Comments on: For Maryland’s guest teachers, an expensive lesson in labor rights

By: Richard Nieporent

Richard Nieporent — Sat, 21 May 2011 15:10:07 +0000

I believe they have an H-1B Visa. H-1B is basically a guess worker program for skilled workers. The company must certify that they can’t find American workers with the requisite skills to do the job. The workers stays at the pleasure of the company. If the company decides they no longer need that worker, unless he can find another company to hire him as an H-1B worker, he must go back to his native country.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-1B_visa

By: Leafs

Leafs — Fri, 20 May 2011 23:39:53 +0000

Anonymous Attorney 05.19.11 at 1:53 pm
These jobs couldn’t have gone to Americans?

What’s the matter? You afraid of a little NAFTA competition?

By: Leafs

Leafs — Fri, 20 May 2011 23:35:47 +0000

Yes, there are conditional green cards. Usually they’re marriage related as you have to stay married for 2 years to “prove” you’re really married. After 2 years, the green card is yours, regardless of your marriage status. I don’t know if there’s something similar for jobs. I do know several people who were recruited to come to the US by companies here signed contracts to stay with the company for around 5 years. But that wasn’t a conditional green card, that was them agreeing to stay at least that long as payment for the company picking up all the costs of immigration and relocation.
It’s possible these teachers are in the middle of getting their green cards and the process is not finalized. If that is the case, and if they’re let go, the green card process is ended and they are up a creek.

By: mike

mike — Fri, 20 May 2011 16:01:31 +0000

I’m usually not one to use this expression, but I think teaching in Prince George’s county might be one of those jobs Americans won’t do.

By: Anonymous Attorney

Anonymous Attorney — Thu, 19 May 2011 18:53:30 +0000

These jobs couldn’t have gone to Americans?

By: GregS

GregS — Thu, 19 May 2011 14:58:23 +0000

Department of Labor wins back pay for workers; gets them deported. The brave new world of massive American bureaucracy, the system that one and two-thirds of the major political parties and at least half the electorate seems to think is the answer to all of life’s problems.

By: TonyG

TonyG — Thu, 19 May 2011 14:09:14 +0000

Is there such a thing as a conditional greencard? I thought once you had that you no longer needed employer sponsorship. Losing sponsorship for a visa I can completely understand, the greencard comment is a bit wierd.