H-1B visas used by firm to create low-cost workforce, U.S. alleges

[LiberalEsto]

51. They have all kinds of ways to get around that wage issue

For example they switch the job description slightly and lower the pay accordingly.

My husband, who is a database administrator, has worked with many H1B visa holders. Some have told him they live in dorm housing supplied by Tata, an Indian corporation. They don't earn enough to afford our area's high housing costs. Living in the dorm helps them save money which they bring back to India -- money that is not cycled back into the U.S. economy.

Here is a link to an excellent column by Robert X. Cringely, published several months ago, that discusses H1-B abuses and cites a number of studies
http://betanews.com/2012/10/25/h-1b-visa-abuse-limits-wages-and-steals-us-jobs/

From the column:

Studies show no shortage of US tech workers:
"A key argument for H-1B has always been that there’s a shortage of technical talent in US IT. This has been taken as a given by both major political parties. But it’s wrong. Here are six rigorous studies (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) that show there is no shortage of STEM workers in the United States nor the likelihood of such a shortage in years to come."

Prevailing wage chicanery:

"According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the mean wage for a programmer in Charlotte, NC is $73,965. But the level 1 prevailing wage is $50,170. Most prevailing wage claims on H-1B applications use the level 1 wage driving down the cost of labor in this instance by nearly a third."

Visa fraud:

" A 2011 Government Accountability Office study found that approximately 21 percent of H-1B visas are simply fraudulent -- that the worker is working for a company other than the one that applied for the visa, that the visa holder’s identity has changed, that the worker isn’t qualified for H-1B based on skills or education, or the company isn’t qualified for the H-1B program.

H-1Bs, even though they aren’t citizens or permanent residents, are given Social Security numbers so they can pay taxes on their U.S. income. A study by the Social Security Administration, which is careful to point out that its job doesn’t include immigration monitoring or enforcement, found a number of H-1B anomalies, the most striking of which to me was that seven percent of H-1B employers reported no payments at all to H-1B visa holders. This is no big deal to the SSA because these people qualify for no benefits, but it makes one wonder whether they are under-reporting just Social Security or also to the IRS and why they might do so? Those H-1B employers who do report Social Security income do so at a level that is dramatically lower than one might expect for job classifications that are legally required to pay the “prevailing wage.”

(My boldfaces)