The H-1B issue -- Smoke without fire

Cyber News Service

NEW DELHI: The National Association for Software and Services Companies
(Nasscom) plans to approach the US President Bill Clinton on the issue of recent
arrest and manhandling of 40 software professionals by the US department of
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Though the department last week
dropped the charges against these professionals, their future in the US is
uncertain.

According to Nasscom president Dewang Mehta, Nasscom was planning to take up
the issue to the US President for further clarification. It is lobbying to
gather signatures from as many Senators as possible favoring India's stand to
place the same before the US President. Mr Mehta said, "So far we have
taken the signatures of 68 Senators and 103 Congressmen for their solidarity
with the issue. The moment 120 Senators sign the memorandum, which is one-third
of the total strength of the Senate, we will seek the President's intervention
in the case." Nasscom has also taken up the issue with INS, for which it is
expecting an appointment in the first week of March.

Almost a month after the INS arrested 40 computer professionals at the
Randolph Air Force base in San Antonio in the US, INS has dropped the charges.
The letter issued from the INS does not state any specific reasons but simply
mentions: ...INS, as a matter of prosecutorial discretion, is cancelling the
notice to appear served...pursuant to the enforcemnet operation at Randolph Air
Force Base on January 20.

While it brings to a close the agony of those arrested and who, allegedly,
have had to undergo racial abuse and maltreatment from the authority, there are
still many questions that remain both unclear and unanswered. For instance, will
the INS take any action against the two Indian-owned Houston based
companies--Frontier Consulting and Softech Consulting. There are reports though
which imply that INS may pursue administrative revocation of the employer's H-1B
visa petition. If that is carried out, employees of the two companies may be
asked to leave the country.

It remains a mystery as to why it took INS a month to file the charges in
court even though they had been investigating the case for six months, as they
claimed? Also, why did INS not take action against the companies in question
instead of handcuffing the employees for not possessing the appropriate visa
documents for their working in US? While one theory indicates the possible
involvement of rival companies who failed to get the job contract, what is
gaining more credence is the angle of racial discrimination. The overriding
opinion is that lack of appropriate documents does not call for handcuffing
knowledge workers and treating them as common law breakers.

The overall impact of this on the Indian software industry is not reckoned to
be much. According to Encore Software Chairman and CEO Vinay L. Deshpande, it
would impact companies involved in body shopping. He said, "Individual
people who want to go to the US will think twice now." Added Linc Software
director Rajan Narayanan, "This has created fear in the people. Even the
green card holders have suffered due to this incident." The issue has more
relevance from an individual's point of view, forcing them to be more diligent
when it comes to the legality of their H1 Visa. Otherwise, it is business as
usual, is the general feeling.

Said Ishoni Networks managing director T.S. Satish, "Ground business
reality around shortage of hi-tech manpower is way too strong to allow this
isolated incident to influence in major way." While the Indian government's
low key response has come to receive flak in some quarters, folks in the
industry feel that it is in the best interest of the industry not to politicize
the event. It is felt that it would be better for the software industry to take
the matter up with the higher authorities in the US, who otherwise leave no
chance in praising the Indian software brains for being the backbone of the
Silicon Valley.

(With inputs from Srinivas R.)