About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

36 U. Mich. J.L. Reform 815 (2002-2003)
On the Need for Reform of the H-1B Non-Immigrant Work Visa in Computer-Related Occupations

handle is hein.journals/umijlr36 and id is 825 raw text is: ON THE NEED FOR REFORM OF THE H-lB NON-IMMIGRANT WORK VISA IN COMPUTER-RELATED OCCUPATIONS Norman Madoff* The H-lB program authorizes non-immigrant visas under which skilled foreign workers may be employed in the U.S., typically in computer-related positions. Con- gress greatly expanded the program in 1998 and then again in 2000, in response to heavy pressure from industry, which claimed a desperate software labor shortage. After presenting an overview of the H-1B program in Parts II and III, the Article will show in Part IV that these shortage claims are not supported by the data. Part V will then show that the industry's motivation for hiring H-lBs is primarily a de- sire for cheap, compliant labor. The Article then discusses the adverse impacts of the H-1B program on various segments of the American computer-related labor force in Part VI, and presents proposals for reforms in Part VII. I. INTRODUCTION A topic of much controversy in legislation on immigration- related issues in recent years has been the H-1B visa program.' This visa category, which was established in the Immigration Act of 1990 (IMMACT90) to replace the old H-1 category, allows foreign na- tionals to work in the U.S. for a sponsoring employer for up to six years.2 The law allows dual intent. Though the H-lB is a non- immigrant visa, the worker may pursue avenues to attain U.S. legal permanent resident (LPR, i.e. green card) status while holding the H-lB visa. Typically this takes the form of employer sponsor- ship. The H-1B program quickly became a favorite of employers of in- formation technology (IT) workers, particularly computer programmers. This category of workers soon became the largest in the program. * Professor of Computer Science, University of California, Davis; B.S. 1970, California State Polytechnic University; Ph.D. (pure mathematics) 1975, University of California, Los Angeles. 1. In 2003, a similar controversy arose concerning another work visa program, L-1. See Katie Hafner & Daniel Preysman, Special Visa's Use for Tech Workers is Challenged, N.Y. TIMES, May 30, 2003, at C1. This issue arose too late to be included in this Article, but the problems are very similar to those described for H-lB. 2. Immigration Act of 1990, Pub. L. No. 101-649, 104 Stat. 4978 (1990). 3. U.S. IMMIGRATION & NATURALIZATION SERVICE, CHARACTERISTICS OF SPECIALTY OCCUPATION WORKERS (H-1B): FISCAL YEAR 2001, at 11 (2002). 815

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most