Editor, Manteca Bulletin,

I want American companies of all sizes to prosper but not at the expense of the American worker or the unemployed graduates of our schools, colleges and universities.

American technology companies need to encourage and support the training of Americans first for highly skilled and higher-paying jobs before asking the Federal government to allow more visas for foreign workers to fill these jobs, as is currently being proposed in Congress. The Federal government needs to encourage and support American companies (tax incentives, tax breaks etc.) that provide this training to the American people first and foremost. With a National unemployment rate of over 9%, American companies must be rewarded for training and hiring Americans first and discouraged from importing labor from overseas to take American jobs. We have to take care of our house before we look elsewhere.

According to a Nov. 30, New York Times article, 140,000 green cards are available each year for “highly skilled immigrants.” Under proposed Congressional legislation, the limit on green cards would be eliminated. Encouraging the training of Americans first to hold these jobs is enormously more desirable in my view than importing people during this poor economic time. This aspect of the proposed legislation is hypocritical with our ragile economy and high unemployment. Congressional leaders say they want to lower unemployment but their actions tell us a different story. Americans are trainable for highly-skilled jobs if they are given the chance.



David Jinkens
Manteca
Nov. 30, 2011