In an interview with a Davenport, Iowa, TV station, this exchange occurred with Vice President Joe Biden:
Q: Are two [sic] many H1B visas given out each year? Are too many highly skilled jobs going to people outside the United States?
[Biden:]No h1b visa can be granted to an employee to come to a company unless they can prove there is no American to fill the job. What we have had is a real vacuum in the number of computer engineers and high tech personnel to work in particularly silicon valley that's where most of those h1b visas are going that's why we have made it so attractive and I don't understand why republicans have opposed us.
The Vice President either has no clue what he is talking about or he is simply lying. First, this statement is simply wrong:
No h1b visa can be granted to an employee to come to a company unless they can prove there is no American to fill the job.
No employer has to prove an American is unavailable before getting an H-1B visa.
Second, there is no data show show a "real vacuum" in tech workers.
Third, most H-1B visa go to workers outside Silicon Valley. In 2008, 16 percent of H-1B workers went to California.
The big question to ask here is whether Joe Biden is just completely clueless or is he lying to promote the talking points of his campaign contributors?
