the abuse of H1-B visas to “protect American jobs” and make sure “such programs are not abused to allow companies to outsource and hire cheap foreign labor.”

The role of lobbyists have diminished:

Indian IT companies lobbied at an industry level through Nasscom, which spent over $4,40,000 in 2016, an increase of 25% over previous year.

While Microsoft spent a total of $8.7 million towards lobbying in 2016 alone, New Jersey headquartered-Cognizant -which has a large workforce in India -bumped up its budget by 25% to spend $1.68 million in 2016.Rivals TCS and Infosys lobbied at an individual level as well, even though with significantly smaller budgets.

At least 15,000 Americans lost more than $300 million collectively during the four-year scam, according to the feds. -A Texas grand jury indicted 24 people from nine U.S. states, 32 people from India and five call centers in Ahmedabad, India, earlier this month…..Read

HP Tech Support phone call scam

Millions people in US do get a call from someone pretending to be from HP and trying to get credit card information for an issue you’re not familiar with. They asked people to run something and showed them that there was a ''virus'' that couldn't be removed by deleting it.  Told them that he had to get on to my computer to get rid of it. 

President Trump promised to 'buy American and hire American.

Trump is the most powerful person in the world. He is in the office with Republican majorities in the House and Senate, which means Republicans will dictate the nation’s policy agenda and control Supreme Court appointments for the next four years. It seems highly likely that Nov. 8, 2016 was in the history books as a major turning point in American history.
There are some factors that led to Trump’s Presidential Victory. From the beginning to the end of his campaign, he promised --immigration and trade seem virtually certain to be at the top of the list.

• Trump came up with his slogan 'Make America Great Again'/ President Trump promised to 'buy American and hire American.

Trump is delivering on his campaign promises. A majority of voters say they believe President Donald Trump is keeping his campaign promises

• March 02, 2017: Deep Rai Singh, 39, was shot in a Kent driveway by a gunman,  a stocky, 6-foot-tall white man wearing a mask over the bottom part of his face - said "Go back to your own country" and pulled the trigger. Rai owns the plumbing company  and was wearing a turban. Kent is about 30 km from Seattle.
• Lancaster, South Carolina: On March 02, 2017: Harnish Patel, 43, was shot and killed in front of his own home, after returning home from working at the Speedee Mart convenience store. Patel had lived in the United States for 14 years. He was married and had one child in elementary school. He was originally from the Indian state of Gujarat.
• Srinivas Kuchibhotla  was shot and killed on February 22, 2017 in Olathe, Kansas. Alok Madasani was also shot in Olathe, but survived
• In 2015, Hindu place of worship in Kent, the Sanatan Dharma Temple, was attacked and had its windows smashed and the word, "Fear" was painted on it. Another Hindu temple in nearby Bothell was also attacked.
• Milwaukee, In 2012, a man shot and killed six Sikh worshipers and wounded four others at a Sikh temple near Milwaukee before killing himself.

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Who Should be Blamed for restricting All H-1B Petitions

Trump suspend premium-processing-All H-1B Petitions

The Indian IT Companies wants export lower wages IT workers, while Trump wants to prioritize American workers.

Los Angeles, March 04, 2017
NRIpress.club/Sunil Gupta/Gary Singh

Starting April 3, 2017, Trump administration will temporarily suspend premium processing for all H-1B petitions. This suspension may last up to 6 months. If the petitioner submits one combined check for both the Form I-907 and Form I-129 H-1B fees, they will have to reject both forms.

A statement on Friday from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency that oversees lawful immigration to the United States, said it would temporarily suspend premium processing for all H-1B visa petitions from April 3. Premium processing is akin to "tatkaal" scheme for H-1B visas: A decision is made on each application within 15 calendar days for a fee of $1,225 under this programme. In the normal course, an application usually takes between three to six months for cessing.

Trump administration‘s action could severely impact the intake of foreign workers and  force local companies to hire locally,  helps the American economy, prevent the “fraud and abuse” of the H-1B and L-1 and attract more foreign investment in USA.

