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TOPIC ALERTS

H-1B Visa Program Cap (12 responses)
Banning Handguns (10 responses)

H-1B VISA PROGRAM CAP

Following are experts on immigration, labor and economics who can discuss how the limited number of H-1B visas is affecting the U.S. job market and economy:

1. ROBERT F. LOUGHRAN, managing shareholder at TINDALL & FOSTER, PC, is a national H-1B liaison between the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the Vermont Service Center, the federal office for filing most H-1B Specialty Occupation applications: "Generally, the U.S. economy needs 160,000 to 170,000 skilled foreign workers at times of modest growth; that number jumps to about 200,000 in booming times. During the tech bust of 2002-03, there were still 130,000 H-1B applications. In today's marketplace, leading companies are built by attracting top-notch talent from across the globe; this is especially true in technology, design work, programming, engineering and higher education. The H-1B visa cap was set by 1990 legislation, before the shift to an information-based economy and the longest period of 'full' employment. Elected officials have hesitated to address the quota system; technical U.S. jobs have moved offshore and corresponding well-paying support positions have been lost, perhaps indefinitely. The existing system of skilled visa designations is complicated and difficult to retool; the only readily available solution to keep domestic jobs is to raise the H-1B cap." News Contact: Mike Barone, Mike@AnthonyBarnum.com Phone: +1-713-589-9043 (3/26/08)

2. ANGELO PAPARELLI is an attorney with PAPARELLI & PARTNERS LLP (Irvine, Calif./New York) and president of the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers. His firm is dedicated to the practice of all areas of U.S. immigration law, with an emphasis on business-related and employment-based immigration law. Paparelli can provide insight on the H-1B visa cap. Following is recent commentary he submitted to Forbes.com (which is also available at the second link listed below): "Shame on Congress. Shame on the Bush administration. With the economy in freefall, our leaders are blind to the simple fix that would quickly create jobs and inject financial vitality into every region of the nation: jobs-based immigration reforms. As S&P 500 companies try to fill 140,000 job openings and U.S.-based technology firms are short an average of 470 workers each, American businesses -- large and small - - scamper to prepare professional-worker petitions for submission by April 1 to a helmless department of U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services. The result? What will likely be a once-yearly H-1B visa lottery for jobs that cannot be filled until Oct. 1. By that point, those spots will have sat empty for six months." Paparelli also writes a public policy blog, NationOfImmigrators.com, about our dysfunctional immigration system. News Contact: Kate Casey, kate@katecasey.com Phone: +1-949-723-0520 Web sites: http://www.entertheusa.com/ and http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2008/03/19/visa- talent-reform-competition-oped-cx_apa_0320immigration.html (3/26/08)

3. RON HIRA, Ph.D., P.E., assistant professor of public policy at ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: "The H-1B guest worker program has been thoroughly corrupted. Rather than providing firms with workers who posses unique skills, the program is dominated by low-wage workers with ordinary rank-and-file skills. And rather than preventing work from going overseas, the program is speeding it up. Policymakers are giving offshore outsourcing firms a competitive advantage over firms that hire American workers. This is so obvious to everyone in the industry that the Indian commerce minister has dubbed the H-1B the 'outsourcing visa.' The run on the H-1B cap has nothing to do with the purported shortage of U.S. workers. Instead, it is driven by the rise of the offshore outsourcing industry, which gobbles up a large share of the H-1Bs, as well as firms seeking lower-cost foreign guest workers. Raising the H-1B cap will simply result in shipping more high-wage high technology jobs overseas and undercut American workers. The correct solution is to fix the massive loopholes in the H-1B and L-1 visa programs. Bipartisan legislation introduced by Senators Durbin and Grassley, S. 1035, would accomplish this." Hira is the co-author of "Outsourcing America" (the second edition is due out in April; see the link listed below) and has testified before Congress twice on this topic. News Contact: Susan Gawlowicz, smguns@rit.edu Phone: +1-585-475-5061 Web site: http://www.amanet.org/books/catalog/0814408680.htm (3/26/08)

