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I grew up in a middle class home (probably
at poverty
level when compared to American standards, it was pretty OK for Spain
though). Money was often tight. Despite of being five siblings we
had only a handful of wooden toys, and none of us ever had a bicycle.
And yet, we considered ourselves to be the lucky ones who always had food on the
table. Some of our acquaintances were not that lucky. Salaries were paid
monthly in those days, and sometimes -by the end of the month- my mother had
only enough money left to offer us " bread and onion soup" for
dinner. I hated that soup! My father was lucky, he always had a
secured job (Policeman). Not only that, he had several jobs (despite it was a tight
labor market after the Spanish Civil War). He would do a lot of moonlighting just to make ends meet:
collector of insurance installments; facilitator of documents for those
thousands of Spaniard migrants, departing for Latin America; etc.
etc.... After he retired from the Police, he worked many more years as a
Supervisor of Security Guards. |
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Studying was a lot of hardship. Father and mother did
not have much education. So, they were of that school of thought
who believe that: basic education is a must, but basic is
plenty. |
To get an advanced degree was not only too expensive in
those days, but it was basically impossible to even try. And -at the end of
all that effort- you would be "over qualified". |
In other words,
there were a few factory jobs around, but not much for highly educated
people. This was Spain, in the late 1960's. I spent many years studying, and getting academic
degrees. It was challenging, it was expensive, it was .... a lot of
deprivation (never having enough time to enjoy -relaxed- the company of friends, or
even family).
So, how did Juan Xuna end up with an
Engineering degree, and a couple of Master degrees?
It had to do with expectations. Differently to
my father, I knew that the Spanish society someday would have to progress, and
then good jobs would be available for those few who had careers. I
was... kind of ... right!
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My point is: Even
with great difficulties, students will attain their goals, if there is
going to be a reward to their efforts. That is, if it is going to
be LIGHT AT THE END OF THE
TUNNEL !! |
In
order to sustaining
a healthy higher education level, seeing the end of the tunnel is real
critical. A lot more important than vouchers -or anything else-
that we hear over and over these days so much.
Do
you believe that High School students would embark toward a College degree if
those with that degree either,
| (a)
do not find a job proper to their skills, or |
| (b)
do not make enough money to repay the high debt acquired in Federal Loans, |
| (c)
do not have a good explanation on how they would compensate their inner
soul for the many years of deprivation (from having a fuller life) ? |
Do you remember when universities in Russia were pretty
good, and studies paid in full by their Government, and
yet few people would take the deal. Why? Because after spending
half of their lives burning their eyelashes to get a scientific degree,
now they would get a life full of obligations and responsibilities, and
yet -in a Communist society- they would be making about as much in salary
as everybody else, with education or without! Because of
this unfairness, even without knowing it, the Politburo gurus
made their country march toward the end of the Communism.
And what in the world this story has
to do with H-1B Visas, if anything ? - you may
ask.
| It has plenty to do with it. Believe me! |
It is a fact, there are plenty of highly-educated individuals
from around the world who are eager to come to live with us here in America.
This is because they feel we have an enviable society, prosperous,
progressive, and freedom of expression. We all know that is true!
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The problem
with education -despite it looks as a totally separate issue to the visas-
is
that many in Congress feel that opening the gates fully -to highly educated
individuals from abroad- will be tremendously advantageous to the US. |
So Congress,
under
pressure from Corporate America,
pushes -year after year- for higher and higher levels of -what are called- H-1B
visas.
After all,
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these
Immigrants are highly educated, and
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their education did
not cost anything to America.
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they
will never be requesting social services (they have too much pride
to do that)
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How can you beat that?
Wait,
there is more!
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... they
are also willing to work for a meager salary, sometimes paying a
Ph.D. the equivalent of what you would pay a graduate from a 3-year Community
College program.
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A win-win situation, Right?
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Every country -no doubt- would like to progress, and bring prosperity to its citizens. Having talented
individuals will help with that goal. When you allow regular impoverish
Immigrants to live in your land you really do not know if these
newcomers are smart or dumb. Many might not look too bright,
but your perception I am sure could change if they were able to speak
fluently your language, or had an opportunity to be educated.
As a Geneticist could have said "the genes
might be there, but have not had a chance to get expressed".
