U.S. Tech Workers

Harmeet is correct here. The penalty in many of these situations is $5000, which most employers would gladly pay rather than follow the rules 10x or 100x that number plus more money for DOJ lawyers and this stuff goes away

Withdrawing an H-1B petition or application for benefits won’t prevent US Citizenship and Immigration Services from making a fraud finding that could have consequences for future requests, the agency said in recent guidance. news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-re…

Right on!

Nothing to see here, move along, move along. #opt, #h1b, @AAGDhillon

It was a great time discussing the impact employment visa and work authorization programs like H-1B and STEM OPT are having on our college graduates. Thanks @MiamiOHCRs for hosting. Go RedHawks!

We have an illegal and legal immigration problem in this country. The H-1B & OPT programs are being used to displace American workers and students by incentivizing American employers & institutions to import foreign labor. We need reform now.

Brothers Bhaskar and Arun Savani, who ran a visa fraud scheme and built a multimillion-dollar criminal enterprise, face prison sentences of over 400 years after their convictions this month thanks to a multiagency investigation that included ICE @HSI_HQ. The Savani brothers: —Filed false H-1B visa applications and petitions to exploit foreign workers who were dependent on the Savani Group —Defrauded Medicaid of more than $30M —Conspired to place prototype dental implants not cleared by the FDA in human patients without their consent —Laundered money through a complex web of Savani Group corporate entities’ bank accounts —Fraudulently claimed personal expenses as business expenses and failed to pay taxes “Today’s convictions send a clear message that those who build criminal enterprises on the backs of vulnerable patients, exploited workers, and U.S. taxpayers will be held to account,” said ICE @HSIPhiladelphia Special Agent in Charge Eric McLoughlin.

Big development in the tech labor debate. U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt announced that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has agreed to review and re-evaluate the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program after he raised concerns about its impact on American workers. •Schmitt sent a letter to DHS outlining “severe problems” with the OPT program and urging the agency to examine whether it harms the U.S. labor market. •In response, DHS confirmed it will reassess the scope and structure of OPT, including whether it still serves U.S. labor, tax, and national security interests. The review may examine: •Whether OPT contributes to displacement of U.S. workers •Potential fraud or misuse in the program •National security concerns •Whether the current regulatory framework aligns with congressional intent. Why DHS can change the program: •OPT is not established directly by statute; it exists through immigration regulations. •Because of that, DHS can modify or restrict the program through rulemaking without needing Congress to pass new legislation. •OPT allows international students on F-1 visas to work in the U.S. after graduation, often for up to three years under STEM OPT extensions. •Many participants later transition into the H-1B visa pipeline, making the program a major pathway into the U.S. tech workforce. @SenEricSchmitt , any updates? schmitt.senate.gov/media/press-re…

Link to newsletter: instituteforsoundpublicpolicy.org/is-that-a-ligh…

Rise and shine! Nothing goes better with that first cup of coffee than our hot off the press newsletter.* In this issue: - We reflect on the good, the bad and the ugly of the administration’s immigration policy. - What it takes to lead in high office. - Why the Indian government promotes the diaspora of its own citizens. - Match Week is coming up and America’s doctors need to know their country thinks they are expensive, undeserving and expendable – just like our tech workers. - And more news you can use. * We are a day late in posting to social media because of plugin and update issues with our content management system. Things are getting faster and faster these days. (Link in the replies.)

Meta / Facebook must lose access to the H-1B system. reuters.com/business/world…

Universities have increasingly come to function as immigration gateways. One reason is the work authorization attached to international student visas. Under current rules, foreign graduates in designated STEM fields may remain and work in the United States for up to *three years* through the STEM Optional Practical Training program (STEM-OPT). The incentive this creates is obvious. Institutions have strong reasons to label more programs as “STEM”, even when those programs would not traditionally be understood that way. Some schools have pushed the boundary strikingly far. As @chrisbrunet has discovered here, American University has designated its Master’s in Public Policy as a STEM program. At UC Berkeley, a category of master’s-level journalism study has been classified as STEM. At NYU, certain theater arts programs have similarly been designated STEM in order to qualify graduates for the extended work authorization. The STEM-OPT program was never enacted by Congress. It emerged instead through administrative rulemaking during the administrations of Bush and Obama. Since then, it has expanded into one of the country’s largest guest-worker pipelines, rivaling in scale the H-1B visa program. A program created through regulatory interpretation has effectively become a major channel for labor migration without meaningful legislative authorization. Because it rests on administrative authority rather than statute, it could be revised or ended by the executive branch. Yet even as concerns mount about the labor-market prospects facing recent American graduates, there has been little indication that such a reconsideration is forthcoming. The Trump administration still has time to revisit the policy and bring it under clearer legal footing, rather than relying on the temporary constraint of visa-processing disruptions to reduce the number of international students entering the country.

Good!

We know how that $5K will be spent.

Link to Substack: open.substack.com/pub/ifspp/p/wh…

"This creates a captive workforce: a physician who cannot leave a bad situation, who cannot report unsafe staffing ratios, who cannot negotiate wages, and who cannot refuse unreasonable demands without risking their license to practice is not a free professional. They are something closer to indentured servants. And the healthcare systems that sponsor them know it. Meanwhile, the 6,000 American doctors who did not match this year will spend Match Week watching their email, wondering whether four years of medical school and a quarter-million dollars in debt have left them with anything at all." (Link to Substack in replies.)

@JamesMay125 TY!

@USTechWorkers everyone in this fight needs to read this substack and learn who we are fighting with.

(Link in the replies.)

Link to Substack: open.substack.com/pub/ifspp/p/th…