4. JULIE WADE, immigration attorney at GARDERE WYNNE SEWELL in Dallas: "The business world's own unique version of seasonal madness is starting to set in as employers and immigration lawyers gear up for what has become an annual H- 1B filing frenzy. The start of the H-1B petition filing period opens April 1, but those who wait until then to get their paperwork in order will undoubtedly be left empty-handed. Employers who do not time their H-1B filings so that they are received precisely on April 1 will likely lose out. Last year, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services received around 120,000 petitions within the first two days of filing, and held a computer-assisted lottery to choose the 65,000 petitions that would be adjudicated." News Contact: Rhonda Reddick, rhonda@androvett.com Phone: +1-800-559-4534 (3/26/08)

5. CARL FALSTROM, attorney and head of the immigration law practice at the law firm of McGLINCHEY STAFFORD PLLC, is a former liaison to the San Francisco District Office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the USCIS California Service Center: "I see the demand for H-1B numbers only increasing, rather than decreasing or staying the same. I've been telling my clients for months to identify potential H-1B hires as early as possible. Based on last year's experience, I suspect the word is out and there will be yet another unprecedented rush to file before the April 1 deadline. The USCIS will look to reject as many petitions as possible that aren't letter-perfect. The likelihood that any legislative reforms to H-1B or L-1 visas will come in time for fiscal 2009 is slim to none. I'm also receiving an increasing number of calls from employers concerned about the government's employer illegal immigration crackdown." News Contact: Rebecca Green, rgreen@infinitepr.com Phone: +1-212-888-6131 (3/26/08)

6. KATHLEEN CAMPBELL WALKER, president of THE AMERICAN IMMIGRATION LAWYERS ASSOCIATION (AILA), welcomes the recent announcement by USCIS of an interim final rule that tries to make the "lottery" process for obtaining scarce H-1B numbers more equitable. More importantly, however, Walker calls on Congress to enact legislation to fix the broken H-1B system, as well as to provide new legal avenues for employers to fill legitimate labor needs: "Once again, the U.S. government is stymied in providing businesses with the legal tools needed to address the economy's demand for skilled workers to compete in our global marketplace. It is embarrassing that there is even a need for the processes announced recently. Providing for visas based on a lottery, rather than on the needs of the economy, is no way to run an immigration policy. A recent study by the National Foundation for American Policy shows that every new H-1B employee hired increases a technology company's hiring by five to seven new jobs. Now is the time when Congress should be acting to upgrade the engines driving our economy, not slow them down." News Contact: George Tzamaras, gtzamaras@aila.org Phone: +1-202-216-2410 (3/26/08)

7. TED RUTHIZER, chair of the Business Immigration Group at KRAMER LEVIN NAFTALIS & FRANKEL LLP, a New York law firm, and a lecturer in law at Columbia Law School, where he teaches an advanced seminar in immigration law and policy, is available to comment on the H-1B visa program cap April 1 deadline: "Having a number that was set almost 20 years ago for the H-1B quota is just an insanity, given how the economy has grown. There will be three or four times the volume of filings from last year. Companies are approaching this with a skeptical eye, since they know they will be incurring expenses and administrative time spent on these cases without any confidence that those cases will be among the lucky ones selected to fill one of the coveted slots. The USCIS' proposed regulation prohibiting the filing of multiple petitions by a company for the same individual in the same category is a welcomed rule that would shut out job shops and other employers seeking to slant the playing field in their favor by engaging in filing many petitions, hoping that one of them gets picked. I believe this regulation would, however, allow the filing of duplicate petitions in different categories. Still, in the absence of such a rule, job shops and other companies will be able to file as many petitions for the same individual as they wish and this is highly problematic, giving certain employers an enormous advantage over others." News Contact: Stacey E. Berkowitz, sberkowitz@rubenstein.com Phone: +1-212-843-8272 (3/26/08)

