Facebook sued for favoring H-1B visa holders
(Updated December 7, 2020)
The Trump administration has sued Facebook for allegedly passing over US job candidates for thousands of positions in favor of immigrant workers holding temporary visas, including H-1B visa holders.
A suit filed by the Department of Justice Thursday alleged that Facebook did not consider “qualified and available US workers†for more than 2,600 positions with an average salary of about $156,000.
“Facebook intentionally created a hiring system in which it denied qualified US workers a fair opportunity to learn about and apply for jobs that Facebook instead sought to channel to temporary visa holders Facebook wanted to sponsor for green cards,†the department said in its release.
Judge strikes down new Trump H-1B visa rules
US District Judge Jeffrey S. White of the Northern District of California struck down two Trump administration rules designed to drastically curtail the number of H-1B visas issued each year to skilled foreign workers.
The changes announced in October imposed higher salary requirements for foreign workers and limits on specialty occupations ostensibly to encourage hiring of local Americans amid coronavirus-related job losses.
The judge ruled that the changes were introduced in a hurry and did not abide by the usual transparency obligations: provide notice and sufficient time for public comments.
Facebook Live with Nandini Nair
Updated June 29, 2020
American Bazaar hosted a Facebook Live with prominent immigration lawyer Nandini Nair, a partner at GreenspoonMarder, at 12 noon EST on Sunday, June 28, 2020. Readers to asked questions on the latest executive order by President Donald Trump and other H-1B, L-1 and other visa and green card matters. Watch the chat:
Latest on the Trump executive order
Updated June 25, 2020
President Donald Trump’s latest executive order on immigration, which suspended several work visas, actually targets the very programs that create jobs for Americans, according to the libertarian Cato Institute.
David J. Bier, a scholar at the Institute’s Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, noted that eliminating these visa programs “will undermine job growth, hurting the recovery†from the covid crisis.
“The most important point is that all immigrant workers create jobs because they participate in the economy not just as workers but also as consumers,†Bier wrote suggesting, “If Trump wants the economy to recover quickly, he should favor an allâ€handsâ€onâ€deck approach, not a governmentâ€micromanaged strategy,†he wrote.  Here is the full story. Â
In other H-1B-related news:
- Who will be affected by the executive order? Nandini Nair, a Partner at Greenspoon Marder LLP, talks about the impact of the executive order issued by President Trump Monday banning the entry of certain H-1B, L-1 and J-1Â visa holders to the United States till December 31, 2020. Watch the video and read the story here.
- Meanwhile, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) says it will continue to honor the already issued valid visas. “The US will continue to honor these already valid visas,â€Â said USCIS Deputy Director for Policy Joseph Edlow, in a statement. “Monday’s presidential proclamation temporarily restricts certain categories of visas from being issued to protect jobs for American workers while our economy recovers from the effects of covid-19,†he added. Read the story here.
June 24, 2020
What are the implications of Trump’s new executive order?
Posted June 22, 2020
President Donald Trump issued a new executive order on June 22, 2020, suspending the entry of a number of nonimmigrant visa holders. Many immigration experts weighed in on social media about the contours of the new executive order.  It appears one of the biggest victims of the order would be the H-1B visa holders who are currently stuck in India awaiting visa stamping. According to the Houston-based attorney Emily Neumann tweeted: H”-1B workers and H-4 dependents who are currently outside the United States and do not have visas stamped in their passports will not be able to travel to the US.”
1. H-1B workers and H-4 dependents who are currently outside the United States and do not have visas stamped in their passports will not be able to travel to the US.
— Emily Neumann (@immigrationgirl) June 22, 2020
According to Neumann, here are the other implications of the order:
- O-1, TN, E-3 are not impacted
- B-1 and B-2 visitors are not impacted.
- F-1 students are not impacted. OPT is not impacted. STEM OPT is not impacted.
- Any application filed with USCIS can still be filed and will continue to be processed in the same manner as before. All I-129 and I-539 applications filed with USCIS are not impacted.
- L-1A and L-1B workers and L-2 dependents who are currently outside the United States and do not have visas stamped in their passports will not be able to travel to the US.
In the meantime, Google CEO Sundar Pichai has denounced the new executive order. The Indian American tweeted on Monday: “Immigration has contributed immensely to America’s economic success, making it a global leader in tech, and also Google the company it is today. Disappointed by today’s proclamation – we’ll continue to stand with immigrants and work to expand opportunity for all.”
Immigration has contributed immensely to America’s economic success, making it a global leader in tech, and also Google the company it is today. Disappointed by today’s proclamation – we’ll continue to stand with immigrants and work to expand opportunity for all.
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) June 22, 2020
A new Trump executive order could come this week
Posted June 21, 2020
President Donald Trump is likely to sign the much-awaited executive order on immigration early this week.
In addition to extending some of the restriction Trump put in place with his presidential proclamation on April 23, the new move is expected to impose new limits on H-1B visas, according to multiple reports.
The initial proclamation, signed on April 22, banned the entry of certain Green Card holders, among other moves.
