L-1 Visas Used To Get Around Cap, Displace American Workers

"One of the country's temporary work visa programs, used particularly by foreign technology workers, is being abused by companies charged looking to get around protections for American workers, according to a new government report. The L visa, which is intended for foreign companies who want to transfer managerial employees or workers with 'specialized knowledge' temporarily to the United States, has been abused to get around limits on other types of visas, according to the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general," the Washington Times reports. "The inspector general found that it is difficult for adjudicators at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to determine what constitutes a manager, particularly because companies vary in size and organization. Adjudicators also have to rely on a company's claims about its own operations, a worker's status at the time of the petition and how a worker will be used in the United States . . . Sen. Charles E. Grassley, the Iowa Republican who inserted a provision into a bill to require the study, said it showed 'extensive and well-known fraud and abuse in the L visa program.'"

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