8. ROBERT DEGEN, partner with FOX ROTHSCHILD in the Immigration Practice Group: "A recent National Foundation for American Policy study has found that H-1B visas do not take jobs away from U.S. workers but, rather, create jobs. The shortsighted policies of Congress and the anti-immigrant rhetoric is causing a reverse brain drain or offshore outsourcing by U.S. employers. This year, it is expected that demand for H-1B visas will outstrip supply again by a large margin. The effect is that many bright and productive people return to India or China or seek work in Canada, while high-paying jobs go unfilled, leaving businesses unable to expand, to the detriment of the U.S." News Contact: Zoe Klein, zklein@stargroup1.com Phone: +1-215-875-4375 (3/26/08)

9. CRIS ARCOS is a government affairs counselor with K&L GATES, an international law firm, an expert on H1-B visa issues, and a former ambassador to Honduras. Prior to joining K&L Gates, Arcos was appointed assistant secretary of international affairs for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2005, and his foreign policy, government and law experience gives him an interesting insight into the H1-B visa program: "I see a few flaws in the current system: a bottleneck exists between the number of visas approved and the number of green cards issued. We are piling up workers on temporary work visas without any long-term relief through green cards. Also, the number of H-1 visas is insufficient for the needs of the tech industry, and the lottery system does not necessarily bring the best available talent into the country." News Contact: Kyle Mahoney, Kyle.Mahoney@edelman.com Phone: +1-206- 505-6554 (3/26/08)

10. KIM THOMPSON, counsel with FISHER & PHILLIPS LLP, focuses her practice on business immigration: "As U.S. employers come to the realization that foreign workers, and their expertise and knowledge, are becoming more and more difficult to bring to the U.S. to work, due to the limitation on U.S. work visas, employers are getting creative in shifting work overseas. U.S. companies are setting up companies in foreign countries or contracting with foreign companies to perform the work outside the U.S. This shift of work outside the U.S. will start to affect the bottom line, as jobs that were once performed in the U.S. and, in many cases, supported and/or created jobs for U.S. workers are eliminated." News Contact: Kevin Sullivan, ksullivan@laborlawyers.com Phone: +1-404-240-4248 (3/26/08)

11. CLAUDIO MURUZABAL, CEO of NEORIS, a global business and IT consulting company that specializes in nearshore outsourcing, value-added consulting and emerging technologies: "As the U.S. Congress takes up the H1-B visa legislation in the coming weeks, at least one corner of the business community isn't panicking. It includes the IT outsourcing vendors with operations in Mexico that are largely unaffected by the shortage in H-1B visas because they work under NAFTA. NAFTA visas, which are in designated professions of high need, are turning into a valuable asset for companies that work in the Americas. The NAFTA visa is similar to H-1B, except there is no limitation on the amount of time a person can be in that status, or the amount of time a person can remain in the United States." News Contact: Jennifer M. Sricharoenchaikit, jennifers@blancandotus.com Phone: +1-617-451-6102, ext. 229 (3/26/08)

12. TIM JEMAL, executive director of the TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE: "It's a global race to innovate and, in competition, you want to field the best team possible. It doesn't make sense that the United States is not welcoming the best and brightest minds in the world to work and live here. Every time we deny a high-skilled visa to someone who wants to come to the U.S., countries like China and India put out the welcome mat." News Contact: Manny Otiko, manny.otiko@wundermarx.com Phone: +1-714-862-1112, ext. 204 Web site: http://www.tlpac.com/ (3/26/08)

BANNING HANDGUNS

We've added the following to items posted previously at http://media.prnewswire.com/en/jsp/search.jsp?searchtype=full&option=headlines &criteriadisplay=show&resourceid=3615861:

