H-1B reporting in US media is irresponsible and one-sided: Bill Richardson

The former NM governor writes that it is “sad to see respected news outlets pushing anti-immigrant stories.”

Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has criticized what he called “one-sided” and “irresponsible” reporting in the US media on H-1B visa issues.

Follow @ambazaarmag

Writing on the Huffington Post, the former US ambassador to the United Nations said the H-1B program “has recently been demonized by anti-immigrant groups.” He added: “In addition to the horrific hostility felt by many foreign-born workers as of late, it’s sad to see respected news outlets pushing anti-immigrant stories.”

Richardson, who served as the secretary of energy under President Bill Clinton, is a co-chair of the ACAlliance, a coalition of groups that is championing “smart immigration” policies.  In the oped, which was published Tuesday, he wrote:

Some of these stories have chronicled anger and grief felt by American workers who have lost their jobs to these highly skilled workers, claiming that companies take advantage of strict U.S. immigration law to hire less expensive foreign workers. While such isolated incidents are indeed unfortunate, giving too much credence to their stories without paying proper attention to the overwhelming benefits of the H-1B visa program is one-sided and irresponsible.

Among the many H-1B stories that looked at the visa program critically is CBS 60 Minutes investigation that was aired on March 19.

Titled “You’re Fired,” the piece noted that more and more companies are using the visa program to replace American workers with foreign workers.

Richardson wrote that the H-1B visas “are predominantly used in STEM fields” and many “U.S. companies rely on the visas for critical jobs in these industries because our domestic workforce simply does not have enough qualified talent to fill open positions.”

The Democrat wrote:

Too often stories cite anecdotal experiences from individuals with a clear—and arguably rightful—bias against the program without acknowledging the wealth of evidence that objectively proves the program’s benefits to America’s global competitiveness and economic prosperity.

That is irresponsible. The public should expect reporters covering the H-1B visa program to give an unbiased look at the issue, and have them grant fair attention to how the skills gap hurts American companies and the role high-skilled immigrants play in creating jobs for U.S. workers.

Read the column on The Huffington Post.

Related Posts:

US government-collected data on H-1B, L-1 visas ‘inadequate’ and ‘poor quality’: Economic Policy Institute report (March 17, 2017)

H-1B issue could be a ‘source of tension’ in US-India ties, says Nisha Desai Biswal (March 14, 2017)

New H-1B visa reform of Trump might take longer for implementation (March 13, 2017)

H4 work authorization may be next on Trump’s hit list, says Sheela Murthy (March 9, 2017)

H-1B visa applications’ premium processing facility blocked, temporarily (March 3, 2017)

Ro Khanna introduces bipartisan bill to reduce H-1B, L1 ‘fraud and abuse’ (March 3, 2017)

New H-1B reform bill proposing twofold hike in minimum wage introduced in House of Representatives (January 31, 2017)