Trump signs exec order signaling foreign H-1B visa techie crackdown

There's plenty of abuse of the visa system, and they should definitely raise the minimum salary, but I think Trump's action regarding visas and immigration will only lead to more hiring outside the US. Most of the big tech companies have development centers around the world where they can hire more staff if the government makes it too difficult to bring people to the US.

Grandstanding on both sides

Chuck Schumer makes a fool of himself again. Of course it's going to create some jobs. Now that they're commissioned, someone is going to have to research and write the reports. That's probably, like, 100 employee-years' worth of work at the Dept of Labor.

Trump could shortcut the whole process by simply abolishing the H1B program entirely. Of course he's not going to do that, because it would interfere with the ability and/or willingness of people to give him money. But that's what he promised.

Silicon Valley

I thought the problem in Silicon Valley was that the wages were too high already, given the housing problems in San Francisco. If the current state of affairs in the Valley are due to supressed salaries, I hate to think what it would be like without "slave labour"

"But the vast majority of visa holders are no more skilled than US workers and are being hired solely because they will work harder for less."

These people need to work smarter not harder. That's the problem with outsourcing when you have no clue on what it takes for the work to actually get done.

The outsourcers will just up their charges if H1-B gets more expensive. No one will bother to higher local instead because the confirmed story/perception is that there is no local talent.

I know it's from Trump, but any move that might reduce the amount of low quality Indian coding in our software has got to be welcomed. Software quality gets worse and worse, and I reckon it's entirely due to highly paid remote middle management hiring the cheapest coders they can get away with.

Look th the quality drop in iOS and OS-X in recent releases. I won't mention Microsoft - their software's always been crap. Contrast with Linux, where only properly skilled coders get to contribute.

First world problem

Americans are first world citizen and hence work for job satisfaction. Indians are third world citizens and hence work for money. A CS grad from USA is truly interested in computer-science problems, and would like to work only on cutting edge technology or do research. A CS grad from India did CS because he wants money, so, he will be ready to work on implementing already-solved problems, repetitive work, or in any of the not-so-cutting-edge-technology. So, even if given decent salary, a CS grad from USA wouldn't do the job that an Indian CS-grad would do. So, whatever visa changes you do, is only going to be counter productive to USA.

What about non-IT companies ?

Almost every US based engineering, services and even equipment supplier to the chemical, petrochemical and oil industry I know of farms the low end stuff like 3d drawing, acad drawing, and even some lower level engineering out to large outfits in India, and promtly bill the hours to their customers at local rates. It is a great source of income to them. Even if they have to have the work re-done 4 times it's still not half as expensive as having it done locally.

And I can't imagine it being any different in their US operations.

But those are probably outfits run by The Orange man's (c) friends.

"unlike me, grins US president"

OK!

"We don't have a level playing field for our workers, but you're going to have one very soon"

How's that? Are millions of Americans suddenly going to become better educated? Or is he planning to give Indian and Asian technology experts brain damage in some way?

What Trump and supporters deserve..

.. is the actual implementation of all this nonsense.

The problem is that that will cause harm to others, but if there was a way to prevent that it would be quite funny to see them run their own place (no house staff), build their own walls (no labourers) and mainly live on tinned food (nobody tending the fields).

They really have no clue how the world works, nor do their redneck supporters.

Maybe a wall is indeed in order, but a cheaper one. Around Mar-a-Lago.

H-2B

I am glad the article mentions H-2B workers, which do supply Trump resorts and hotels with workers from eastern Europe and South America. Other hotels and public venue businesses rely on cheap H-2B labour, and this level of work is what is really sought by Americans who haven't got an education that qualifies them for a lot of jobs. Those Trump supporters who want to close the borders to foreign workers are not, mostly, looking to be coders and sysadmins but janitors, waitresses, pool-boys, kitchen staff and hotel cleaning maids. They turn up for a job and there's a Romanian doing the job for less, on an H-2B visa.

Citizens First

Private business models that require no taxes, no environmental or human right laws and huge government subsidies to be profitable should not exist. The purpose of business and industry is to benefit the Nation, the Citizens, not an international elite who cares nothing for Nations or their people.

If a company cannot train and hire locals they need to revisit their business model to include better education and better pay. Bringing in workers to reduce the education opportunities of the locals, to lower pay, lower working standards and conditions all to increase profits to be sent out of country should be illegal and treated as treasonous when suggested.

OTOH bringing in highly educated people who create jobs and train citizens to replace them is important and was the stated objective of Foreign Worker Programs. Of course if such programs had been used for that we wouldn't be having this discussion.

Even the idea that foreign workers do work locals do not want to do is obvious propaganda. A business needs to fit into the local conditions, if it needs to import slaves it has no place in the country and can only hurt citizens who then must accept lower pay.

Business that needs endless government subsidies, either directly or with laws protecting their cartel have also undermined the market and worked against the interest of citizens.

Canada's many protected cartels, including basics like milk and automobiles that concentrate Canada's production in two provinces do much damage to Canada. These cartels are an example of business buying government protection at the expense of democracy, the Nation's interests and that of Citizens. Canada has no domestic automobile industry to protect. Canadians get jobs from being allowed to assemble vehicles for multi-national companies and in exchange protect those companies from competition, prevent Canadians from importing vehicles and add thousands to the cost of every vehicle. It would be far cheaper to pay those workers to go to school or volunteer but that wouldn't so easily transfer Canada's wealth to other tax havens, so isn't considered.

Trump exists because people can feel their governments are not acting in their interests, your government is not acting in your interest. People are beginning to lash out in anyway possible, look in the most unlikely of places for hope, even a billionaire who honestly believes the rich work harder and are more worthy. IME only the most desperate believe Trump will make America great, just as only the most deluded thought Obama would reverse the trends already set in place.

What will American voters do when they learn that no Democrat or Republican President can save them from their fate?