Summary

Interest is widespread in the entry of alien workers into the U.S. workforce. Some view foreign workers as a solution to labor problems, while others see them as a threat to the job security of Americans. About 136,000 aliens became employment-based immigrants between 1984 and 1989, with another 293,000 temporary alien workers admitted during the same period. GAO studied two classes of immigrants: (1) H-1 nonimmigrants, aliens "of distinguished merit and ability" who are admitted temporarily to do work of "an exceptional nature," and (2) L-1 nonimmigrants, aliens employed by an international firm who are entering the United States to work for that company as a manager, executive, or a specialist in a particular field. GAO's research suggests that thousands of permanent jobs in the U.S. are being filled by a succession of highly skilled temporary alien workers in fields like engineering and science, while in the health care industry 85 percent of temporary alien workers, mostly nurses, occupied jobs intended to be permanent.

GAO found that: (1) the H-1 Program served about 16,000 petitioning companies in the northern states employing an estimated 60,000 H-1 nonimmigrant workers during 1989; (2) about 65 percent of the H-1 petitioning firms were U.S.-owned, and they employed 64 percent of H-1 nonimmigrants; (3) the much smaller L-1 Program involved an estimated 2,100 firms employing nearly 18,000 L-1 nonimmigrants; (4) only 25 percent of the L-1 petitioner firms were U.S.-owned and they employed 41 percent of L-1 nonimmigrants; (5) H-1 nonimmigrants were concentrated in such specialized service sectors as computers, engineering, science, research, health-related occupations, entertainment, athletics, and the arts, while L-1 nonimmigrants were broadly distributed among manufacturing and service industries; (6) firms indicated that about half of the H-1 nonimmigrants for whom they petitioned were occupying regular positions that were intended to be permanent, suggesting that a succession of temporary nonimmigrant workers were filling permanent jobs; (7) 85 percent of nonimmigrants in hospitals and related health care industries were occupying jobs intended to be permanent, raising the possibility that the wages and working conditions of U.S. health care workers were not being adequately protected; and (8) there was no widespread practice of nonimmigrant aliens using their H-1 or L-1 visas as a means of securing immigrant status.