The NPR, citing “multiple sources familiar with the plan,†reported on Saturday that the new executive order will “suspend H-1B, L-1 and other temporary work visas through the end of the year.â€
It will also suspend H-2B visas, mainly used by seasonal workers in the hotel and construction industry, and J-1 visas, used by research scholars and academics. “The order is not expected to immediately affect anyone already in the United States,†the report said.
The new executive order will “encompass skilled workers in specialty occupations, executives, and seasonal workers who work in industries such as landscaping, housekeeping and construction, according to the two people, as well as a Department of Homeland Security official. Agricultural workers and students will not be included,†Politico reported on Sunday.
The Hindu newspaper reported on Saturday that “Trump and his advisers met with stakeholders from U.S. government departments on Tuesday†to finalize the executive order. It said the attendees included the hawkish White House immigration adviser Stephen Miller and presidential son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner, as well as officials from the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Citizenship and Information Services, the Department of State and the Department of Labor.
Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was considering suspending the H-1B visa through fall, and could extend into the next fiscal year, which begins October 1, the beginning of the new H-1B season.
According to the paper, other changes being considered include:
- Scaling back the Optional Practical Training program by reducing the OPT for STEM students from the current three years to one year.
- Eliminating work permits for H4 visa holders, which might affect as many as 100,000 spouses of H-1B employees who are currently working on EAD.
- Increasing the H-1B visa fee to $20,000.
- Narrowing the definition of specialty occupations and shortening the length of the visas “for workers paid at the lowest pay tier and require pay increases for them upon renewal.â€
7 Comments
H1-B workers are so important to developing innovation and technology in the United States.
They are by default, employees who have higher education degrees (Masters or PhD level).
They are not paid any less than U.S. workers, because they have to be paid per the regional prevailing wage for that position.
When employers want to hire an H1 candidate, they must first advertise to see if a qualified U.S. citizen applies…and that doesn’t usually happen, to be honest.
Kick out all the INDIANS ASAP… nothing but bloody leeches trashing up neighborhoods and cities everywhere they go. EVERY SINGLE ONE of them came here by forging their documents, faking their resumes, cheating on visa applications and taking jobs from US citizens. After Y2K, these locusts have swarmed entire industries and destroyed the US job market completely. If you live in Silicon Valley or in New Jersey (yeah, Jersey is an armpit we know), you’ll see how they’ve simply ravaged everything. They took over the tech and banking/finance sectors and have their eyes on manufacturing. Their stated goal is the TOTAL OCCUPATION of America, kind of a reverse imperialism except they need to go occupy the UK, the freaking bums. This visa order is not nearly enough – the scum already here needs to be deported back east. All the existing visas should also be cancelled or revoked, and then kick them out all at once. Let modi feed and clothe his billions of worshippers, we don’t want them here. GET OUT!!!
suck my dick you red neck. If you think forcing indian ppl out of US going to help you, hell no. You will see an asian invasion coming your way, where we will under cut all the jobs in india take all the american jobs by taking advantage capitalism. Second we will boy cot all american products. For example, take a look at FB as a company, there majority of there users come from india. Do you feel like it’s fair to sell american products golbally and not give jobs under the basis of merit. Indians are better than you red necks who are always on drugs and fucking making the streets a filth drug BS. Iv been many small town in US and Canada. And all white ppl do is fucking do as many drugs and not study. You think you guys should get jobs. Go and suck your own dick, fuck face.
You surely must have sucked your mom’s dick as a child, evident from your post. Did you suck your dad’s arse also?? What about that disabled sis and the blind, deaf, mute brother of yours? Oh they were sold in dowry to your cousin, quite understandable coming from a piss poor filthy 3rd world banana republic with cows defecating everywhere. Don’t forget to pray to your naked lord who’s as racist as you. Maybe he can get you a plane ticket back to your slum once your H1B is revoked. And take your ugly family back with you.
We should really expand the OPT program, so that all students (foreign and domestic) can enjoy the tax break. To me that would make much more sense. The only real problems are these:
1 – Visa programs create an artificial class, that just by virtue of the class, are more desirable than domestics
2 – Local economies can only produce so much housing
3 – Countries all produce smart people at about the same rate per capita. India and China produce more, only because of the size of the initial population.
We must always limit our visa programs, because of 2 and 3. We don’t want to just eliminate the dreams of locals to take on jobs in IT or development, just because there is no housing in the work-centers or because there are literally 8 people in the world who can replace any American at any job in the market place.
The H-1b visa should be replace by a faster to obtain Green Card, and there should be a better match of the H-1b program to Green Card acquisition.
By eliminating the artificial classes we can have a better competition for jobs in the United States. Right now, thanks to lobbyists, the visa classes either favor the employer (by de-facto (if not literally) taking rights away from workers), or are literally just big tax incentives to hire foreign workers into STEM positions.
About time. Ä°n fact too late. I PERSONALLY WÄ°TNESSED THÄ°S ABUSE FÄ°RST HAND. I interviewed these so called qualified experts WHO HAD NOT EVEN GRADUATED FROM THEÄ°R US SCHOOLS YET to replace older and more seasoned workers. H1 VÄ°SAS ARE A JOKE WHÄ°CH SHOULD HAVE BEEN ANOLÄ°SHED 10 YEARS AGO.
“anolished”? They’d have managed spell check.