Since they are adventurous, and daring, very likely they are brighter
than the average population. However, when
you give H-1B visas to Master or Ph.D. degreed alien graduates you are
pretty sure these guys are not dumb.
On the contrary these "brainers" have to be in the
top-percentile of capable individuals of any nation.
How
can you say that these H-1B individuals are not beneficial to
a country?
| True, we cannot say that! |
They are a huge asset to
any country! no question.
I am not saying that these people are undesirables. On the
contrary -by the explanations I gave- if you ask me I would honestly say
these are the best
Immigrants you can ever have. And we are lucky they are willing to
come here, to the USA, in unlimited numbers.
The problem
is: we do not have -currently- a way to deal with the
demoralization that these professionals cause in our post-graduate
technical students, who are betting a lot of money thinking that
someday they will be able to pay back the loans with not much effort. Many are
bound to have a heck of a painful realization.
| If
we discourage Americans from studying higher education, we will depend
in foreign experts for everything. |
| Pretty much the way we are
becoming little by little dependent on Arab oil. |
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| How could you ever convince the US Congress
(mostly made up of lawyers) that this policy of allowing countless numbers
of highly educated professionals to come in to the USA -with H-1B
visas- is bad for America? |
It is practically impossible to do that. It is a
losing battle
Corporations were counting on an ever exploding expansion of technology in the
US. For a while it seemed they were right, but the tech bubble burst.
And now some American PhD's and Java Programmers are operating forklifts to
avoid losing their homes. The effect is slow,
but it is unrelenting. The damage is permanent, and it is being done
very slowly.
What would happen when graduating students
find that all those well-paying jobs that their Counselors told them existed,
are not really there? They will feel
cheated. And they would trickle the message down to relatives and
friends.
Thousands and thousands of those good jobs have been
occupied by imported "foreign professionals". Some lucky
guys will eventually find a job, but the opportunities that used to exist
for a professional (with a typical Master degree or Bachelor degree) are
not there anymore. Now they need a PhD. And if they are able
to earn one, they will be disappointed with the salaries they will be
making. It is going to be barely enough to pay the Stafford loans, and
subsist. Ridiculous!
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Unless you have been living in a cave, you
will have probably noticed by now that these days an unbelievable percentage
of College Professors already are not American. At least, they were not
when they arrived with a H-1B visa a few years back. Today it does
not pay to be Professor, really. I taught in a College for a couple
of semesters and I have to look for a better paid job, because I could not
take care of my family. Many College Professors are Pakistanis and
Hindus these days.
Look at the
students in Ph.D. programs, many are foreigners as well. Some
foreign students will return to their countries, many will try to change the
student visa for an H-1B and remain in America. A
great achievement for them, if not THE great achievement.
For many foreigners all of this is worth any effort.
I am not conjecturing, I am speaking -of course- from
personal experience.
| I did study towards a Ph.D. in Computer
Sciences at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, project that I decided
to abandon. |
| I taught Telecommunications and Computer Sciences at the
Inter American University in Puerto Rico. As Professor I was making
about half of what would be a normal Engineering salary. I
quit after a couple of semesters. |
| I earned a Master in
Telecommunications from the University of Colorado, at Boulder. |
| I did finish
MBA studies with excellent grades, at the Inter American University. For
the reasons above, I never did care much for the
final degree, and left without making much effort to get it (taking the
required board exam). |
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I spent 20 years in those cubicles -in high
tech companies- where Engineers do their thing. Many
peers in other
cubicles were foreigners who had come to the USA with H-1B visas.
Most often than not you would not get a raise, unless you could afford to
threaten the company with quitting. Sometimes it just happened that I
was not "expendable", and I won the increase in
salary.
On occasions -though- I was expendable.
Consequently, and with frustration I had to grab my things, and head for the
door. Facing the unknown and putting my family in jeopardy.
The PR people (Personnel Dept. Representatives) would say to me
that there were plenty of other Engineers who would be happy to work for
less. I knew that !
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Professionals
applying for jobs in New York City.
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Do not tell me about the
great benefits of H-1B visas,
I will not buy
it! It is a slow cancer! |
They would even tell me how lucky I was that I was making a lot
more than others. Since they do not tell you how much the others make,
you -really- would never know if that is true.
