May 11, 1998, Washington -- U.S. Border Control Chairman Edward Nelson accused the Congress of selling out to Silicon Valley high tech industries who wish to hire cheap foreign labor rather than hire fully qualified American workers.
"Follow the money," says Nelson. "This is American politics at its ugliest -- politicians taking payoffs to vote a certain way, regardless of the consequences."
"The high tech companies want to use cheap foreign labor instead of hiring Americans so they can increase their profit margins. So they buy off a few so-called "conservatives" to pitch their story; and then buy a Senator to hold the hearings and, bingo, Americans lose their jobs, tens of thousands of foreigner workers get visas; the rich get richer; and the American taxpayer picks up the tab."
"When Bill Gates says 'Jump,' people like Senate Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Spencer Abraham say 'How High.' Or at least that is how it must appear to anyone who has watched the sham hearings on H1-B where the multi-billion dollar software giants used totally unsupported data to build their claims that there are no high tech workers in America and they must be allowed to hire more foreign workers to fill these 'high tech' slots.
"Many of these so-called high tech slots could be filled by American high school graduates or certainly those who had completed a basic computer programming course at one of the technical training schools."
"Their claims for shortages are total fabrications; their claims that the job slots they need to fill require extensive specialized training is a lie; and the Senate is going to push it through as fast as they can."
"And what will happen to these foreign workers after a few years? They get laid off; thrown onto the pile of American unemployed while Microsoft, Cypress Semiconductor and all the other high tech giants hire more foreigners, buy more Senators, further corrupting the country that made their successes possible."
Increasing the H1-B quotas so more immigrants can come here to take American jobs will also make it more difficult to find jobs for thse Americans coming off welfare programs and it provides a loophole for companies seeking to get rid of their older workers, violating all of our age discrimination laws.
"And they're doing all of this terrible damage to our nation and our people just so Bill Gates can make a few more billion."
"Americans like to believe that their elected officials have some integrity; that they could never be 'bought off.' But this sorry episode demonstrates that our elected officials will do anything, if the price is right."
Edward Nelson, Chairman of U.S. Border Control, announced that the votes for H1-B will be used in its annual vote rating of the Congress.
"The American voter deserves to know which politicians are making life better for Americans and who is destroying our country.
Action on H1-B will take place in the House on Tuesday or Wednesday when it is taken up my the full committee.
U.S. Border Control is a non-profit organization dedicated to reforming America's border and immigration policies.
SOURCE: U.S. Border Control
Contact: Lyle Ryter of U.S. Border Control
Telephone: 202-661-4707; Fax: 202-478-0254
Email: ryter@usbc.org
WEBSITE: http://www.usbc.org