Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Yes, immigration fuels the economy. I love it when skilled persons enter the US. The current situation, however, isn’t so lovely.

The H-1B visa battle continues.

Let’s step back to my naive childhood. America wants skilled persons to come here and improve much of this nation in many ways. We grant entrance to the skilled and productive. We discourage those who take, but don’t give.

Enough childhood naivete. Let’s move into adulthood and our current situation, which is obfuscated by content-free screams from the many political factions.

Companies are bringing in talent from abroad (good), but paying them half salaries (bad). There is a shortage of skilled talent that works for half wages. There has always been a shortage of skilled talent that works for half wages.

Some persons are happy to live in America at what most Americans consider a low standard of living. I understand that as I have lived most of my adult life at a standard of living that is below my income.

The trouble with these half salaries is that skilled Americans are unemployed. Free markets? Sure. Servitude? I think we outlawed that a while back.

Much of the tech talent being imported into America today is a post-post-post modern version of tenant farming. We’ll bring you to America—a country club by the standard of most of the world—and you’ll work for us for five years or so at half pay. That half pay is how you pay us back for plane tickets and graft. Okay?

This is becoming ugly.