Washington, May 15
Infosys, Wipro and TCS are among nine Indian firms that have been asked to disclose details about their workforce by two US lawmakers, who feel that the H-1B visa programme is being abused by foreign companies to displace qualified American workers.
As the US Senate gets ready to take up the comprehensive immigration reform legislation, top lawmakers, Republican Senator Charles Grassley and Democratic Senator Richard Durbin, said: "More and more it appears that companies are using H-1B visas to displace qualified, American workers."
"As we move closer to the debate on an immigration Bill, I continue to hear how people want to increase the number of H-1B visas that are available to companies. Considering the high amount of fraud and abuse in the visa programme, we need to take a good, hard look at the employers who are using H-1B visas and how they are using them," Grassley said in a statement.
"Supporters claim the goal of the H-1B programme is to help the American economy by allowing companies to hire needed foreign workers. The reality is that too many H-1B visas are being used to facilitate the outsourcing of American jobs to other countries," Durbin said.
The two have written letters to the firms to determine if the programme is being used for its intended purpose, which is to fill a worker shortage for a temporary time period.
Besides Infosys, Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services, the senators sent letters to Patni Computer Systems, I-Flex Solutions Inc., Satyam Computer, Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd., Tech Mahindra Americas Inc. and Mphasis Corp.
"We have to look at the system that generates these visas and the way they are used. This legislation will help protect American workers first by stopping H-1Bs from being exploited and used as outsourcing visas," Durbin said.
In New Delhi, India's IT industry body Nasscom said it does not see the H1B visa issue as one related to immigration, but as something concerned with international trade.
It urged that "work permits and intra company transfers should not be inter-mingled and confused with immigration.
— PTI
