The current economic conditions are as follows:

North Carolina unemployment has reached the highest level on record.

IBM layoffs begin.

...IBM has been among the tech sector standouts, garnering profits of $4.4 billion in its fourth-quarter earnings announced in January, an increase of 12 percent over the same period a year before—which some claim was earned on the backs of laid-off workers and offshored jobs.

American worker replacement that has been ongoing for 20 years. Let's have a look at the figures from the State Department website today.

Visas that are used to place workers from abroad in professional positions include: H-1B, H-1B1, TN, E-3, L-1, and J-1.

Total visas issued in these categories from years 1989 through 2008: 7,053,656.

This means that, if the visas were used to push Americans out of the job market in the STEM fields, the way they are commonly being used today, then up to 7 million US workers have already been forced to leave their professions since 1989 and take other jobs.

Immigration Classifications and Visa Categories



Class of Nonimmigrant Description E-3 Australian professional in specialty occupation H-1B Temporary worker of distinguished merit and ability H-1B1 Free Trade Agreement worker (Chile/Singapore) J-1 Exchange visitor L-1 Intracompany transferee (executive, managerial, and specialized personnel continuing employment with international firm or corporation) TN NAFTA professional H-1A Temporary worker performing services as a registered nurse

Here's the cumulative effect of all the visa programs. These are the visas issued for the categories that could be used to replace American workers who are in STEM positions.

State Department figures for the total visas issued 1989 - 2008.



Year E-3 H-1B H-1B1 L-1 J-1 TN Total 1989 - - - 13,648 139,354 - 153,002 1990 - 794 - 14,342 146,549 - 161,685 1991 - 51,882 - 16,109 143,649 - 211,640 1992 - 44,290 - 17,345 145,020 - 206,655 1993 - 35,818 - 20,369 151,281 - 207,468 1994 - 42,843 - 22,666 166,639 4 232,152 1995 - 51,832 - 29,088 171,445 34 252,399 1996 - 58,327 - 32,098 171,164 115 261,704 1997 - 80,547 - 36,589 179,598 171 296,905 1998 - 91,360 - 38,307 192,451 295 322,413 1999 - 116,513 - 41,739 211,349 484 370,085 2000 - 133,290 - 54,963 236,837 906 425,996 2001 - 161,643 - 59,384 261,769 787 483,583 2002 - 118,352 - 57,721 253,841 699 430,613 2003 - 107,196 - 57,245 253,866 423 418,730 2004 - 138,965 72 62,700 254,504 908 457,149 2005 4 124,099 275 65,458 275,161 1,902 466,899 2006 1,918 135,421 440 72,613 309,951 2,972 523,315 2007 2,572 154,053 639 84,532 343,946 4,091 589,833 2008* 2,961 129,464 719 84,078 359,447 4,761 581,430 total 7,455 1,776,689 2,145 880,994 4,367,821 18,552 7,053,656 *FY2008 data should be considered preliminary and subject to some slight change. Should any changes by required they would not be significant.

Cap Count for H-1B and H-2B Workers for Fiscal Year 2009

H-1B The H-1B visa program is used by some U.S.employers to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in a specialized field and a bachelor's degree or its equivalent. Typical H-1B occupations include architects, engineers, computer programmers, accountants, doctors and college professors. The H-1B visa program also includes certain fashion models of distinguished merit and ability and up to 100 persons who will performing services of an exceptional nature in connection with Department of Defense (DOD) research and development projects or coproduction projects. The current annual cap on the H-1B category is 65,000. Not all H-1B nonimmigrants are subject to this annual cap.

The actual number of H-1B visas issued each year is more than double the official cap of 65,000.

H-1B Employer Exemptions H-1B nonimmigrants who are employed, or who have received an offer of employment, by institutions of higher education or a related or affiliated nonprofit entity, as well as those employed, or who will be employed, by a nonprofit research organization or a governmental research organization are exempt from the cap.

H-1B Advanced Degree Exemption

The H-1B Visa Reform Act of 2004 makes available 20,000 new H-1B visas for foreign workers with a Master's or higher level degree from a U.S. academic institution. For each fiscal year, 20,000 persons who hold such credentials are statutorily exempted from the cap.

H-1B1

6,800 visas are set aside during the fiscal year for the H-1B1 program under the terms of the legislation implementing the U.S.-Chile and U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreements. Unused numbers in this pool can be made available for H-1B use with start dates beginning on October 1, 2008, the start of FY 2009. USCIS has added 5,800, the projected number of unused H-1B1 Chile/Singapore visas to the FY 2009 H-1B cap. An H-1B1 is a national of Chile or Singapore coming to the Unites States to work temporarily in a specialty occupation. The law defines an H-1B1 specialty occupation as a position that requires theoretical and practical application of a body of specialized knowledge. The beneficiary must have a bachelor's degree or higher (or equivalent) in the specific specialty. The combined statutory limit is 6,800 per year. 1,400 visas are set aside annually for nationals of Chile, and 5,400 for nationals of Singapore.

Exchange Visitor (J) Visas

Overview - About the Exchange Visitor Program The Exchange Visitor Program is carried out under the provisions of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961, as amended. The purpose of the Act is to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries by means of educational and cultural exchanges. International educational and cultural exchanges are one of the most effective means of developing lasting and meaningful relationships. They provide an extremely valuable opportunity to experience the United States and our way of life. Foreign nationals come to the United States to participate in a wide variety of educational and cultural exchange programs. The Exchange Visitor Program is administered by the Office of Exchange Coordination and Designation in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Visit the Exchange Visitor Program to learn more about program eligibility requirements, regulations and much more. At the conclusion of their program, Exchange Visitor program participants are expected to return to the home countries to utilize the experience and skills they have acquired while in the United States. Learn more about exchange related programs and opportunities. In carrying out the responsibilities of the Exchange Visitor Program, the Department designates public and private entities to act as exchange sponsors. Designated sponsoring organizations facilitate the entry of foreign nationals into the United States as exchange visitors to complete the objectives of one of the exchange visitor program categories, which are: * Au pair

* Camp Counselor

* Student, college/university

* Student, secondary

* Government Visitor

* International Visitor (reserved for U.S. Department of State use)

* Alien physician

* Professor

* Research Scholar

* Short-term Scholar

* Specialist

* Summer work/travel

* Teacher

* Trainee

US workers have virtually no right to work in the US at all, according to current labor practices. It has been widely acknowledged that there is no need for additional skills in the US. It is also widely acknowledged by all interested parties that the visas are in use primarily to fill rank and file positions that could easily be performed by local US workers.

EEO is a right that is guaranteed for all Americans. Our rights are being violated by the same CEOs who prefer to destroy the careers of Americans so that they can justify paying themselves higher bonuses each year.

Can Kossacks help lobby Congress to pass laws to change this travesty before the STEM fields are completely lost as viable career paths for US citizens and green card holders?