IT Experts and politicians believe the move would slow down onsite deployment of skilled professionals from India.

U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL	Democratic U.S. Senate --Urges President to immediately deliver on his campaign promise to reform guest worker visa program exploited by outsourcing companies Interestingly, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee sent a letter to President Donald Trump:    Mr. President, if you do not take action in the next few weeks, outsourcers will secure the right to import tens of thousands of low-wage foreign guest workers to replace American workers when the government conducts its annual H-1B lottery in early April. Recent media reports have documented the replacement of hundreds of American workers by H-1B visa holders across the country.
You also should use your authority as President to protect American workers from H-1B abuses. For example, the Departments of Justice, Labor, and Homeland Security should investigate the replacement of American workers by H-1B workers.  In April 2015, I led a bipartisan letter with then-Senator Sessions and eight other Senators requesting such an investigation. The American people deserve an explanation for your decision not to pursue H-1B reforms on your first day in office.  You must act immediately to prevent further harm to American workers. ... Red More
Ujjal Dosanjh is former Premier of British Columbia, and former Canadian Minister of Health	India should not lobby to keep sending ‘indentured labourers’ abroad ...indianexpress.com I vehemently disagree with Trump on many things including his xenophobic ban on Muslims from certain countries. But I wouldn’t argue with him on H1Bs, encourage or discourage him about changing or restricting them. Each country has the right to allow as many workers into the country as it may choose. Good, bad or ugly, that is a decision any sovereign country has the right to make. A good part of the IT industry’s profitability in the US hinges on the significantly lower wages paid to the H1B holders that it imports from India and other countries; it relies on this ready pool of cheap labour of India’s best and brightest ferried into the USA on board the H1Bs–until they get their green cards and move on; then the IT companies apply for more H1B holders from India to refill the annually vacated positions–as people move from ‘slave’ labour to the open labour market...Read More

“It is absolutely a problem that American companies are using H1-B to replace American workers, because they can hire foreign workers for cheaper,” John Lis said.

The faster processing procedure had allowed companies that pay an extra $1,225 to get a response on applications from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service within 15 days or they get the money back. 

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H1-B visa delay to affect Indian IT firms: Nasscom
 

Bengaluru, March 5, 2017: The temporary suspension of premium H1-B visa processing by the US administration would delay their issue to the Indian IT firms too but is not a major imperdiment, said industry's representative body Nasscom on Sunday.

"The temporary suspension of premium H-1B processing will create some process delays for the companies - Indian and American -- but is not a significant impediment," said the National Association of Software Services and Companies (Nasscom) in a statement.

The US government has decided to suspend from April 3 premium processing of H1-B visas, which allowed some companies to jump the queue. Any company could get an H-1B visa in 15 days by paying $1,225 as an additional premium for processing their application as against 3-6 months in the normal course.

"The temporary move will not be an impediment for the $110 billion exporting software industry," said Nasscom, but noted it will delay issue of H-1B visas to Indian IT firms by six months.

The suspension came even as New Delhi pressed for a fair and rational approach on the matter from a trade and business perspective.

Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and Commerce Secretary Rita Teotia had told US officials and lawmakers in Washington to treat the visa issue under trade and services and not as an immigration matter.

Nasscom said: "Any change in the visa regime puts pressure on the Indian IT firms as they may result in their operational costs rising and shortage of skilled techies for the outsourcing industry."

"We will take up the issue with the US embassy in India to ensure the movement of our professionals is not hit by process issues," it added.

The US market contributes about 60 per cent of the export revenue for the Indian software sector, led by TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL and others

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There is a wide spread belief among natives of USA that H1B Visa immigrants are responsible for the job losses and unemployment all over the country.

