May 13, 1998, Washington -- For that last thirty days, U.S. Border Control has conducted a ongoing survey on its Internet site (http://www.usbc.org) of attitudes and opinions concerning the current Congressional debates to double the number of foreign "high tech" workers that can gain "temporary" visas under the INS' controversial H-1B program.
"Their thinking is so insular, we felt the Congress might benefit from hearing what people outside the Washington Capitol beltway think about the alleged shortage of skilled technical workers in America." said Edward Nelson, Chairman of U.S. Border Control.
"We put the poll on our homepage to give it maximum exposure. To prevent anyone from 'stuffing the ballot box,' we required an email address for verification and eliminated any multiple responses we discovered."
The questions and cumulative responses follow.
This Mini-Survey is about the alleged shortage of skilled technical workers in the United States.
#1 Many of the largest semi-conductor companies, like Cypress and
Intel, and software companies, like Microsoft, claim they need to
import foreign workers from places like India and Pakistan because
there simply are not enough American workers to do the job.
Do you believe them? Yes 14 No - 1364(98%) Don't know - 8
#2 If you answered 'No" to question #1, why do you think they are
lobbying and paying lobbyists tens of thousands of dollars to
increase the number of foreign workers that can be admitted under the
H1-B quota for foreign workers?
They want to hire cheaper labor. 1201 (86%)
They think American workers are not as smart as foreign workers.
89
They think American workers are not as productive as foreign workers.
93
#3 Do you want your Representative to approve an increase in the
H1-B quota for skilled foreign workers?
Yes - 15 No - 1361 (98%) Not sure 10.
"We were astounded by the results" said Nelson who added, "For a politician in an election year to put himself against the overwhelming mood of his constituents is unbelievable.
"We hope the results of this survey will give politicians a clearer perspective on constituents attitudes than they are getting from their pollsters who, coincidentally, happen to be on the payrolls of the high tech companies.
"We intend to dig in and examine the contribution patterns of these companies to ensure that our elected Representatives and Senators have not accepted any unlawful gifts or contributions that might sway their vote."
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