Petition to Protect Pennsylvania Citizen STEM Careers
Delivered to
The petition
A Call to Action for Pennsylvania's Future by Abolishing the H-1B Visa
WHEREAS since 1990, the H-1B visa has been used by corporations, universities, and non-government organizations to deflate the wages of and displace American white-collar professional workers. WHEREAS adding roughly 120,000 workers per year, of whom three-fourth come from India, thus giving employers access to a much larger labor pool that has depressed wages in many occupations and particularly in software development and engineering, which receive a majority of H-1B visas:
Computer and Information Technology (IT)
• Computer systems analysts
• Database administrators
• Network architects
• IT project managers and consultants
Engineering
• Electrical and electronics engineers
• Mechanical engineers
• Civil engineers
• Industrial engineers
Mathematical and Statistical Occupations
• Operations research analysts
• Data scientists and statisticians
Healthcare
• Medical scientists and researchers
• Physicians in certain specialties
• Physical therapists
Business and Financial Analysts
• Management analysts
• Financial analysts
• Market research analysts
WHEREAS H-1B visa-dependent Indian companies have been used on numerous occasions to outsource IT departments as well as other back-office operations, oftentimes with Americans forced to train their H-1B visa replacements or accept being transferred to an Indian consulting firm ("rebadged") to do the same job they were doing at the American company only to be dismissed down the road when the knowledge transfer is complete. WHEREAS H-1B visa holders are used to conduct knowledge transfer from American workers, which in turn is used to facilitate the offshoring of those jobs to foreign countries that harm America because when entry- and mid-level positions move offshore, it disrupts the traditional progression through which American workers build expertise. Junior engineers, analysts, and developers typically learn by doing routine work alongside experienced colleagues before advancing to complex problem-solving. If these foundational roles disappear domestically, fewer Americans will gain the tacit knowledge, professional networks, and hands-on experience needed to reach senior positions. This phenomenon creates a "hollowing out" effect where companies retain high-level strategic roles in the U.S. but lack a domestic pipeline to fill them. Over time, even senior positions may need to move offshore to where the talent base has developed, or companies struggle to find qualified American candidates for advanced roles. WHEREAS concentrating manufacturing or software development abroad creates strategic risks, especially during national emergencies or geopolitical tensions in relationships with offshore locations deteriorate, companies and the country may lack the domestic capacity to quickly rebuild those capabilities. WHEREAS Pennsylvania families have invested heavily by sending their children to university to earn degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), only to find all the rungs of the career ladder being ripped out from under them. Today, 74% of our STEM graduates are NOT actually working in STEM careers that are lucrative and can form the basis of forming strong, independent families. If students perceive that professional careers in engineering, computer science, or analysis will be offshored, they may choose other fields, reducing the domestic talent pool. This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where companies cite talent shortages to justify offshoring, which further discourages Americans from entering those fields. If career prospects seem uncertain, why would Americans invest in difficult technical degrees when those jobs may not be available domestically? WHEREAS the H-1B visa was specifically designed by corporate lobbying interests to displace competent American workers with cheaper, more compliant foreign labor. BE IT RESOLVED, that we call upon Pennsylvania's members of the House and Senate to abolish the H-1B visa.
WHEREAS since 1990, the H-1B visa has been used by corporations, universities, and non-government organizations to deflate the wages of and displace American white-collar professional workers. WHEREAS adding roughly 120,000 workers per year, of whom three-fourth come from India, thus giving employers access to a much larger labor pool that has depressed wages in many occupations and particularly in software development and engineering, which receive a majority of H-1B visas:
Computer and Information Technology (IT)
• Computer systems analysts
• Database administrators
• Network architects
• IT project managers and consultants
Engineering
• Electrical and electronics engineers
• Mechanical engineers
• Civil engineers
• Industrial engineers
Mathematical and Statistical Occupations
• Operations research analysts
• Data scientists and statisticians
Healthcare
• Medical scientists and researchers
• Physicians in certain specialties
• Physical therapists
Business and Financial Analysts
• Management analysts
• Financial analysts
• Market research analysts
WHEREAS H-1B visa-dependent Indian companies have been used on numerous occasions to outsource IT departments as well as other back-office operations, oftentimes with Americans forced to train their H-1B visa replacements or accept being transferred to an Indian consulting firm ("rebadged") to do the same job they were doing at the American company only to be dismissed down the road when the knowledge transfer is complete. WHEREAS H-1B visa holders are used to conduct knowledge transfer from American workers, which in turn is used to facilitate the offshoring of those jobs to foreign countries that harm America because when entry- and mid-level positions move offshore, it disrupts the traditional progression through which American workers build expertise. Junior engineers, analysts, and developers typically learn by doing routine work alongside experienced colleagues before advancing to complex problem-solving. If these foundational roles disappear domestically, fewer Americans will gain the tacit knowledge, professional networks, and hands-on experience needed to reach senior positions. This phenomenon creates a "hollowing out" effect where companies retain high-level strategic roles in the U.S. but lack a domestic pipeline to fill them. Over time, even senior positions may need to move offshore to where the talent base has developed, or companies struggle to find qualified American candidates for advanced roles. WHEREAS concentrating manufacturing or software development abroad creates strategic risks, especially during national emergencies or geopolitical tensions in relationships with offshore locations deteriorate, companies and the country may lack the domestic capacity to quickly rebuild those capabilities. WHEREAS Pennsylvania families have invested heavily by sending their children to university to earn degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), only to find all the rungs of the career ladder being ripped out from under them. Today, 74% of our STEM graduates are NOT actually working in STEM careers that are lucrative and can form the basis of forming strong, independent families. If students perceive that professional careers in engineering, computer science, or analysis will be offshored, they may choose other fields, reducing the domestic talent pool. This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where companies cite talent shortages to justify offshoring, which further discourages Americans from entering those fields. If career prospects seem uncertain, why would Americans invest in difficult technical degrees when those jobs may not be available domestically? WHEREAS the H-1B visa was specifically designed by corporate lobbying interests to displace competent American workers with cheaper, more compliant foreign labor. BE IT RESOLVED, that we call upon Pennsylvania's members of the House and Senate to abolish the H-1B visa.
Reasons for Signing
Nourhan S.
Mike Bodnar
I agree
Thomas Baker
Nathaniel Kober
Protect American Jobs
dave hendel
I'm a patriot
Joann Skutches
Bill Allen
These H!B Visas Are Hurting American Workers Taking Are Stem Student Jobs and Replacing American Workers We are Creating a Form of Slavery