• Most of the American people look at how a few corporations, mostly foreign, have been gaming the system to replace American workers with foreign workers at lower wages.
• Indian IT firms must simply find better ways to enhance their US businesses.
• There is certain logic to opposing moves such as those by Disney World in cutting costs by hiring foreigners. The “sons of the soil policy” of no nation can be argued against even in the age of globalisation. Indian IT firms must simply find better ways to enhance their US businesses.....DECCAN CHRONICLE

It’s gotten out of hand

Couple Indicted for $20 Million Visa Fraud Involving Indian Workers ...
https://www.justice.gov/.../couple-indicted-20-million-visa-fraud-involving-indian-wo...
Apr 27, 2016 - Couple Indicted for $20 Million Visa Fraud Involving Indian Workers ... more than 800 illegal immigration benefits under the H-1B visa program. ... has set up a network of shell companies that he presents to immigration ... Kosuri, Jharia, and Piluso face a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, if convicted.
Two Indian-Americans Arrested In US For H1B Visa Fraud - NDTV.com
www.ndtv.com › Indians Abroad
Sep 27, 2016 - Two Indian-Americans Arrested In US For H1B Visa Fraud ... 33, of Jersey City, New Jersey, head of finance for the companies, SCM Data and MMC ... a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Two Indian-Americans arrested for H1B visa fraud in US | Business ...
www.business-standard.com/.../two-indian-americans-arrested-for-h1b-visa-fraud-in-...
May 13, 2015 - Read more about Two Indian-Americans arrested for H1B visa fraud in US on ... a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a USD 250,000 fine. .... TCS loses most as companies take Rs 26,140 cr hit in m-cap ..
Visa fraud results in fines but rarely leads to criminal charges
www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/news/local-education/visa-fraud.../nndBQ/
Sep 12, 2015 - The U.S. Department of Labor typically investigates H-1B visa fraud ... Work visa fraud carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. ... The largest ever involved the Indian company Infosys, which in .
Accused Of H-1B Visa Fraud, Indian-American Brothers Are Facing 20 ...
www.scoopwhoop.com/.../accused-of-h-1b-visa-fraud-indian-american-brothers-are-f...
Nov 14, 2015 - The brothers own an IT company in Texas. ... Accused Of H-1B Visa Fraud, Indian-American Brothers Are Facing 20 Years In Jail ... maximum of 20 years of imprisonment and a fine of $250,000, the Department of Justice has said. ... 2 Pakistanis Arrested For Uri Attack By Indian Army Are Class 10 Students.
Visa Fraudster With 25 Fraudulent H-1B Visa Petitions Gets 3 Years ...
https://diplopundit.net/.../visa-fraudster-with-25-fraudulent-h-1b-visa-petitions-gets-3-...
Jan 29, 2016 - Employers must submit these documents to obtain H-1B visas for highly ... be working at his company or placed at Fortune 500 companies, but instead he ... says that the maximum statutory penalty for conspiracy to commit visa fraud, ... like this gets taken seriously enough that we actually put people in jail?
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Indian pleads guilty to student visa fraud in US-

• Kodali faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine

U.S. busts $300 million fraud ring of phony IRS callers, arrests 56 -Scammers have been pretending to be from the IRS for the past three years. A major crackdown involving call centers in India

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Trump vowed to end the practice to Replace American by H1-B

• H1B visa program have been  abused by corporations to save costs at the expense of the American worker….Mike Lupes. Republican

Trump said that one of his first tasks would be to issue an executive order for the Labour Department to investigate visa abuses

• No training  to H1-B visas foreigners to replace Americans…Not any more
• Suspend immigration and refugee admission

Congress created the H1-B visa program so an employer could hire a foreign guest-worker when a qualified American worker could not be found. However, the H-1B visa program is plagued with fraud and abuse and is now a vehicle for outsourcing that deprives qualified American workers of their jobs. But since 1990, Local and Indian companies have been abusing the visa program to reduce payroll and maximize profits.

In 2015-16, the cap on H1-B visas stands at 65,000 out of which 25,000-35,000 were issued to Indian nationals.
The most of the Indian companies aggressively used “guest workers” for low-wage staffing to replace American workers  with H-1B, a 3-year work visa which allows foreigners to enter the country for specific jobs.

Trump’s H1-B visa undocumented immigrants problem:

Americans are losing jobs to foreigners and training their replacements….

