 INVESTIGATIVE REPORT: FOREIGN LABOR
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
SUNDAY, SEPT. 24, 2006
Proponents of the foreign labor system say it is vital to the American economy, but critics and government auditors worry that the program's shortcomings could harm U.S. workers and national security.
Rubber-stamp bureaucracy
The federal system that allows skilled foreigners to work in the United States may be failing to protect Americans from unfair competition and could even pose national security risks.
Some workers never stepped foot in Maine
Many started with companies that used a Maine address to help them pursue green cards.
Dozens of small high-tech staffing companies opened shop in Maine and other rural states in 2004 and 2005, filing immigration papers to get green cards for skilled foreigners that outweighed what local officials felt was actual demand.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 26, 2006
Government auditors refer to the U.S. Department of Labor's role in the H1B visa system as a "rubber stamp" and suggested taking the department out of the process entirely.
GLOSSARY
Body Shop: A nickname for a staff augmentation firm, which provides contract high-tech workers, or "bodies," to companies or government agencies. The body shops serve the dual function of filing for and providing immigration paperwork for employees, and contract workers for clients.
Citizenship and Immigration Services: A unit within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The unit is responsible for the administration of immigration and naturalization adjudication and establishing immigration services policies and priorities.
Government Accountability Office: An independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress to study the programs and expenditures of the federal government. Commonly called the "investigative arm" of Congress or the "congressional watchdog."
Green Card: A permit that allows a foreigner to work indefinitely in the United States.
H1B: A visa for skilled foreign workers, such as computer programmers, college professors, doctors and others, allowing them to work in the United States for three years, with a three-year extension. After six years, H1B visa stays may be extended a year at a time, if the permit-holder has applied for a green card.
Labor Certification Application: Before a company can petition Customs and Immigration Services for a green card for a potential employee, it must file a Labor Certification Application with the U.S. Department of Labor. This process involves several steps, including having the company advertise the open position in local media and ensuring the wage to be paid the foreigner meets at least meets prevailing levels.
Labor Condition Application: Before a company can petition Customs and Immigration Services for an H1B visa for a potential employee, it must file a Labor Condition Application with the U.S. Department of Labor. A certification of the application means the company has attested to the Department of Labor that it will pay the foreign workers a prevailing wage, among other assurances.
Maine Department of Labor: The state agency that administers Maine labor laws and programs.
Prevailing Wage: The average wage paid to similarly employed workers in an occupation in an area.
Staff Augmentation Firm: A temporary staffing agency that specializes in providing high-tech workers to companies or government agencies.
State Work Force Agency: A unit in the Maine Department of Labor that acted as an intake point for federal green card labor certification applications until March 2005.
Unemployment Insurance: Insurance for workers who are unemployed through no fault of their own. Maine Unemployment Insurance is paid by employers based on the amount of wages paid for covered employment.
U.S. Department of Labor: The U.S. agency that administers federal labor laws and programs.
U.S. Department of Labor's Office of the Inspector General: The Inspector General conducts audits and evaluations to review the effectiveness, efficiency, economy and integrity of all of Labor's programs and operations.
Visa: A temporary permit allowing foreigners to work in the United States.
Source: Government Web sites, staff research.
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How We Did It
The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram spent six months investigating the processes for reviewing labor certifications and labor condition applications. Reporter Matt Wickenheiser:
Reviewed hundreds of green card labor certification application files, stored in banker boxes by the state.
Obtained 10 different H1B visa databases from the U.S. Department of Labor and created sortable spreadsheets.
Tracked down phone numbers and tried to contact roughly 150 foreigners who were working in the United States, after employers asked that they be granted visas or green cards through Maine.
Physically visited dozens of addresses in an attempt to verify that companies were still in the state. Tracked down property owners, to find out more about their tenants.
Called dozens of companies, interviewing them for more information on their Maine operations.
Read hundreds of pages of U.S. labor law, government audits and other documents.
Identified and interviewed participants in the system and former managers within it, outside experts familiar with the program, critics, company and industry executives who want to expand the visa and green card programs, and lawmakers.
Matt Wickenheiser, 34, has worked for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram since 2002 and covers business for the newspaper. Wickenheiser has won numerous awards for his work, including two national business-writing awards for his contribution to the base realignment and closure coverage of 2005 and for his series on problems at Maine Biological Laboratories in Winslow
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