In January, President Obama said that there was a shortage of engineers in the U.S., or so he had been told. The President also seemed not to know the H-1B visa program does not require employers to seek to hire American workers before bringing in a foreign guest worker. Vice-President Biden has now made it clear that this administration either has no idea how the H-1B program works, or is intent on supplying false information to the American people about the program. Here is an exchange between the Vice-President and an interviewer at an Iowa television station. Emphasis added
Question: Are two many H1B visas given out each year? Are too many highly skilled jobs going to people outside the United States?
Vice-President Biden: No h1b visa can be granted to an employee to come to a company unless they can prove there is no American to fill the job.
This statement is unambiguous and it is absolutely untrue. As FAIR has pointed out, H-1B employers do not have to make any effort to “test” the market to see if there are available American workers. Vice-President Biden is usually portrayed as the White House’s comic relief, but there is nothing remotely funny about this gaffe.