Apple and Other Companies Fear 'Looming End' of H-1B Work Visa Spousal Protection Program

[MacRumors]

Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and other technology companies have sent a message to the Trump administration through various Washington, D.C. lobbying groups, urging President Trump to keep protecting spouses of immigrants who work in the U.S. with H-1B visas. The companies reportedly fear a "looming end" to the program that protects these spouses and allows them to work in the U.S., as it could cause "immense trouble" for many of their workers and potentially lead to large swaths of H-1B employees having to "reconsider working for U.S. companies at all" (via Recode).

The spousal work permit program began in 2015 under the Obama administration, allowing spouses of high-skilled immigrants to be granted work authorizations while in the process of seeking lawful permanent resident status. The Trump administration has worked throughout 2017 to fundamentally reevaluate the program, and in November the Department of Homeland Security noted imminent plans to "propose to rescind" the final rule and remove H-4 dependent spouses "from the class of aliens eligible for employment authorization."

Apple CEO Tim Cook attending an executive tech summit at Trump Tower in 2016​

Now, a coalition of tech companies have responded with a statement, noting that spouses are "eager to work" to support their families. Their statement also describes fear of an "increased risk" of losing long-term employees.

"We represent employers who are committed to growing the U.S. economy and creating jobs for American workers. However, we cannot achieve these goals unless companies can recruit and retain the most qualified employees," wrote a slew of companies, all speaking through their Washington, D.C.-based lobbying groups, including the Information Technology Industry Council.

In the Thursday letter, ITI, the U.S. Chamber and other organizations stressed that spouses are "eager to work in order to support their families, contribute to their communities by paying taxes, and utilize their skills to help the U.S. economy grow."

"Employers would also face an increased risk that their valued, long-term employees will choose to leave their companies for other employment opportunities in countries that allow these workers and their families to raise their standard of living," the business groups continued.

Tech companies like Apple would be the hardest hit by such sweeping changes to work visa policies since it employs many workers with H-1B visas, whose spouses potentially also benefit from the program. Nearly one year ago, Apple was also affected by the drafting of an executive order by President Trump, which stated that the country's policy on immigration should not give priority to foreign workers and should instead prioritize and protect American workers.

Following the draft proposal, the Trump administration followed through and rolled out a collection of policy shifts that planned out a roadmap to better serve American workers' current and future jobs. Apple and other tech companies were affected out of the gate as the first change came from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency, which "made it harder" for such companies to bring foreign workers to the country using the H-1B work visa.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Apple and Other Companies Fear 'Looming End' of H-1B Work Visa Spousal Protection Program

 

[jjhny]

Oh God no, they'd have to hire people from this country! And pay them a living wage!

 

[mikecorp]

can you specify "various Washington, D.C. lobbying groups" it stinks from head to ......

 

[adamw]

This is very interesting news. I am not sure how I feel about this, but it definitely is something that merits an evaluation, as immigration issues are being discussed. Our country has some interesting challenges ahead, and immigration is one of them.

 

[rdowns]

What, no crackdown on H-2s? You know, the one Trump uses to not employ Americans at his clubs and hotels.

 

[cfurlin]

Oh God no, they'd have to hire people from this country! And pay them a living wage!

Where are you going to find them? Too many self-absorbed millennials out in the wild who expect a six-figure income right out of university. Besides, that mobile phone they have glued to their faces 24/7 is expensive, along with Starbucks and vintage hipster clothing.

People from other countries come here and work at places like McDonald's. You know what they call it? Opportunity.

Entitlement babies created the market for foreign workers.

 

[icanhazapple]

Where are you going to find them? Too many self-absorbed millennials out in the wild who expect a six-figure income right out of university. Besides, that mobile phone they have glued to their faces 24/7 is expensive, along with Starbucks and vintage hipster clothing.

People from other countries come here and work at places like McDonald's. You know what they call it? Opportunity.

Entitlement babies created the market for foreign workers.

Nope. These companies can do their engineering here, or pay oversea salaries + tax rates. One or the other.

 

[realeric]

While US companies move factories to China and hiring foreigners first, China became the world richest nation and US became the world poorest nation with more than $20 trillion debt.

 

[Adam Warlock]

Where are you going to find them?

Find them in the laid-off Disney IT workers who were forced to train their cheaper replacements, HP engineers, and countless other victims of down-sizing, right-sizing, off-shoring, etc, etc.

 

[MistrSynistr]

What, no crackdown on H-2s? You know, the one Trump uses to not employ Americans at his clubs and hotels.

This losing must be hard on you. It's going to get a lot tougher too. Your emotions won't be able to handle reality.

I truly wish you the best and will check back in on you in perhaps a year to see your tune has changed.

 

[jlc1978]

People from other countries come here and work at places like McDonald's. You know what they call it? Opportunity.

H1B's are not coming to work at McDonalds.

It would be interesting to see where spouse work and average incomes to gauge the real, vs political, impact of the program. For example, are a significant percentage employed by the same employer and have similar skill sets as the spouse and thus appear to be companies gaming the system to get a 2 for 1 deal; or do they work elsewhere in dissimilar jobs?

if it isn't already required we could also require firms to certify there is no US person available prior to hiring a spouse.

But first, how widespread is it and is it really an issue?

I am also not sure I buy the "they will leave argument" If they could get a better deal elsewhere they'd already be there.

 

[alex2792]

Good, the H1B program has done nothing but lower wages for tech workers.

 

[jlc1978]

↑

What, no crackdown on H-2s? You know, the one Trump uses to not employ Americans at his clubs and hotels.

This losing must be hard on you. It's going to get a lot tougher too. Your emotions won't be able to handle reality.

I truly wish you the best and will check back in on you in perhaps a year to see your tune has changed.

Pointing out the hypocrisy of our President claiming on one hand to be "saving US jobs" while on the other hiring foreign workers because he can't get Americans at the same wage seems reasonable.

Ask the folks at carrier who he told he saved their jobs who just got laid off how tired they are of winning.

 

[rockarollr]

When nearly all of the good-paying manufacturing jobs have been allowed (and even financially encouraged) to be sent overseas to foreigners... and then foreign immigrants are snapping up the remaining low-paying service jobs that are left in America, what do you expect has happened to Americans’ buying power and the American economy??? And who do you figure is to blame? Do Americans have a right to be highly pissed off about this? You’re damn right we do!

The ignorance on this subject by just about everyone in our government, up until recently, has been quite unbelievable.

 

[Dave245]

With a racist president like Trump I wouldn’t be surprised.

 

[magicschoolbus]

Wow you mean, American workers would have to be hired for American jobs? THAT'S SO RACIST!

 

[rockarollr]

Oh God no, they'd have to hire people from this country! And pay them a living wage!

This has to be the best comment on the subject I have ever seen. Short, to the point and so true!

 

[citysnaps]

Oh God no, they'd have to hire people from this country! And pay them a living wage!

What are you talking about? Here in the greater Silicon Valley there's a shortage of qualified engineers. Every tech company I've worked for in the area hired H1-B engineers at the same wage (and benefits) as US citizens with engineering degrees.

 

[t76turbo]

Where are you going to find them? Too many self-absorbed millennials out in the wild who expect a six-figure income right out of university. Besides, that mobile phone they have glued to their faces 24/7 is expensive, along with Starbucks and vintage hipster clothing.

People from other countries come here and work at places like McDonald's. You know what they call it? Opportunity.

Entitlement babies created the market for foreign workers.

Seeing as you called it ‘university’ And not college I imagine you are not from the USA. either you do live here as a transplant in which case you probably do have some experience with our youth or you dont live here at all and are speculating.

I know a number of younger Americans either in college or not long out that would gladly do the work.


I would also say it is disheartening when I get emails at my work where I am a senior developer (in IT) and half if not 3/4 of the names are clearly Indian or similar. At the same time I have had friends who were laid off from jobs so the company could replace them with outsourcing or with contract workers (namely Indians) with h1b visas just because they are cheaper.

 

[Dave245]

Wow you mean, American workers would have to be hired for American jobs? THAT'S SO RACIST!

If your going to hire someone based on where they come from then yes! If your going to turn down someone for a job because they come from the Middle East or where ever then yes that is racist! It’s not about where someone comes from it’s about whether they can do the job or not.

 

[jlc1978]

When nearly all of the good-paying manufacturing jobs have been allowed (and even financially encouraged) to be sent overseas to foreigners... and then foreign immigrants are snapping up the remaining low-paying service jobs that are left in America, what do you expect has happened to Americans’ buying power and the American economy??? And who do you figure is to blame? Do Americans have a right to be highly pissed off about this? You’re damn right we do!

The ignorance on this subject by just about everyone in our government, up until recently, has been quite unbelievable.

Do most Americans buy Made in USA:

Snap On tools?
Frye boots?
Brooks Brothers suits?
Stihl power tools?

The list can go on, and the answer is overwhelmingly no. The problem is Americans are unwilling to pay higher prices for goods to keep those jobs in the US so they go where it is cheaper. The other issue is manufacturing is coming back but it is highly automated with far fewer, but more highly trained, employees. The days of GM employing a large workforce to hand assemble transmissions is over, no matter what anyone says.

And job flight is not just a US phenomena, Japan, Korea and increasingly China is seeing lower skill manufacturing jobs leave for cheaper labor markets.

 

[rockarollr]

What are you talking about? Here in the greater Silicon Valley there's a shortage of qualified engineers. Every tech company I've worked for in the area hired H1-B engineers at the same wage (and benefits) as US citizens with engineering degrees.

That’s just one isolated, contrary example. The majority of American companies, especially outside of tech, don’t do that. They hire a foreign H1B worker for as little pay as they can get away with, in most cases.

 

[tkukoc]

Oh but enjoy that 2500 bonus on the way out.. you know cause Trump is amazing and he's helped everyone.

 

[doomfront]

Good, the H1B program has done nothing but lower wages for tech workers.

Curious to see how you came up with this. I can only go by my area since I haven't looked into other places but salaries in the STEM fields have been steadily growing where I'm located. I've only been out of school for 5 years and each year the percentage of my raises have been increasing.

 

[alex2792]

Curious to see how you came up with this. I can only go by my area since I haven't looked into other places but salaries in the STEM fields have been steadily growing where I'm located. I've only been out of school for 5 years and each year the percentage of my raises have been increasing.

By spending years working with H1B Indians. In fact, one of my good friends is from India who came over on an H1B visa years ago, and he said that the amount of fraud is staggering. People with connections, but no experience and fake degrees are routinely given jobs and, obviously, screw **** up beyond repair. There are obviously some very smart and talented people coming over, but the vast majority of low and mid level IT H1Bs do a subpar job. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for.