In 1994 the per-capita rate in Europe was -on the
average- about 60% of that in the USA. And yet, notice on this
table that Engineers over there make higher salaries (or comparable) in
absolute terms to those of their American counterparts. In
relative terms -though- European Engineers are much better paid, have a
lot more recognition, and the Engineering title conveys a social
status. In Latin America they respectfully use the term "Doctor", or
"Licenciado" when addressing Engineers. No wonder why
Engineering Schools here do not find enough recruits!
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What I knew is that I was making one fifth
as much as I would be making if working as a Medical Doctor, who would have about the
same number of years of studies, and whom have had a lot less Calculus,
Thermodynamics, and Quantum Physics to digest. The difference is that
the AMA (American Medical
Association) is a powerful organization. They request a Medical
Foreign Board Exam to those who would like to practice Medicine in
America. That way they can filter candidates all they want. And
filtering they do, TOO MUCH I would say!
Doctors deal with lives, and every person who votes will try
to give support to their cause. They want the best
Doctors. Engineers -on the other hand- we deal with machines, and nobody
cares.
There is not Engineering Foreign Board Exam, it would
even sound ludicrous to have one. There is not even regulation on the
use of the Engineering title in America. If you impersonate a Doctor you
will go to jail. But if you say you are an Engineer and you are not one,
that is OK. Everybody does it. I would say that of those Engineers
in the cubicles mentioned above, of those who were not foreigners as much as
60% were not Degreed Engineers. The Engineer title was often a diploma
given by the company to an individual in recognition of many years within an
"Engineering Organization". In other words, they
impersonate Engineers. But, is it OK for a 2-year degree
Technician to impersonate a 7-year career Engineer
? (Computed based on a 4 to 5 years for a
B.S.E.E. and 2 to 3
years for the Master).
Just imagine
how it would be if a Nurse would impersonate a Doctor. That person would
be summarily fired, or worse, could spend a couple of months in jail for
impersonating.
Let's go back to the issue of: long term effect of
the H-1B visas in the educational system.
Why a professional -who already has a
Master degree- should spend another $180,000 on a PhD?
(This amount is calculated based on $30,000 in
tuition and books, and 3 years at $50,000 of average revenues lost per
year for full-salary not earned while dedicated to the Ph.D. program).
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There are so many young and "imported" PhDs out
there that a company -that could use your degree- would normally pay you only
$200 more per month when you bring that $180,000 doctoral degree. Other companies
would not hire you at all, because with a Ph.D. you might be overqualified (meaning,
not motivated with a lesser job, they would hire somebody looking up to
that job, rather than looking down to it). |
Am
I bashing foreigners? How could I?
I did not come
to America with H-1B visa, yet I am a foreign immigrant who moved
from Spain in 1971.
I am presenting, as factual as I can, the
biggest educational problem of this country, as I see it!
None of my three grown sons wants to be an
Engineer. Engineering curriculums in America tend to lose recruits year
after year. To mitigate the effect, programs are made easier,
eliminating complex theoretical subjects in advanced Mathematics, Organic
Chemistry, Physics, Thermodynamics, and so forth. The curriculums
become more and more focused on narrow technologies (that the educational
system of any other country in the world can easily match). We will lose our
"knowledge edge". Our post-graduate career
curriculums are dangerously
practical !!
As the years go by, these shallow-skin graduates will
try to keep up with new emerging technologies by reading, or going for a
higher degree. More often than not, their educational background is not
deep enough, and the technology changes so fast that they become
obsolete. This is one of those intangible caveats in the educational
system caused by the high limits allowed on H-1B visas.
As you can see, I have an opinion on educational
vouchers (if you care to see the "Education" page), but voucher
or no-voucher, that is a heck of a small educational issue, when you
look from a higher perspective.
