International UCLA students are worried they may not be able to find jobs in the U.S. when they graduate, after President Donald Trump announced a review of the H-1B visa program last week.
Trump signed an executive order on April 18 which directed federal agencies to review employment immigration laws, including the H-1B visa program. International students primarily depend on the program to work in the U.S. after graduation.
The “Buy American and Hire American” order directs the Departments of Labor, Justice, Homeland Security and State to help ensure the visas are awarded to the most skilled, best-paid immigrant workers. The order also calls for a crackdown on fraud and abuse in the current system of work visas.
International students who wish to stay in the U.S. typically apply for Optional Practical Training for an extra three months to stay in the country after their graduation to look for employment opportunities. If they are hired, many apply for an H-1B visa to continue their stay.
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services received 199,000 H-1B petitions for fiscal year 2018. On April 11, USCIS used a lottery to distribute 65,000 regular visas and 20,000 additional visas for workers with advanced degrees.
Leaders from 16 cultural groups formed the International Student Leadership Coalition in March to collaborate on issues that affect all international students, including issues with employment visas.
Jack Guo, the coalition’s organizational chair and a fourth-year computational and systems biology student, said the committee has reached out to international student-friendly companies for career opportunities.
However, Guo said he is concerned that the changes proposed by the Trump administration would hurt new college graduates, especially those who studied in humanities and social science.
“Among international students, computer science (students) definitely have an advantage in looking for jobs, while a lot of international students studying humanities have to go home as soon as their OPT expire,” Guo said.
Guo said because most entry-level jobs are low-paying, he thinks a visa system that favors the highest-paid workers would make it harder for non-science, technology, engineering and math international students to stay in the U.S.
He added he thinks international students should be more active in using the resources the school offers.
“A lot of international students are not aware of the resources available to them, such as the Career Center and BruinView,” Guo said. “Some international students start applying for jobs very late, or even miss the deadline for OPT and have to go home immediately after they graduate.”
Wilson Ye, a second-year statistics student from China, said he thinks Trump is targeting outsourcing companies, which are unfair to both American workers and international students.
“On the other hand, his anti-immigration comments during the campaign make people generally nervous,” Ye said. “It is still unsure what approach he will take on highly skilled immigrants, including students graduated from UCLA.”
Ye also said he thinks Trump’s executive order is not targeting international students because he said he wanted to bring in workers with unique skills. He added both Congress and technology companies in Silicon Valley have expressed support for highly skilled foreign workers.
Some students said they think the review could benefit graduates.
Kopal Seth, a third-year economics and psychology student from India, said she is cautiously optimistic about the review directed by the executive order.
“The lottery aspect of the H-1B visas makes it very risky for firms to invest in hiring and training international students, which is the biggest deterrent to international students getting internships and jobs,” Seth said. “It is refreshing to see Trump acknowledge that this is something that needs to be reviewed and possibly changed.”
Indian workers received nearly 70 percent of H-1B visas issued in fiscal year 2015, and the president has aimed at information technology outsourcing companies, who typically hire from India.
Seth added she thinks this change will potentially have some effect on her personally if the administration implements more difficult measures, such as a cap on the number of applicants from India who can get the visa authorization.
FACT: USC promotes the benefits of hiring foreign workers over U.S. workers
One would think that after spending $100,000 at USC that the school would aggressively try to find work for its U.S. citizen graduates. But the opposite is occurring USC advocates hiring International students over Americans because it’s cheaper to hire foreign workers! USC was running the following on their website – (until I emailed ois@usc.edu objecting to it on 8/14/2009.)
QUOTES FROM PRIOR USC WEBSITE FAQ:
“American employers are not required to document that a citizen of another country did not take a job from a qualified American if that person is working under a F-1, J-1 or H-1B visa.”
“A company may save money by hiring international students because the majority of them are exempt from Social Security (FICA) and Medicare tax requirements.”
http://www.programmersguild.org/what-employers-should-know-about-hiring-international-students/
Your article ignores that OPT have “zero experience.” There is no shortage of workers with no experience. The OPT are displacing new American grads from getting their first entry-level job. And Congress provides and unfair incentive, exempting employers from 8% FICA tax when OPT is hired rather than a qualified American. It should be the opposite: Employers should pay an additional fee when they chose to hire OPT rather than one of the American graduates. Even in Computer Science, good employers such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft … get far more resumes from American new grads than they can even manage. OPT should only be hired after the employer was unable to find a suitable American.
Sadly, Trump’s contentious issue is yet one more thing that makes being an international student difficult, on top of our already complex culture and language. Assimilation assistance must come from numerous sources to aid these young people embarking on their life’s journey. Most struggle in their efforts and need guidance from schools’ international departments, immigration protection, host families, concerned neighbors and fellow students, and even informative books to extend a cultural helping hand so we all have a win-win situation.
An award-winning worldwide book/ebook that reaches out to help anyone coming to the US is “What Foreigners Need To Know About America From A To Z: How to Understand Crazy American Culture, People, Government, Business, Language and More.” It is used in foreign Fulbright student programs and endorsed worldwide by ambassadors, educators, and editors. It also identifies “foreigners” who became successful in the US and how they’ve contributed to our society, including students.
A chapter on education explains how to be accepted to an American university and cope with a confusing new culture, friendship process and daunting classroom differences. Some stay after graduation. It has chapters that explain how US businesses operate and how to get a job (which differs from most countries), a must for those who want to work with/for an American firm here or overseas.
It also has chapters that identify the most common English grammar and speech problems foreigners have and tips for easily overcoming them, the number one stumbling block they say they have to succeeding here.
Good luck to all at UCLA or wherever you study or wherever you come from, because that is the TRUE spirit of the American PEOPLE, not a few in government who have the loudest voice!