News.Com - Dim outlook for H-1B changes in this Congress?

From my archive of press clippings:

News.Com

Dim outlook for H-1B changes in this Congress?

May 12, 2008 12:12 PM PDT

Posted by Anne Broache 29 comments

Updated at 12:57 p.m. PDT to add the Democratic leadership's comments.

WASHINGTON--The U.S. Congress won't be beefing up the number of H-1B visas anytime soon, the chief legal adviser to an influential Republican predicted Monday.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"H-1Bs are temporary work permits that allow foreigners with at least a bachelor's degree in their area of specialty to work in the United States for up to six years. Currently, the annual cap stands at 65,000, with an additional 20,000 for foreigners with advanced degrees from U.S. universities. This year, U.S. immigration officials reported receiving more than 163,000 petitions for next year's slots within the first five days and are no longer accepting new applications."

""The H-1B program can and usually does operate to the benefit of both American high-tech companies and American workers. It is the job of Congress to ensure that it always does." --George Fishman, chief counsel to House Judiciary immigration subcommittee."

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"On the one hand, high-tech companies like Microsoft and Google prize H-1B visas because they say those work permits allow them to fill gaps in their operations for which there is a shortage of qualified Americans. On the other hand, some American programmers say abuse of the system has displaced American workers and depressed their wages."