The controversial H-1B non-immigrant visa used heavily by Silicon Valley tech firms to acquire talent is much more widely used by companies in New York and Texas, according to new research.
From 2010 to 2016, employment of foreign workers with H-1B visas was centered in East Coast metropolitan areas, along with significant numbers in Texas, the Pew Research Center reported Thursday, basing its findings on government data on 68 metropolitan areas obtained via a public-records request.
"Demand for the high-skilled worker visas has boomed in recent years, and the H-1B program is now the primary way employers in the U.S. hire high-skilled foreign workers," Pew said.
Almost a third of the visas, which are intended for workers in jobs requiring specialized knowledge and a bachelor's degree or higher, went to businesses in greater New York City, with Dallas and Washington, D.C., having the next-highest numbers of approved visas, Pew reported.
New York City-area companies obtained 247,900 H-1B visas, Dallas region firms received 74,000, and metropolitan D.C. took 64,800.
Trailing behind with the 10th-highest numbers was the metropolitan area encompassing San Jose, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale with 22,200. The San Francisco region, which includes Oakland and Hayward, received 11,300.
The H-1B visa has become a flashpoint in the U.S. immigration debate, with major tech companies among the loudest voices calling for more visas, while critics point to highly publicized reported abuses involving companies. The University of California, San Francisco, allegedly used the program to replace Americans with outsourced workers.
A bill introduced in January by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., supported by the tech industry, would boost the base allocation of H-1B visas to 85,000 from 65,000, and opens the way for an additional 110,000 per year, depending on demand. It would also give priority to holders of master's degrees or higher, and ban replacement of U.S. workers with H-1B visa holders.
To fight abuse of the visa, the Trump administration in February imposed new rules on employers, making those using H-1B visas to hire workers provide more details supporting their need to hire foreign workers.