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Immigration
on the Rise
Read across
to see how many H-1B visas remain in effect from a given
year. Read down to see the cumulative effect in a given
year: |
YEAR
OF ISSUE |
FY1999
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FY1999
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FY1999
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FY1999
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FY1999
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FY1999
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FY1998 |
325,000[1]
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260,000
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195,000
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130,000
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65,000
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0
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FY1999 |
136,888
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136,888
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136,888
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*136,888
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136,888
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136,888
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FY2000 |
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145,000
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145,000
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145,000
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*145,000
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145,000
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FY2001 |
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195,000
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195,000
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195,000
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*195,000
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FY2002 |
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195,000
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195,000
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195,000
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FY2003 |
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195,000
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195,000
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FY2004 |
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65,000
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Estimated
Annual total |
461,888
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541,888
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671,888
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801,888
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931,888
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931,888
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*
Denotes year in which original visas would be expired if
three-year extension was not filed with and approved by
the INS
1 1998 was the year in which the American Competitiveness
and Workforce Improvement Act became law and temporarily
raised the cap on H-1B visas from 65,000 to 115,000 in
FY1999 and FY2000. This starting figure of 325,000 visas
assumes all visas issued from 1994 through 1998 remained
active for six years (5 x 65,000); thus the figure
decreases by 65,000 in each succeeding year as visas
expire. (The 65,000 cap level was established in 1990 and
by law, the U.S. may not lower the H-1B limit beneath that
amount.) |
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Why an Engineer
wants to become a Congressman?
After having read this page, you would probably be able now
to answer that question yourself. It is important that
I fight to be your Congressman, and it is imperative that you would support me
on that quest! Taking a stand against H-1B visas, is not going to be
popular. I might antagonize a lot of corporations. I know
that! I understand the political cost, but I will have to take
it!
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Not only that, at this point we should be thinking of
retraining workers. But companies would not go with the expense of
retraining when they can hire -for half that much- a young Chinese, Hindu or
Arab person (with an H-1B visa) who has a hot, brand new, degree on
the latest technologies.
Doing so the corporation would be saving money.
Therefore, they would be able to offer a less expensive product, and a
better return on investment to investors. But,
is not this shortsighted ?
What will happen to that
Engineer that became frustrated with his profession?
Let me tell you what is going to happen, none of
his relatives or acquaintances is going to be very impressed with his career,
and will try to avoid it. And many will try to avoid College altogether.
I have focused on Engineering, because having been such for
26+ years I think I could be credible to you. But, if you believe my
statements on Engineering, I could extrapolate and talk to you about the plight of
the Computer Programmers, the Therapists (flooded by Filipinos with H-1B
visas), the Production Managers, or .... the list in never ending.
There are very
few US Representatives opposed to H-1B visas. After all, probably
90% of Congress is made up of Lawyers. No foreign Lawyer would
succeed in America!
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Because to be a good Attorney it helps if you have an
excellent command of the English language. |
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Also, you need to speak with an American
accent, that
Jurors can relate. Foreigners -even from British colonies- cannot do
that. Forget the ones born in a Chinese or in a Spanish speaking
country. |
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Finally, if they studied Law in their countries, their
laws are mostly of not use in America. Credits are not
transferable. Their studies are worthless here. A Foreign
Board Exam for Law students does not even make sense. |
This
is the reason why this huge problem in our educational system has escaped the
scrutiny of our Government. To the extreme where the Government is not even
aware of the damage being done.
I STAND ON
PRINCIPLES FIRST, THEN I THINK ABOUT REPERCUSSIONS. and not the other way
around!
Raising funds for my campaign is probably going to be a lot
harder than for many other Candidates who did not espouse such strong
ideologies. After all. most funds are raised with Corporate PACs (Political
Action Committees) I am aware of that. But,
if I do not win this election, I will do what President Lincoln did ...
come back, and try again and again!
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I should not say that there is not opposition at all to
H-1B visas. There is! But the courageous ones are few.
Here is one, ...Rep. Bob Stump
(AZ) - "I am opposed to raising
the H-1B cap for several reasons. The government has identified fraud
in the program and there is no compelling evidence of a labor
shortage. High-tech firms laid off more than 140,000 Americans last
year while simultaneously lobbying Congress to increase the H-IB cap.
I am also troubled by reports of age discrimination against
middle-aged American computer programmers. I believe the high demand
reflects a preference for foreign workers and the cheaper foreign
labor H-1B visa holders represent".
Here is another ... Rep. John
Bryant (D-TX) "Basically,
what this bill is saying to them is, "goodbye, there is
not going to be training for you [Americans]. We are not going
to pay any attention to your situation. We are going to
address the problems of this country by inviting an extra
140,000 permanent workers into this country, along with their
families, to take the places that we might have trained you to
take, had we been willing to follow that path."
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Editor: JX |
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