110
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by thelucky8@beehaw.org to c/usnews@beehaw.org

Archived link

Tesla has replaced some of its US employees who were let go as part of a big wave of layoffs earlier this year with foreign workers using H-1B visas, which CEO Elon Musk is now campaigning to increase.

Over the last week, Elon Musk has been promoting the increase of H-1B visas, which are used to bring foreign workers into the US for “specialty occupations.”

Qualified foreign workers need to be sponsored by a company to get the visa, which lasts three years, extendable to six years, after which the holder needs to reapply.

The visa holder must maintain employment at the visa sponsor to retain the work visa. The worker would have to leave the country if the employment ends for whatever reason. This has led to some criticism as it gives tremendous power to the employer and can lead to a modern version of indentured servitude.

[...]

[Edit typo.]

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] LukeZaz@beehaw.org 2 points 6 days ago

That's the fault of the employer, not immigrants. Immigrants having jobs is never the issue.

[-] Feyd@programming.dev 1 points 6 days ago

When companies lay off US citizens then turn around and hire foreigners as replacements, the original employees are understandably upset. It's true that it is the company's fault, but it is also true that an H1B visa holder is working a job that should be occupied by a domestic worker.

[-] LukeZaz@beehaw.org 1 points 4 days ago

Someone being fired and replaced by someone else is not inherently wrong, and that doesn't change at all whether they're an immigrant or not. What you seem to be complaining about is the practice of companies doing so specifically so that they can get a cheaper worker who can be abused more, or doing so when the original employee had done nothing wrong; however, phrasing this as "an H1B visa holder is working a job that should be occupied by a domestic worker" is the absolute wrong way to go about it, because this makes it sound as though an immigrant having a job is fundamentally less worthwhile than a citizen having it.

[-] t3rmit3@beehaw.org 1 points 6 days ago

This is a government policy failure, allowing misuse of the H1B program. Be angry at the company and the government, but don't blame the worker who is inherently in a worse position than the domestic worker, both in and out of work, for taking the job.

[-] Feyd@programming.dev 1 points 6 days ago

I never said we should blame the worker.

this post was submitted on 01 Jan 2025
110 points (100.0% liked)

U.S. News

2256 readers
22 users here now

News about and pertaining to the United States and its people.

Please read what's functionally the mission statement before posting for the first time. We have a narrower definition of news than you might be accustomed to.


Guidelines for submissions:

For World News, see the News community.


This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS