A reporter contacted me today, having read a blog post of mine, and she said she hoped to interview me as a “Trump voter.” I told her she should have read some of my other posts.
I try not to endorse any politician in this forum. It should be clear to regular readers that admire both Sanders and Trump, but I’ve also criticized both of them. I will say this, though: In my mind, they are the ONLY two candidates in either party in whom I have any confidence that they would “do the right thing.”
“The right thing” means much more than fixing H-1B, OPT and green cards. Today a reader assumed that my support for Judge Lucy Koh stems from her standing up to the Silicon Valley giants, with the implication that she would view H-1B and the like my way. That would be nice, but what I would really hope for is that she sees that Citizens United was wrong and must be overturned.
Another reader wondered why I have not criticized Trump for using foreign workers at one of his resorts. I would hope that as president, he would reassess the situation, and have a serious conversation with the resort managers as to their claims that no Americans would available for the work. Am I sure he would do so? Of course not. But I do believe the Trump and Sanders are by far the likeliest among the candidates to, as mentioned, do the right thing.
By the way, my hat is off to CIS for running that article (linked to above) on Trump’s resort, instead of CIS taking the easy route and avoiding criticism of any candidate who wants to tighten up on immigration law. And ironically, I must reluctantly give credit to CIS’ nemesis, the Southern Poverty Law Center (their treatment of CIS Director Mark Krikorian and NumbersUSA founder Roy Beck has been disgracefully unwarranted), for finally noticing that H-1B is indeed a problem.
That Trump and Sanders agree on many issues, and even CIS and SPLC have a common interest, should speak volumes to the Establishment politicians and the so-called liberal press. Are they listening?
Upon Closer inspection 
amen
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Dr Matloff, I am SORELY disappointed with you!
Donald Trump has a 35 yr history of lying. What makes you think he “will do the right thing!?!?”. Yes gads, everything you have ever said was just flushed down my toilet, three times!!
Trump hired H2s & L2s over many years, and then fought Romney in ’12 over employer enforcement over illegal immigration. Why?!? It works!!!
I and 21 other >40 tech workers offered to meet with ALL of the candidates to present our side of the H1B story. Ted Cruz was the only candidate to accept our invite. We presented a boatload of info, with ~80% coming from you.
Cruz admitted that he had bought into the ” Intel’s” frequently presented in DC and directed his staff to jump into the research. I won’t name the young lady, but she called several of us several times to confirm the radically opposed data, mainly presented by yourself. She just couldn’t believe it was 180 degrees different from what they had in their hands.
I’d be highly shocked if she didn’t independently contact you last October.
You reported on the outcome of Cruz/Sessions in December.
So what’s going on with you Norm? The >55 crowd has bought into the “As Seen on TV” schmuck. I’m 57, but I still smell BS from 3,000 miles away.
Trump didn’t read “his” H1B/OPT policy that Senator Sessions’ team wrote for him, resulting in his damning tweets about his support for H1B & OPT. He then famously argued with Moderator Becky Quick that he never called called Rubio “Mark Zuckerberg’s personal Senator”
The schmuck never read Jeff Sessons’ policy which was turbo charged based on a knee jerk reaction to SCEdison and Disney. Sessions saw Trump as a tool (which he is) to deliver the message, but lazy Donnie didn’t play along.
You glowed over Cruz/Sessions bill that you correctly called the first shot in the H1B war. It will have to be pushed, but it’s a hell of a start. Your words were similar.
Your off the cuff remarks anger me deeply. Not because you aren’t touting Cruz, but because you just sat yourself in a Barca-lounger, pointed your remote at Fox News and screamed at the TV, “Damn right! Trump will fix it all, he says he will and I believe him!!”
I’ve been warning anyone who will listen that the 55+ age group is the least able to challenge all emotional reactions and turn them around with facts. Holy shit Batman! You’re the guy I point most often as a shining example of how to approach these conundrums.
Please tell me that you wrote this under the influence of Margarita Day.
Otherwise, everything I’ve saved from you gets the three flush treatment.
Whaaaaaaaa?
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I am deeply sorry to have disappointed you. What I said about Trump today, though, is no different from what I’ve said before.
I have heard many times from activists such as yourself that some staffer or other would contact me, but they never do. I believe that not even once have they done so. I’m sure the activists fully believe the staffers would call me. So, why don’t they follow up? I’m sure they’re very busy, but I suspect that the primary reason is that they decide in the end that they just would not be serving their boss well by fighting the Intels.
Let’s keep in mind that even among the critics of H-1B, I’m the only one who emphasizes the Intels. And I’m the only one who points out the key relation between H-1B and the age issue. Some years ago, one of the people who testified yesterday told me that he considered age to be absolutely the wrong issue to press, in terms of political strategy, and sure enough, he has never once mentioned the age issue in his public statements and writings. If even the critics of H-1B think it’s politically unwise to tackle the real problems, then those poor staffers are going to be even less likely to do so, right?
I do like the Cruz/Sessions bill very much, and I do think that Cruz is a decent, honorable man. There has been a movement by some movers and shakers in the Republican Party to become champions of the working class and middle class, and the fact that Cruz met with your group shows that he is try to do that. But I just don’t see the passion there for doing so. I see him as someone who is more interested in saying no than finding creative solutions to big problems. Trump — whom I strongly disliked before this campaign — does seem to want to find genuine solutions, special interests be damned. Trump’s mercurial nature, while recognized by all as his biggest flaw, is also his greatest strength, in my view.
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Hi Norm,
i,, too am very surprised at your response.
I often don’t get back to various people on these issues, as you note, because, like most people I have always been under employment-at-will legal rules. I have been terminated on pure technicalities for standing up and confronting illegal behavior in an honest and completely legal way…indeed in one case from my past my lawyer told me that I had to tell H.R. about what was happening to me…if people don’t do that there will often be no case for lawsuits at a later time. The catch is the all-important employment-at-will legal tradition.
After departure we’re often under do-not-disparage agreements; thus I am constantly afraid that my emails may be intercepted, hacked, etc. I do start to speak up sometimes but the employers keep us intimidated. For one other thing, even without “no disparagement” clauses there is much “unofficial” in the reference process today due to social media networks such as LinkedIn. Potential employers can easily find out who your bosses were while screening your resume…and go ahead and check with them without your knowledge.
So please do not blame people who are inconsistent regarding our advocacy regarding these issues.
That is why we need people like you on our sides.
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I’m not blaming people for being inconsistent. I’m blaming them for giving American tech workers false hope.
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I’m not sure I can agree here.
While I understand why you fear speaking out, I also understand that if you do not speak out, one day you will be unemployable like me because as this snowball rolls downhill it will gather speed and force more and more Americans out of the technology industry.
But, if you stand together united and fight what is being done here, you just might stay employed until you can retire.
Sure, you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
But a chance is better than no chance and if I had to do it all over again, I would choose the path I chose by forming kaaw and enduring all of the destitution simply because it is better than the alternative.
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There is no question that America’s programmers and engineers have themselves to blame for what things have degenerated to. The physicians, the lawyers, even the accountants would not have allowed this kind of thing to happen to them.
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>we’re often under do-not-disparage agreements
Who is? I thought those were still relative rare. I’ve only encountered it once so far, and they wanted me to sign it before a first *interview*, and I told them where to stuff it. They are probably unenforceable, if push ever came to shove, I’d be happy to countersue and not go away without a fat settlement. Though it’s probably wiser to avoid the whole thing, any company doing that is going to have plenty else wrong with it.
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Kyle, when and where did you meet with Cruz? Did you get any press coverage, and if not, maybe there is still time, someone at Computerworld, or even just a post on LinkedIn or something?
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I can’t help myself as I wonder if you are under the influence of psychotic drugs.
“…should speak volumes to the Establishment politicians and the so-called liberal press”
Donnie fought any changes against the establishment for 35 years. Since he claims to have met Saul on the Road to Damascus and turned into Ronald Reagan overnight, he left a money trail.
Defeat Dodging Donnie (I have two brothers who served in Nam, and both are ready to declare Trump the enemy)
funded the “Get Along Gang that 99.9% of Americans would can agree to label as ” The Establishment.”
http://theresurgent.com/in-2013-and-2014-donald-trump-was-funding-john-boehner-mitch-mcconnell-against-the-tea-party/
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As a texan, I want to weigh in on cruz.
I wrote him several times asking for help getting to work.
Never once did he attempt to contact me or fix the problem.
That tells me that he will not do anything for anybody that is not in a position to do something for him in return.
Do I like or trust trump?
I don’t like or trust any of them.
BUT
We wouldn’t be having the conversations that we are having on illegal immigration and non immigrant guest workers if it were not for him.
Has rubio even attempted to contact the disney workers?
Has cruz?
Has Trump?
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About those accountants.
It seems that they too are being attacked in this war on American Workers.
http://keepamericaatwork.com/as-an-accountant-in-america-do-you-feel-that-you-are-safe-from-having-a-guest-worker-imported-to-take-your-job/
http://h1bhuntinglicenses.com/v_by_empworkcity.aspx
Click on the link above and enter Washington in the box.
After the data loads scroll over to the right until you see the soc_name column.
Scroll down.
Now go back to the left and look for the page numbers down at the bottom.
Pages and pages of Hunting Licenses are being paid for by these companies, organizations and government agencies to import a non immigrant guest worker to take your job.
Do you realize now why I say this is not only happening to the American STEM workers?
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