• In June 2015, the New York Times broke the story of how Disney was apparently laying off about 250 IT workers, but not before asking some of them to train replacement workers from India on H-1B visas. An executive delivers the news that all of our jobs are ending in 90 days, and that we have 90 days to train our replacements then we won’t get a bonus that we’ve been offered
• Southern California Edison, the power utility, also recently laid off 540 employees, who were replaced by temporary workers recruited by outsourcing firms based in India.
• High tech companies like Facebook, Google, and Apple have aggressively lobbied for an increase in the H-1B visa cap.
• Approximately half of new illegal immigrants came on temporary visas and then never, ever left. Why should they? Nobody’s telling them to leave. Stay as long as you want, we’ll take care of you…
• Last year alone nearly half a million individuals overstayed their temporary visas. Removing these overstays will be a top priority of my administration. If people around the world believe they can just come on a temporary visa and never, ever leave, the Obama-Clinton policy, that’s what it is, then we have a completely open border, and we no longer have a country.

Deport 2 million to 3 million undocumented immigrants with criminal records:

• In a "60 Minutes” interview, President-elect Donald Trump said he planned to immediately deport 2 million to 3 million undocumented immigrants who “have criminal records” after his inauguration next January.
• “What we are going to do is get the people that are criminal and have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers, where a lot of these people, probably 2 million, it could be even 3 million, we are getting them out of our country or we are going to incarcerate,” Trump told "60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl, according to a preview of the interview released by CBS. “But we’re getting them out of our country. They’re here illegally.”

Trump administration might welcome foreigners who create jobs, rather than do work a U.S. citizen could do. There may be a renewed effort to offer a “startup visa” for foreign entrepreneurs or to expand the number of green cards available for workers here.

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Trump vows to enforce visa restrictions that could affect Indians

By Arul Louis/ New York, Dec 10 (IANS) US President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to end the practice of laid-off American workers being made to train foreigners brought over to replace them, a move which could impact Indian technology workers and outsourcing companies.

Trump called these incidents "demeaning" and said: "We are not going to let it happen to our people any more."

Trump made the pledge on Friday during rallies in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he returned to his campaign themes on immigration in rousing speeches.

He said that during his campaign he met workers who had been told that they had to train their replacements or they would not get the severance benefits that are given after layoffs.

He asserted that will not let it be repeated, but he did not say how he would do that.

Several companies have been accused of laying off their employees and making them train workers from India brought in on H-1B visas by the staffing companies that got the outsourcing contracts.

In a widely-publicised case that sparked outrage, Walt Disney laid off 250 workers and had many of them train their replacements brought in by Cognizant and HCL in 2016.

Those workers were now suing Walt Disney, HCL and Cognizant alleging they broke laws against using H-1B workers to replace American employees.

Trump said that one of his first tasks would be to issue an executive order for the Labour Department to investigate visa abuses that lead to Americans losing jobs or have their earnings cut.

In his speeches, Trump outlined his "America First" agenda that could affect India in two ways: Reducing the employment prospects of skilled Indians in the US and undercutting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious programme of "Make in India" for exporting.

"We are building our country with American hands, and American workers," he said. "My administration will follow two rules, buy American and hire Americans."

While speaking of tightening enforcement of immigration laws, Trump also opened his arms to legal immigrants. "We are going to have hundreds of thousands of people, we want them to come in," he said. "But they are going to come in legally."

Reiterating his campaign to build a wall again along the Mexican border to keep out illegal immigrants, he, however, said that "we are going to have big beautiful doors in that wall" for legal immigrants to enter the country "through a process legally."

In fighting terror, Trump said "I will suspend immigration and refugee admission from regions where they cannot be safely processed or vetted." He did not say which countries would be affected.

"We are going to have extreme vetting," he said. "We will do everything in our power to keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country."

