Tom Tancredo: “We have to ask ourselves, are there adequate worker protections in the H-1B visa program? All right. The present program…”

“We have to ask ourselves, are there adequate worker protections in the H-1B visa program? All right. The present program pays lip service to worker protection, but in reality an independent study by the Department of Labor's own Inspector General has shown that these protections are a sham. The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers believes that so-called safeguards to prevent employers from laying off workers and hiring H-1B employees are ineffective and limited to the employers' actions over a 90-day period prior to the hiring of H-1Bs. This 90-day rule is easily evaded and must be expanded to 6 months if the program is retained. Also, H-1B workers who are laid off must be required to return to their country of origin within 60-days. A General Accounting Office report found that the training funds appropriated and aimed at helping displaced U.S. workers are misused and benefit comparatively few U.S. workers. Lastly, are the qualifications and experiences of H-1B visa workers frequently fraudulent? That is a great question. Accusations that H-1B visa applicants often falsify their educational background and experience were verified by the State Department's Inspector General. Documents are frequently and routinely falsified. A yearlong study of the H-1B visa application from the American Consulate in India found that 45 percent of the work experience claims were fraudulent.”