The sudden eruption of tensions within the victors' camp over H-1B visas comes as an unwelcome and unexpected (to me) turn of events, although this particular visa process should indeed be reviewed with an eye to reform. While I understand Elon Musk's attraction to H-1B visas, I find his violent verbal reaction to its detractors, and the imputation of racist motives, unhelpful in the extreme (Elon is very much sui generis, of course, which has advantages and disadvantages; rather like having a pet tiger). See update below.
My principal concern is the millions of undocumented aliens who are here without cover of any kind of visa at all, who have not been vetted for entry. We need to prioritize the expulsion of the feral rapists, pedophiles, murderers and potential terrorists who are plaguing our cities and towns (and, most recently of note, our subways).
But the large inflow of foreigners who have been brought in, not because it is impossible to hire locals, but simply for the sake of cutting labor costs, constitute a real issue if we are to bolster well-paying jobs for Americans. It is no doubt true that the decline in the quality of our educational system has reduced the talent pool of citizens - but to the point where we have to start hiring non-citizens for basic marketing and paper-shuffling jobs? Maybe that's true, I don't know. I invite commentary from readers who have worked in environments in which the H-1B visa program has had some appreciable impact. I admit that I have not; interestingly, the federal agency for which I worked had a hard and fast rule that one had to be a citizen to work there. In fact, the person whose office I got when I joined had recently been fired for lying about being a U.S. citizen and had been caught out during the extensive background investigation that takes place during the probationary period.
I had always anticipated that Trump would have a very short, or even non-existent, honeymoon with the news media. It would be a pity if his team falls apart as a result of internal fractiousness before he's even taken office. A key test of Trump's potential for creating and maintaining an orderly executive branch will be his ability to negotiate peace within the factions on his own side.
Update Musk has clarified his position, and has stated his belief that the system is in need of reform.
I saw the update as well, but that's what I understood from him in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI think part of that reaction is the desire to be self-sufficient, a reaction to the no barrier policy that allowed criminals and moochers in by the millions. In other words, "Shut the doors now!"
Not a good idea in the long run. So, yeah, fixing the H-1B visa system is important.
As for the short honeymoon ... ... while the idea of a big tent has been around for a while, some people aren't used to it, an effect of the tribalism that the donks want to build in America. Hopefully, they'll settle down, and avoid the internal fractiousness (which is inevitable to some degree), or at least moderate it to the point that it's a spirited debate.
The H1B visa program is a distraction. Our problems with unrestricted immigration aren't because a bunch of Indian and Chinese programmers are churning out code in Silicon Valley and Houston.
ReplyDeleteShould it be reformed? Probably, given that there are stories of exploitative working conditions for them. And questions of whether they are displacing qualified US workers.
But let's not waste time pretending that H1B and Tren de Aragua are somehow connected.
Precisely the point. Two different things, entirely.
DeleteThere's a demographic worldwide that really wants to believe the worst of Trump. And they're not democrats or lefties. They'd call themselves conservatives. But they are firmly fixed to the idea that the system is corrupt beyond repair and everyone at the top is in on it.
ReplyDeleteI witnessed a lot of this during Trump's first term, on blogs I no longer visit. Every anti-Trump story was received with the throwing up of hands and comments to the effect of 'There! I KNEW he was crooked!' And just like the MSM, once the fuller story emerged, the fuss would vanish.
PS: We've had a similar problem here with 'student' visas being rorted for a decade, probably two. Hairdressing schools were the most popular funnel for a while.