1. DENNIS HENIGAN, legal director of the BRADY CENTER's Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, is a noted expert on the Second Amendment and has been very active in defending the right of the District of Columbia to ban handguns: "Regarding D.C. v. Heller, judicial activism by a federal appeals court led to a gun law being struck down as violating the Second Amendment for the first time in American history in March 2007. I believe this decision was wrong. The case is winnable because history and precedent are on our side. I urge the Supreme Court to reaffirm the settled meaning of the Second Amendment, follow more than 200 years of American history, and choose the will of the people over judicial activism." News Contact: Rhea Basroon, rbasroon@rubenstein.com Phone: +1-212-843-8004 (3/26/08)

2. DR. JOHN EASTMAN, dean of the CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY School of Law: "Basically, I think that the Second Amendment guarantees a personal right to keep and bear arms, a right which the founders believed important for three reasons: 1) To have an armed citizenry that could be called upon to respond quickly to foreign invasion or domestic insurrection; 2) To provide a measure of personal security against local thugs; 3) To provide a check against governmental tyranny. Justice Joseph Story, in his highly regarded treatise, published in the 1830s, described the Second Amendment as a moral check against government tyranny. That's an odd phrase -- we think of having a gun being the ultimate physical check. So what he meant by that, in my view, is that a people capable of fending for themselves are much less likely to succumb to tyrannical tendencies by those in power." News Contact: Dennis O'Connor, dennis.oconnor@paradigmshiftpr.com Phone: +1-781-530-3700 (3/26/08)

3. CHARLIE FRAZIER, appellate attorney at Dallas' COWLES & THOMPSON: "Lost in the emotion provoked by the 'gun rights' case is the historic significance of the Supreme Court hearing arguments related to the Second Amendment. It is a very rare opportunity for a contemporary court to interpret and apply a constitutional amendment for the first time since its enactment in the 18th century. And not only will the court determine if reasonable restrictions can be placed on the Second Amendment, but it also will provide unique insight into the court's makeup. This ruling will undoubtedly reveal the court's constitutional leanings in a way few other decisions can, because, with no prior case-law palette from which to work, it will be all about how the justices view the Constitution and their role in its interpretation." News Contact: Rhonda Reddick, rhonda@androvett.com Phone: +1-800-559-4534 (3/26/08)

4. ROBERT HARDAWAY, professor of law at the UNIVERSITY OF DENVER's Sturm College of Law, is author of a book on the Ninth Amendment and "The Inconvenient Militia Clause: Why the Supreme Court Declines to Resolve the Debate on the Right to Bear Arms" (St. John's Journal of Legal Commentary): "A powerful argument can be made that the right of law-abiding citizens to self- protection and preservation is a basic human right implied in the Ninth Amendment, which may be more problematic than the Second Amendment." Hardaway is also author of "The Myths About Guns" (see link listed below) and "Myth: The right to bear arms is protected by the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution." News Contact: Chase Squires, chase.squires@du.edu Phone: +1- 303-871-2660 Web site: http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/1999/06/07/editorial3.html (3/26/08)

5. GEORGE NATION is a professor of business and law at LEHIGH UNIVERSITY. In the upcoming April issue of the Baylor Law Review, Nation argues that gun manufacturers may be required to bear vicarious financial liability for the harm suffered by innocent bystanders who have been injured by the criminal use of their products: "Traditionally, gun manufacturers have escaped responsibility when it comes to the criminal use of their products. The legal system essentially presumes that criminal activity is not to be expected and that manufacturers have no control over the use of their products. But with more than 2 million handgun-related crimes each year, and some gun advertising clearly aimed at criminal users, this traditional presumption is at odds with reality." News Contact: Tom Yencho, tsy205@lehigh.edu Phone: +1-610-758-3172 (3/26/08)

6. PAUL F. DAVIS, author of "United States of Arrogance," based in Orlando, Fla.: "The Second Amendment protects an individual's right to own guns. The collective right of states to maintain militias is not what the Founding Fathers intended. Nevertheless, considering America has more prisoners than any country on earth, is it any wonder we are becoming a police state and states are endeavoring to broadly define the Constitution's authorization of self-defense and right to personal protection?" Web site: http://www.paulfdavis.com/ (3/26/08)

