From: nestor+@cs.cmu.edu (Nestor F Michelena) Newsgroups: alt.visa.us Subject: Foreign hiring exemption to be killed Message-ID: Date: 25 Jun 93 13:56:41 GMT The following appeared in misc.jobs.contract. Take a look at the last 2 paragraphs. Nestor ******** "Reich seeks to kill foreign hiring exemptions" By LM. Sixel New York Times News Service HOUSTON -- The secretary of labor has asked a congressional committee to kill a controversial new program allowing employers to hire foreigners for some jobs without first trying to recruit U.S. workers. Labor Secretary, Robert Reich has asked the House judiciary Committee to nullify part of a 1990 law making it easier for employers to hire foreign workers in areas where the Labor Depart- ment says there are shortages. A Labor Department proposal allows broad exemptions from foreign hiring rules for selected scientific, engineering, medical, teaching and cooking jobs. Without this exemption, employers would have to seek qualified U.S. applicants for the jobs first. The move came after a barrage of criticism from professional groups and intense lobbying by lawmakers on Capitol Hill. "Since that act became law, the nation's economy has changed," according to Reich's letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman Jack Brooks, D-Beaumont. "Unemployment has incrased, including in the highly technical fields, as a result of such things as the restructuring of some major U.S. corporations and defense reductions," the letter said. The May 14 letter, obtained this week by the Houston Chronicle, also said, "It has become readily apparent that such a project may adversely affect U.S. workers employed or seeking employment in highly skilled occupations.' Despite Reich's request, the Labor Department must move forward to put the pilot program into place, according to a department source. ----->>>>>>>> Congress must change the 1990 law to kill the test. <<<<<<----- Reich's recommendation was cheered by trade associations, state employment security agencies, unemployed workers and lawmakers. "Sometimes you think you're out there and no one is listening," said J.A. Falcon, president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, which had launched a lobbying campaign to kill the program. Part of the Immigration Act of 1990 requires the Labor Department to devise a list of shortage and surplus occupations. It was designed to simplify the immigration process for employers hut to protect the U.S. job market. In March, the Labor Department unveiled a list of occupations in short supply in 23 states. Trade associations and unemployed workers cried foul, deluging the Labor Department with more than 500 comments, most of them critical. The Labor Department is also studying whether the foreign labor certification process for highly skilled, professional foreigners is protecting U.S. workers, said Meagher, Reich's spokeswoman. The department has reportedly been stung by recent criticism shout the program. The Houston Chronicle recently analyzed three years of Texas employer requests to hire foreigners and found that the Labor Department agreed 99 percent of the time with employers that there are no qualified U,S. workers available. Meagher said Reich didn't change his mind about the pilot program. He's disturbed by the labor certification process because of the nation's lagging economy, she said. From: rskhanna@access.digex.net (Rajiv S. Khanna) Newsgroups: alt.visa.us Subject: Re: Whatever happened to the CS/DoL proposal (quoted)? Keywords: LMI programme Message-ID: <22jlac$l42@access.digex.net> Date: 21 Jul 93 14:54:04 GMT In article <22jg2l$aov@bigboote.WPI.EDU> rberi@wpi.WPI.EDU (Rajesh Beri) writes: >Chemical & Engineering News, July 12, 1993 issue reports on pg. 18, > > The Senate has passed S. 1197, a bill that would make > the Dept. of Labor's pilot program designed to streamline > immigration procedures for foreign scientists, among others, > discretionary rather than mandatory. The House must still > act on the legislation. > >Wonder if someone could explain the legal mumbo-jumbo !!! A bill, in order to become law, must be passed by both houses of congress and signed by the president. The above release shows that Senate has passed the bill. The Labor Market Information (LMI) program was mandatory. Department of Labor had no choice but to create that program. Under the new bill, DOL would have discretion whether or not to create LMI program. Bottom line - forget LMI, go on with your lives people. -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- LAW OFFICES OF RAJIV S. KHANNA Voice: (202) 466-2113 1129 20th Street, NW, Suite 400 Email: rskhanna@access.digex.net Washington, DC 20036-3403 rajiv.khanna@permanet.org From: rskhanna@seas.gwu.edu (Rajiv Khanna) Newsgroups: soc.culture.asian.american,alt.visa.us Subject: *****Visa Program for Computer Professionals***** Message-ID: <1993May12.122028.25525@seas.gwu.edu> Date: 12 May 93 12:20:28 GMT U.S. Department of Labor proposes to classify the following jobs as "precertified" (requiring no labor certification) under its Labor Market Information Program ("LMI"): OCCUPATIONAL FIELD ****************** Computer Science GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS ****************** AL, AZ, GA IL, MI, MO TX PRECERTIFIED OCCUPATIONS ************************ Computer Systems Analyst; Software Engineer; and Faculty Member of College or University. QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS ************************** Applicants must possess Masters plus 2 years recent experience or PhD. ****************************************************** The LMI program is merely a pilot program and will expire on 30 From: jturley@netcom.com (Jim Turley) Newsgroups: alt.visa.us Subject: [Info] U.S. Dept. of Labor Publishes Trial Shortage Occupation List Message-ID: Date: 12 May 93 21:10:22 GMT PLEASE SEND EMAIL REPLIES TO: xiong@bsu-cs.bsu.edu [ Article crossposted from soc.culture.china ] [ Author was Bo Xiong ] [ Posted on Sat, 1 May 1993 17:43:24 GMT ] The following is carried in April 30's CND-US: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Dept. of Labor Publishes Trial Shortage Occupation List for Aliens ... 