STEM jobs — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — are the most rewarding jobs for American college graduates and among the more difficult to secure as a result of competition from foreign workers here on temporary H-1B visas.
H-1B visas are granted for three years, renewable for another three years, and go to foreign workers who have attained “a bachelor’s or higher degree in the specific specialty (8 U.S. Code §1184 (i) (1)).” The Bates College website defines STEM fields as “sciences and math, including biochemistry, neuroscience and environmental science; and biomedical research, including public health.”
Controversy over misuse and fraud of H-1B visas surfaced in 2015 when it was reported Disney was firing American workers and replacing them with H-1B foreign workers (“Pink Slips at Disney. But First, Training Foreign Replacements,” New York Times, June 3, 2015).
Michelle Malkin probes deeper into the subject in her 2015 book “Sold Out,” and describes in shocking detail the extent of the fraud and abuse in the H-1B, as well as other temporary work visa programs.
To make matters worse, there is a bill in the U. S. Senate — the “I-Squared Act of 2015” — that would, among other things, triple the number of H-1B visas granted annually and, most troubling of all, Maine’s U.S. Sen. Angus King is a co-sponsor of the bill, joining Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., among its 13 co-sponsors (www.congress.gov).
I might ask: Who does Sen. King really represent?
Robert Casimiro, Bridgton
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