7. STEPHEN P. HALBROOK is a research fellow at INDEPENDENT INSTITUTE. Having won three cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, Halbrook has filed an Amici Curiae brief in District of Columbia v. Heller on behalf of 300 members of Congress. At issue is whether or not the Second Amendment protects a private citizen's right to keep and bear arms. In his new book, "The Founder Second Amendment" (June 2008), Halbrook examines the nature of this right as it was understood and practiced during the first generation of the American Republic. Capturing the intent of the Founders in their own words, Halbrook reveals that the Second Amendment was indeed designed to protect the individual's rights. News Contact: Wendy Honett, whonett@independent.org Phone: +1-510-632-1366, ext. 116 (3/26/08)

8. DAVID KAIRYS, a constitutional law professor at TEMPLE LAW SCHOOL, is a nationally recognized civil rights/public interest lawyer who masterminded the municipal lawsuits against handgun manufacturers for the public costs of gun violence (brought by more than 30 cities nationwide), and the innovative public-nuisance legal theory on which they are primarily based. He is a former advisor to the national Education Fund to Stop Gun Violence (a sister organization of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, which works to prevent gun violence through litigation/lobbying at both state and federal levels). He is a frequent columnist and commentator on public interest issues, and he is a respected national media source on gun restrictions. Kairys says the future of gun control laws could be hurt by a court finding of an individual right, as in this case, and whatever the decision, it will have a huge moral, political and cultural impact. Kairys has litigated controversial, high-profile civil liberties cases involving First Amendment rights (he represented Dr. Benjamin Spock in a free-speech case before the Supreme Court), police misconduct and racial discrimination. News Contact: Laura Feragen, lferagen@startoplin.com Phone: +1-215-793-4666 (3/26/08)

9. PHILIP J. COOK is a professor of public policy at DUKE UNIVERSITY and an expert on the costs of gun violence. Cook's book, "Gun Violence: The Real Costs" (2000), documented the broad societal impact of gun violence, and he has written numerous articles on gun usage in crimes over the last 30 years. Most recently, he co-wrote a research report, "Underground Gun Markets" (The Economic Journal, November 2007), that documented the difficulties Chicago's gun ban creates for criminals seeking to obtain weapons. News Contact: Karen Kemp, karen.kemp@duke.edu Phone: +1-919-613 7394 (3/26/08)

10. KRISTIN GOS, assistant professor of public policy at DUKE UNIVERSITY, is author of "Disarmed: The Missing Movement for Gun Control in America." News Contact: Karen Kemp, karen.kemp@duke.edu Phone: +1-919-613 7394 (3/26/08)

PROFNET is an exclusive service of PR Newswire. To submit an Opportunity by e-mail: profnet@profnet.com To consult the ProfNet Experts Database: http://www.prnewswire.com/profnet To contact ProfNet by phone: +1-800-PROFNET, ext. 1 To share a thought on ProfNet Expert Alerts: profnetalerts@prnewswire.com

PRNewswire -- March 26

Source: ProfNet

NOTE TO EDITORS: The following expert has provided direct contact information: Ron Hira, Rochester Institute of Technology rxhgpt@rit.edu Phone: +1-585-475-7052 Ted Ruthizer, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP truthizer@kramerlevin.com Phone: +1-212-715-9421 Robert Hardaway, University of Denver rhardawa@du.edu Phone: +1-303-871-6310 Paul F. Davis revivingnations@yahoo.com Phone: +1- 407-284-1705 Philip J. Cook, Duke University pcook@duke.edu Phone: +1-919-613-7360 Kristin Gos, Duke University kgoss@duke.edu Phone: +1-919-613-7331 Tim Jemal, Technology Leadership Political Action Committee tim@jemalpublicaffairs.com

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