Federal Judge Calls BS On Homeland Security's 2008 STEM 'Emergency'

theodp writes: In 2008, the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security enacted 'emergency' changes to Optional Practical Training (OPT) to extend the amount of time foreign STEM graduates of US colleges could stay in the country and work ("to alleviate the crisis employers are facing due to the current H-1B visa shortage", as Bill Gates explained it in 2007). More than seven years later, U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Huvelle has found that the government erred by not seeking public comment when it extended the program, and issued a ruling that could force tens of thousands of foreign workers on OPT STEM extensions to return to their home countries early next year. Huvelle has given the government six months to submit the OPT extension rule for proper notice and comment lest it be revoked. From the ruling (pdf): "By failing to engage in notice-and-comment rulemaking, the record is largely one-sided, with input only from technology companies that stand to benefit from additional F-1 student employees, who are exempted from various wage taxes. Indeed, the 17-month duration of the STEM extension appears to have been adopted directly from the unanimous suggestions by Microsoft and similar industry groups." Microsoft declared a new crisis in 2012, this time designed to link tech's need for H-1B visas to U.S. children's lack of CS savvy.

Comments

Re:STEM OPT extension was really bad

[drinkypoo]

But that doesn't accurately depict the situation that existed in *TECH*. Yes, unemployment and underemployment among construction workers was high. But at the time, tech workers had an unemployment rate under 5% (and in 2008 unemployment overall was only 8%).

Both of those numbers are bullshit. First, they are both total bullshit, second, the first number is also partial bullshit. Not only are these numbers essentially made up (especially the overall unemployment number, which is based on the number of people eligible to collect unemployment benefits, so it's complete horseshit, only total fucking idiots or the completely disingenuous pushing an agenda cite it) but a lot of tech workers went into other work, work which may or may not actually serve their financial needs but which is better than no work at all.

I'm actually more worried about the shadow economy. In the shadow economy, workers move from Mexico (or wherever) to the US to perform jobs. Most of those jobs are in fact the kind that construction workers could otherwise do. We should have been doing more to connect construction workers with jobs that would otherwise be filled by illegal immigrants.

You really have no clue, do you? Those jobs are jobs which should not even exist. We have multiple homes sitting vacant for every homeless person in America. Not family, but person. There is no need whatsoever to build more homes. And the illegal mexicans are very much on the home-building jobs, and not the skyscraper-building jobs which would still go on even if we actualy put people in all those vacant homes.

The average construction worker should be out of work. That's predominantly bullshit broken-window make-work.