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India highest recipient of H-1B
But U.S. lawmakers also propose restrictions on H-1B, L1 in future
Millions of dollars are spent for lobbying politicians on immigration policy
U.S. Citizens blame Indian Companies and US Lawmakers

• Indian citizens receive almost 70 percent of all the H-1B visas issued worldwide. US issued more than a million visas
• The US doubled the visa fees to $4,000 for H-1B and to $4,500 for L-1 but Indian Applicants never drop.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 2016
NRIpress.club/Gary Singh Grewal/Dr.Satinder Verma

US Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs said, "Indian job seekers receive almost 70 percent of all the H-1B visas issued worldwide."

Last month, in July, 2016, U.S. lawmakers proposed restrictions on H-1B, L1 Bill: New bill proposes to bar companies that have over 50 employees and fifty percent of them on H1-B, L1 visas, from hiring more and encourage recruitment of American workers. If this New Bill passed:

• It will encourage companies to recruit American workers.
• The wage requirements for H-1B visa-holders and establishment of wage requirements for L1 workers
• It will also provide more authority to the Departments of Homeland Security and Labour to investigate fraud and abuse in the H-1B and L-1 programs

The lawmakers bill concerns that critics of the H-1B, L1 visas have been raising for years that companies are using the programmes to undercut American workers  and replacing American workers.

"Around 90% work done by H1B employers is really not specialist work such as  work for large IT departments for US banks, insurance companies, telecom operators," said John Lis whi is running IT Company in Los Angeles. " The educated U.S. workers were being pushed out of jobs through immigrations programs like H-1B and L1." President Obama signed Omnibus Bill on December 18th, 2015 that increases the H1B and L1 Fee by $4000 and $4500.

Donald Trump who is running for President, has brought some light to the abuse of immigration “guest worker” programs, most Americas still aren’t aware of the issue and few know about the Indian companies profiting behind the scenes.

Couple Indicted for $20 Million Visa Fraud Involving Indian Workers
Kosuri and Jharia face a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, if convicted.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Raju Kosuri, 44, and Smriti Jharia, 45, of Ashburn, as well as four co-conspirators, were indicted by a federal grand jury yesterday on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States and visa fraud, among other charges.

According to the indictment, Kosuri, his spouse Jharia, and their co-conspirators have fraudulently applied for more than 800 illegal immigration benefits under the H-1B visa program.  Since 2008, and at much greater scale since 2011, Kosuri has built a staffing business that amounts to a visa-for-sale system, in violation of federal law. 

The indictment alleges that Kosuri has set up a network of shell companies that he presents to immigration authorities as independent businesses in need of Indian workers, but which he in fact owns and controls.  The indictment further alleges that Kosuri and his co-conspirators use these entities to file petitions for non-existent job vacancies at Kosuri’s data center in Danville.  Kosuri is alleged to require workers to pay their own visa processing fees, in violation of H-1B program rules; and he is alleged to treat the beneficiaries as hourly contractors, again in violation of H-1B visa program rules.  The visa fraud scheme involves the forgery of numerous individuals’ signatures on visa petitions and exhibits without their knowledge.  The indictment alleges that Kosuri has generated gross proceeds of at least $20 million over the life of the scheme.
Separately, the indictment alleges that Kosuri and Jharia conspired with a consultant named Raimondo Piluso to defraud the Small Business Administration, by submitting fraudulent HUBZone applications.  Kosuri, Jharia, and Piluso are alleged to have concealed the true location, ownership, and employees of a business called EcomNets Federal Solutions in order to obtain federal loan and contract preferences, from which they have generated $150,000 in loan proceeds and five contract awards.  
Kosuri, Jharia, and Piluso face a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, if convicted.  The other co-conspirators face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, if convicted.  The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors........ Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia

Millions of dollars are spent for lobbying politicians on immigration policy:

Cognizant, Wipro, Infosys, and Tata all profit by supplying foreign workers to American companies via the H-1B visa program and almost all the workers are Indian. Wipro, Tata,and Infosys are Indian companies and even though Cognizant is in New Jersey, over half their workers are Indian and 64% of all H-1B Visas go to Indians. Cognizant alone spends millions of dollars lobbying politicians on immigration policy; nearly $3,000,000 in the last two years .............READ MORE

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India got 72 per cent H1B visas this year, says US official

Hyderabad, Aug 26, 2016: The US issued more than a million visas this year in India which also accounts for 72 percent of all H1B visas issued worldwide, said a top US official on Friday.

