Foreign Job Program Hurts U.S. Workers, Study Says

A program that lets hundreds of thousands of foreigners temporarily fill unique, high-skill U.S. jobs is lowering wages and pushing out American workers, says a draft government audit.

Instead of providing U.S. businesses a boost to compete better globally, the program has become a “rubber stamp” for both skilled and unskilled aliens seeking to live and work in the United States, said the report prepared for the Labor Department.

“The program has become a steppingstone to obtain permanent resident status not only for the ‘best and brightest’ specialists but also for students, relatives and friends,” said the audit.

A draft of the inspector general’s audit, which recommends the Labor Department eliminate its flawed $50 million-a-year foreign worker visa programs, was obtained Sunday by The Associated Press.

Labor Secretary Robert Reich said he hopes the Senate will make major reforms in the foreign worker program to protect Americans when Congress takes up immigration legislation this week.

“Unfortunately, the inspector general’s audit confirms what the administration has been saying for a number of years,” Reich said in a statement.