The immigration agency's cap was 65,000 for years, until 1999, when Congress increased it to 115,000. Reacting to the 1990s technology boom, the government increased the cap again, to 195,000 in 2001, 2002 and 2003, then reduced it to 65,000 in 2004, where it remains.
In addition, the agency sets aside 20,000 visas a year for immigrants with master's degrees or higher from U.S. universities.
"It's troubling because our economy now is much more dynamic, much more diverse and much more highly skilled than during the tech boom of the 1990s," said Robert Hoffman, vice president of government and public affairs at Oracle and co-chairman of Compete America, which pushes for higher visa caps. "Back in the early 1990s, there wasn't a Google, an eBay or an Amazon.com. We are operating under a 1990s immigration system, and that's absurd."
But groups favoring limited immigration argue that technology companies have begun to see outsourcing as their only means to grow, displacing American workers in the process.
"The program basically operates to supply U.S. employers with cheap workers, and the beneficiaries are these multinational corporations," said Bob Dane, a spokesman for Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR.
"U.S. residents have become a last resort, and frankly it's hard to say if the number is even too high."
Although federal law states that employers must pay their H-1B workers the prevailing wage or risk fines and expulsion from the program, Dane argues that the regulations are loosely enforced.
There is little agreement on this issue; some studies show H-1B workers decrease wages while others reveal the opposite.
Still, Hoffman notes that employers, who file the applications on behalf of a worker, must prove they intend to hire in such specialized occupations as lawyers, physicians, college professors, engineers and computer programmers. Many employers must also show they have tried to hire U.S.-born workers for the jobs, seeking foreigners only as a last resort.
Workers must have at least a bachelor's degree to be eligible for the three-year visa, which can be renewed once.
Many view the visa as a steppingstone to becoming a legal permanent resident. Employers may sponsor these employees to apply for a green card, which for many is a step toward citizenship.
But Hoffman maintains that the green-card process is also arduous, fraught with paperwork, legal fees and waits that can last several years.
kelly.brewington@baltsun.com
