Here is another "what the heck is going on here?" moment:
DHS has announced (without much media attention) that looks really really bad once you peel back the onion a bit.
"
DHS proposes changes related to on-the-job training program for STEM students."
The details, however, are that the Federal government is giving what amounts to a
bonus to American firms who hire aliens over US citizens.
David North said:
The so-called Optional Practical Training (OPT) program currently gives all recent alien college graduates a one-year-long, after-graduation work permit. If the alien student has majored in any of the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math), as many of them do, he or she gets an additional 17 months of permitted work. During these periods U.S. employers are given a substantial bonus for hiring an alien college grad rather than an American college grad with the same skills and the same salary; I figure it can be above $10,000 in many cases involving STEM workers.
I can see allowing aliens to compete with US citizens inside the US, if US companies cannot find enough US candidates to fill US jobs, but
to give firms and aliens a tax advantage over US citizens inside the US is nothing short of crazy.
This is another one of those instances in which I wish the United States had an American interests section with that government in Washington. Maybe we can get the new Cuban Embassy to represent American interests in Washington. It would be nice if
somebody represented the interests of the United States there.
