H-1B Increase Would Take Toll on College Grads
Comprehensive immigration reform, if passed by Congress, would drastically increase the number of H-1B (temporary workers in science and technology) who are allowed to work in the United States, according to an article in Computerworld. Currently, 50,000 are given 3-year visas each year and these visas are renewable once. U.S. professors in STEM fields are speaking out on this threat.
Karen Panetta, a professor at Tufts University in Massachusetts, says that a master's degree is the bachelor's degree in the employment market. She also says that graduating U.S. students will face increasing competition from lower-wage H-1B workers if immigration reform is passed by Congress and that it is getting more and more difficult for America families to send their children to college due to the cost.
Ron Hira, a professor at Rochester Institute of Technology, says there are about 650,000 H-1B workers in the U.S. at the moment and the program "is used very extensively for cheap labor."
Harry Salzman, a professor at Rutgers University, says that the U.S. produces enough university graduates to satisfy the labor market. If comprehensive immigration reform is passed and immigration numbers are increased, the market will be swamped, particularly impacting under-30 workers.
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