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May 30, 2006 (IDG News Service) --

 WASHINGTON (05/30/2006) - Flying
mostly under the radar in a controversial immigration reform bill that
passed the U.S. Senate last week was a provision that would raise the
cap on the number of high-skilled foreign workers allowed into the U.S.

Some
technology companies praised the wide-ranging immigration bill, which
passed the Senate Thursday, because it would raise the cap on the hotly
debated H-1B program, often used by U.S. technology companies to hire
foreign IT workers. The bill would increase the annual H-1B cap from
65,000 to 115,000, but many Republicans in the House of Representatives
have criticized other provisions in the bill, saying it's too soft on
illegal immigration.

In passing the
bill, the Senate took a "critical step forward in its important work to
ensure that our nation remains the global leader in technology
innovation," said Bill Gates, Microsoft Corp.'s chairman and chief
software architect, in a statement. Gates and other technology leaders
have called for a higher cap on H-1B visas, saying many companies
cannot find enough U.S. workers with specialized tech skills.

The
number of applications for H-1Bs for the federal government's fiscal
year 2006 hit the cap in August 2005, a month and a half before the
fiscal year began.

But a group
representing U.S. IT workers questioned the need for more H-1B visas.
The program is full of abuses, with many companies not paying the
required prevailing wage for H-1B workers, said Ron Hira, vice
president for career activities at the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers-USA (IEEE-USA).

"The
program is basically broken and can be easily manipulated," Hira said.
"Until it's fixed, it makes no sense to increase the cap."

In 2005, the U.S Office of Management and Budget said the H-1B program is "vulnerable
to fraud and abuse" because the U.S. Department of Labor has limited
means to check the wages paid to H-1B workers, Hira noted.

IEEE-USA has also said out-of-work U.S. IT workers should get the first shot at vacant tech jobs at U.S. companies.

But the Information
Technology Industry Council (ITI), a trade group for technology
vendors, praised the Senate for including the H-1B provisions in the
larger immigration bill. The bill, which would allow illegal immigrants
a way to gain U.S citizenship or legal status, is opposed by many
Republican lawmakers, and its future is uncertain. Although the bill
passed 62-36 in the Senate, a majority of the chamber's Republicans
opposed it.

The H-1B provisions
could be a "bridge to compromise," said Ralph Hellman, ITI's senior
vice president for government relations. Many Republicans support the
H-1B increases, and those provisions could be part of a compromise
package, he said.

Hellman dismissed
arguments that an H-1B increase isn't needed. Opponents of the cap
increase  "don't have a very strong standing in Congress," he said.
"Quite frankly, we don't think they have the facts correct." 
 

Reprinted with permission from

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