<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER  No. 1946 -- 12/22/2008 >>>>>

Most of what the Indian writer Harish Baliga wrote for IndiaDaily is right
on the mark. He describes the exploitation that occurs in the Optional
Practical Training (OPT) program and compares it to slavery. There is one
thing he wrote that is rather strange:

   If you are a US Citizen, grown up, and hold a job, they hate you.
   They know their cat will be out of the bag and you can challenge
   them. They will do everything to stop you from getting a
   matriculated status. Government in United States does little to
   stop this abuse.

Baliga greatly exaggerates our ability to prevent foreign workers from
obtaining green cards, as evidenced by the recent extension of the OPT
authorization period and the constant attempts by Congress to raise the
caps on H-1B and green card visas. No doubts about it, there are many US
citizens like myself that would stop foreign graduates from obtaining green
cards if we could. In fact, given the choice we would also abolish OPTs so
that foreign students would no longer be able to take jobs that our own
college kids need to survive.

Baliga's other mistake is to overemphasize the role of hate as the motive
to stop the foreign labor importation programs. We are the most welcoming
nation in the world when it comes to immigration so it's quite obvious that
hate isn't a major factor in the rising opposition to foreign labor
importation. Americans are acting in their own self interest to protect
middle class lifestyles and to guarantee some type of future for their
offspring. If there is hate involved in this great nation of ours it's
coming from the corporatocrats and educrats who consider students and wage
earners as mere units of labor.

The two minor errors in Baliga's article are probably mostly Indian street
mythology. The rest of his article is definitely worth reading. 

NOTE: Baliga never mentioned what the foreign students are using to work in
the USA, but by his description I'm assuming it's mostly students on F-1
visas with OPTs. There may also be some H-1Bs since they are used quite
often by postdocs.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/20341.asp

The biggest slave trading and labor law abuse happen in the American
Universities -- alien teaching and research assistants work twenty hours a
day for almost no pay
Harish Baliga
Dec. 20, 2008

Slavery never left America. It actually intensified under the rug. Lift the
rug and you can see the American Universities. In the schools of
engineering and science you can see those Chinese, Indian, and East
European faces, some struggling with their English but all working twenty
hours a day with little pay. Professors receive research grants from
American Government Agencies including Department of Defense. These
Agencies seldom check the labor law abuse by the schools, colleges, and
universities.

When Research Assistant (RA) or a Teaching Assistant (TA) is hired, he or
she is supposed to work for twenty hours a week and study nine credits of
graduate level courses per semester. Most of these aliens are made to work
far more than twenty hours (sometime as much as sixty hours) and paid far
less than minimum wages. It is a violation of labor laws, violation of
moral ethics and above all a form of slavery allowed by the American
Universities in the name of education and research.

The foreign students are eager to come to US and receive a Masters or Ph.D
Degree from a US University. The immigration laws are skewed in such a way
that after receiving Ph.D in Engineering or Science, it is very easy to
obtain an employment based green card or permanent residency in the United
States. The students know that and the Professors know that. Professors
say, go through the hell of five years to obtain your ‘Nirvana.’ So
getting treated as slave for five years gets you a green card and a Ph.D.
Grades are manipulated so that the transcripts of these modern days slaves
look good. You try to protest, your grade goes down the hill, and your
American dream comes to an end.

What is really interesting is that some professors even tell their Research
or Teaching Assistants that they are officially supposed to work twenty
hours a day but must work far more to make these professors look good.

These departments specially engineering schools are also hotspots for
ethnic discrimination. Iranian professors favor Iranians. Chinese prefers
Chinese. Indian favor Indians. American professors do not have much scope
to favor anyone. They use all. The Director of Graduate Studies is a very
powerful position within the department. He or she determines the
availability of funds for these TAs or GAs. You are gagged by these
individuals keeping the alien students on their toe.

If you are a US Citizen, grown up, and hold a job, they hate you. They know
their cat will be out of the bag and you can challenge them. They will do
everything to stop you from getting a matriculated status. Government in
United States does little to stop this abuse.

We all focus on illegal immigration, H1B visas, and so on. In reality, the
real labor abuse and slave trading is in the Engineering and Science
departments of American Universities. It is time for real change. Will
Obama do something? Well that is a separate matter!


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