As a cosponsor of S. 386, the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019, you will be helping drive an influx of foreign-born labor that will displace U.S. tech workers and other white-collar Americans who have good jobs, if this legislation passes.
While Silicon Valley has, for decades, lobbied extensively to raise the 85,000 annual H-1B visa cap, a pool of qualified Americans is available, especially diverse Americans. In 2016, San Francisco Chronicle reporter Carolyn Lochhead wrote about the Congressional Black Caucus’ criticism of Silicon Valley for its failure to hire talented, degree-holding blacks. In the same Chronicle story, U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, whose Oakland district is close to Silicon Valley, charged the tech industry with, in its rush to hire H-1Bs, ignoring black American engineers’ qualifications.
A year later, The Washington Post wrote that blacks and Latinos earn nearly 18 percent of U.S. computer science degrees, yet hold barely 5 percent of tech jobs. Women of color face an even tougher road toward employment.
Overall, the employee mix in Silicon Valley shows an anti-American bias. Only 29% of the valley’s employees are U.S. citizens. If S. 386 passes, the imbalance between American citizens and foreign nationals working in technology will become more acute. Allowing more Indian and Chinese workers to become a permanent part of the U.S. labor force hurts American minorities in their efforts to get ahead.
Please rethink your S. 386 support, and give consideration to underemployed black and Latino engineers, as well as others who have been displaced by foreign-born labor. Americans must come first.
Sincerely,
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