While vast majority of travelers to the US are traveling on tourist and short term business visas, India is also the largest beneficiary of H1B visas.

"Beyond tourism and short term business travelers, the US welcome travel by skilled Indian workers. India is the largest beneficiary by far of H1B visas vis-A-vis skilled workers visas.

"So far just in this year, Indian workers received 72 percent of all the H1B visas the US issued worldwide. Similarly Indian workers received 30 percent of all L visas also long term business travel visas that we have issued worldwide," said Michele Bond, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs.

She said while there is no limit for issuing tourist visas, it was for the US Congress to take a decision on increasing HIB and L1 visas for India.

"I can't predict whether that is likely to happen. It's pretty obvious that there is more demand for those visas. We will see what decision is taken about whether and when that cap might be increased," she told reporters here.

The US issues 138,000 H1B visas per year worldwide and on an average Indians get 70 percent of these visas. This year Indians have already received about 72 percent.

The highest ranking US official on consular issues said they understand Indian companies' concern about higher fee for H1B and L1 visas. She, however, clarified that the fee hike is not targeted at India.

"That hike was result of legislation that was passed. The level of interest in visas has not changed because of this. We hope to continue to see very strong interest in applying for business visas and working in US," she added.

Stating that the commercial, economic and social ties between the two countries had strengthened, Bond pointed out that the number of business and tourist visas issues in India had gone up by 81 percent in five years.

Last year, the US mission in India issued 60,000 student visas. The US consulate general in Hyderabad issued the largest number of student visas in India, more than any of the consulates and the embassy.

"This consulate general in Hyderabad issues fifth largest number of student visas in the world. It is at fifth position among more than 200 embassies and consulates around the world. We are really proud of our team in Hyderabad and the role they are playing in strengthening the bonds between two countries," she said.

Bond noted that the number of Indian students in the US increased to more than 132,000 last year. Indian students comprise second largest international student population in the US.

She said the work on the new consulate building in Hyderabad will begin next year and it is scheduled to be completed in 2020. The new facility will have 52 interview windows against 16 at its existing location.

India highest recipient of H-1B visas: US official 

New Delhi, Aug 23, 2016: Despite a hefty hike in fees of US H-1B and L-1 visas, there has been no drop in number of applications from India and the country continues to be the highest recipient of H-1B visas, the highest US official in Washington dealing with international visa issues said here on Tuesday.

“Indian citizens receive almost 70 percent of all the H-1B visas issued worldwide,” Michele Bond, US Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs, said during a media interaction here.

“Overwhelmingly, Indian applicants are the ones who are successful in qualifying for these visas,” she said.

As for L-1 visas, she said that Indian citizens received around 30 percent of all such visas issued.

The US doubled the visa fees to $4,000 for H-1B and to $4,500 for L-1 at the end of last year.

Indian IT bellwethers have most of their employees working on site holding H-1B visas.

Bond said that in US fiscal year 2015 (October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015), more than 110,000 H-1B visas were issued to Indian citizens.

“This is a priority for us because we are part of a bilateral India and US effort to grow their economic and commercial ties,” she said.

Asked if there has been any move to revisit the issue of hike in visa fees, she said: “These specific visas where the fees changed -- the H and L visas -- we have seen no drop in the number of applications for those visas, no lessening of interest in obtaining those visas. It was a legislative change, so we were implementing that law.”

Bond came to India to attend the annual bilateral consular dialogue that was held here on Monday during which issues like facilitating tourism and business and other travel between the two countries, visa assessing, protection of US citizens in India, transparent international adoption, and preventing international parental child abduction cases were discussed.

While she led the US delegation, P. Kumaran, Joint Secretary (Consular, Passport, Visa) in the Ministry of External Affairs, headed the Indian side.  ....IANS/NRIpress.com