Disney, H1Bs at the Republican Debate

At last night’s Republican debate, both Rubio and Trump weighed in on the Disney H1B controversy. In case you don’t recall, Disney let go tech of some workers, replaced the unit with an outsourcing company, and that company brought in H1B workers who the original (USC) workers were asked to train.

Here are the comments:

Rubio doesn’t quite get the law right. He says that H1B employers have to prove that they’ve “tried to hire Americans.” Well, no. The law only requires an employer to attest that the incoming H1B workers won’t affect the working conditions of similarly situated employees.  Rubio may be thinking about LPR applications, where employers do have to show there are no able, willing and qualified US workers for the job.

But it’s Trump’s comments that I find surprising. He says of the H1B system: “It’s something that I frankly use and shouldn’t be allowed to use. We shouldn’t have it.”

-KitJ