32 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Electronic Engineering Times (Weekly), 04/26/93 Excerpted by Bo Xiong WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced an one year Labor Market Information (LMI) pilot program, that would streamline the labor-certification process for alien professionals seeking employment and applying for employment-based immigration in 10 DOL-designated "shortage occupations". The LMI pilot program is based on the Immigration Act of 1990. Under the LMI, immigrant applicants for a U.S. job on the shortage list would not have to go through the customary lengthy labor certificate procedure, which requires an employer to ensure the DOL that the alien is being hired for a position that cannot be filled by a qualified American. An employer would file an application with the Immigration and Naturalization Service and cite the immigrant applicant's qualifications and occupational category specified in the LMI pilot program (i.e., no labor certificate for the applicant is necessary). The approval process would be sped up for alien professionals applying for employment-based immigration in the DOL- designated shortage categories. The following is the list that was published by DOL in the Federal Register on March 19, 1993: Labor's Shortage Occupations ---------------------------- Occupation Geographical Area (State) ---------- ------------------------- Biological Science Calif., Conn., Ill., Kan., Mass., Mich., Md., Mo., Neb., N.J., N.Y., Ohio, Pa., Tenn., Texas, Wash. Chemistry Calif., Mass., Mo., N.J., N.Y., Texas Chemical Engineering Ill., Mass., Texas Computer Science Ala., Ariz., Ga., Ill., Mich., Mo., Texas (Software Engineer & System Analyst) Cook, specialty Nation-wide (Chinese, Japanese Food) Materials Engineering Calif., Mich., Ohio, Pa. Mechanical Engineering Ariz., Texas Medical Technology Nation-wide Physician, primary Nation-wide medical care Teacher, special Nation-wide education +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Editor of This Issue: Sifeng Ma Coordinating Editor: Bo Xiong | +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | China News Digest (CND) offers the following services: | | (1) Global News (daily) (2) US Regional News | | (3) Canada Regional News (4) Europe & Pacific Regional News | | (5) Hua Xia Wen Zhai (a weekly Chinese magazine) | | (6) several information packages. | | To subscribe or get help, mail to: cnd-help@library.uta.edu | +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From: cwong@cs.cornell.edu (Christopher Yoong-Meng Wong) Newsgroups: alt.visa.us Subject: Whatever happened to the CS/DoL proposal (quoted)? Message-ID: <1993Jul21.022323.26864@cs.cornell.edu> Date: 21 Jul 93 02:23:23 GMT Whatever happened to the proposal by the Department of Labor to alleviate the shortage of computer scientists in certain states? The following article was posted a while back; is it still a "proposal" (as opposed to implemented reality)? Chris [ Article crossposted from misc.jobs.contract ] [ Author was Jim Turley ] [ Posted on Sat, 10 Apr 1993 23:40:17 GMT ] This might be of interest to this group. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR DECLARES SHORTAGE OF COMPUTER SCIENTISTS The Department of Labor is proposing to specify that a labor shortage exists in the computer sciences classification in the states of Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, and Texas. Nine other occupational classifications in various states are also included. The proposed rules will enable aliens to immigrate permanently for jobs in the specified classifications in the specified areas WITHOUT proving that able, willing, and qualified workers are unavailable and WITHOUT proving that employment of the aliens will not affect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers similarly employed. Application for such immigration is in conjunction with a sponsoring employer. The applications are part of a pilot project which is scheduled to terminate (if not extended) on 9/30/94. For the computer sciences the occupations allowable include ONLY Computer Systems Analyst (030.167-014), Computer Software Engineer (030.062-010), and Faculty Member, College or University (030.227-010). The alien must have a Masters degree and two years of recent experience in the occupation, or a Ph.D. degree. Comments on these proposed rules (and the existence of the labor shortages covered) is due by 4/19/93 and may be sent to: Carolyn M. Golding Acting Assistant Secretary Employment and Training Administration Department of Labor 200 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20210 Comments including references to specific data will be the most effective and should include source information on the data provided. PLEASE NOTE THE APRIL 19 DEADLINE. Further information is available from 202-219-5263 (U.S. Employment Service, Division of Foreign Labor Certifications). This information is primarily extracted from the Federal Register Volume 58, #52, Friday 3/19/93, p. 15242-15250 and is augmented with background information from a phone conversation with the agency. Distribution: To: Carl W. Brown > [71250,1322] [ Article crossposted from soc.culture.asian.american,alt.visa.us ] [ Author was Rajiv Khanna (rskhanna@seas.gwu.edu) ] [ Posted on Wed, 12 May 1993 12:20:28 GMT ] ******************************************************************************* LAW OFFICES OF RAJIV S. KHANNA || rajiv.khanna@p2222.f349.n109.z1.fidonet.org 1129 20th Street, N.W., Suite 400|| rskhanna@seas.gwu.edu Washington, D.C. 20036-3403 || Ph.(202) 466-2113 || ******************************************************************************* U.S. Department of Labor proposes to classify the following jobs as "precertified" (requiring no labor certification) under its Labor Market Information Program ("LMI"): OCCUPATIONAL FIELD ****************** Computer Science GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS ****************** AL, AZ, GA IL, MI, MO TX PRECERTIFIED OCCUPATIONS ************************ Computer Systems Analyst; Software Engineer; and Faculty Member of College or University. QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS ************************** Applicants must possess Masters plus 2 years recent experience or PhD. ****************************************************** The LMI program is merely a pilot program and will expire on 30