Visas Cut Off for High-Tech Workers Citing 'Critical' Labor Shortage, Senator Pushes to Raise Cap The Waqshington Post, Tuesday, May 12, 1998; Page A07 By William Branigin Washington Post Staff Writer The Immigration and Naturalization Service yesterday stopped issuing new visas for temporary high-tech workers, saying it already has reached the category's annual limit. The move injected new urgency into congressional efforts to raise the cap. Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.), sponsor of a bill to address what he calls a "critical shortage of high-tech workers," said the INS announcement has made passage of his measure "urgent" and that he hopes for a vote as early as today. But the Clinton administration opposes raising the cap without also reforming the visa program for these foreign employees to protect U.S. workers and provide more training for Americans seeking entry into high-tech fields. Moreover, groups representing U.S. technology workers say claims of a labor shortage have been vastly exaggerated by employers who want to use immigration to hold down wages in a tight labor market. The visa program, called H-1B, allows as many as 65,000 skilled foreign workers to enter the United States every year on "temporary" visas valid for up to six years. The "specialty occupations" covered by the category include computer programmers, engineers, architects, doctors and college professors. Largely because of increasing demand from high-tech companies, the cap was hit last year for the first time. Now the limit has been reached again -- nearly five months before the end of fiscal 1998 on Sept. 30. Unless legislation raises the cap, the INS said, employers now may petition for new H-1B workers only if their employment begins on or after Oct. 1, when a new 65,000 visa limit takes effect with the start of fiscal 1999. Abraham says his bill would raise the cap to 105,000 over the next five years and provide 20,000 college scholarships for low-income students. Opponents say the complex proposal would raise the cap to 115,000 a year starting in 1999, because it would add unused visas from other categories to the allotment for high-tech workers. In the House, a bill sponsored by Rep. Lamar S. Smith (R-Tex.) would raise the ceiling to 95,000 this year, 105,000 in 1999 and 115,000 in 2000, then revert to the current 65,000 limit. The high-tech industry supports the Abraham bill but opposes Smith's, mainly because it would require employers to attest that they had looked for U.S. workers before seeking foreigners and that they had not laid off Americans to replace them with H-1B workers. Critics of both bills say the problem is not a shortage of high tech workers, but a preference by companies for imported workers or recent U.S. college graduates because they have more up-to-date skills and are willing to accept lower entry salaries and longer working hours. These critics say a 17 percent unemployment rate among computer programmers over age 50, layoffs by high-tech companies and no marked jump in salary levels indicate that no acute labor shortage exists. Meanwhile, the health-care industry and local governments complain that the debate over high-tech workers has overshadowed a critical need for foreign doctors in federally designated "under-served areas," such as Appalachia, and some Veterans Administration hospitals. By law, foreign doctors who complete residency programs in U.S. hospitals must return to their home countries for two years before they can be considered for permanent immigrant status -- unless they agree to work for three years in a medically under-served area under the H-1B program. "This is a huge problem," said Michael Maggio, an immigration lawyer in the District. "If the H-1B cap isn't lifted, we're going to have hundreds of doctors who agreed to work in medically under-served areas who are unable to accept that employment."