Dear folks,
It is worth reading the following response from one of our fellow. We are living in the same situation. This is 200% true. But, those who are living out side of this system will never understand (like last paragraph). We have to appreciate Ramesh.
Source: http://www.usvisanews.com/memo2002.html
****************************************************
Ramesh, I have to tell you, I'm almost afraid to see the type of responses we will get to this one, but that's what this is all about...stimulating intelligent discussion, right? (-; Thanks again, pal, and tell your friend that I hope the future is full of blessings for him and his family. Jose
----- Original Message -----
From: Ramesh
To:
Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2003 12:55 PM
Subject: A reader's thoughts...
Jose,
I am trying to give you some perspective on the issue that you just raised about foreign nationals getting "free" medical treatment in the US in your column entitled "Foreign Visitors Overloading U.S. Hospitals". Hopefully you will publish this hastily written article so that your readers get some perspective on what H-1B workers [especially IT workers] have done to subsidize the lives of Americans [and the illegal immigrants that you have written about] with their hard-earned dollars. Most IT workers on H-1B were on high salaries and hence it makes sense to write about their contribution since many have been forced to go back home with nothing.
A close friend of mine went back home last year after he was laid off at work due to the declining economy and he was on H-1B. Unlike many of his friends, he hesitated not a moment longer to take the next available flight to India after surmising that it was not worth spending his hard-earned savings in the bank on future stay looking for new work and burning it all up. He made a wise decision because he is now comfortably settled in India with his U.S. Dollar-based savings multiplying into a tidy sum in Indian Rupees, and he can even look forward to see that savings grow over the years. Recently I spoke to him and congratulated him for his fore-sighted vision and calculated decision based on logical assumptions.
Guess what? He just went on a tirade about how he had been "screwed" by the American System. First, he told me that as a professional earning over $80,000 a year in the IT profession for the three and odd years that he had been here, he had been paying something like $30,000 dollars in federal, state, and local taxes for which he got zilch. Well, he conceded, after I asked him to take a look at one of your previous columns and said, okay, maybe, "The interstate highway system; the G.P.S. satellite system; and, the FAA Air Traffic system, which does a wonderful job". What else? He asked. I could not reply. Next, he told me that he paid over $5000 dollars for Social Security and Medicare for which he truly got zilch... he was paying to support those on welfare and social security and the elderly out here, that is all. I was unable to argue since I know that unless you are a U.S. Citizen, you will never get to see a penny of that in your lifetime. Living in Connecticut, he said, he had to pay property taxes of around $500 a year for a car [the law here], and that he said was used to support the local school system. Next, he cited the long list of things that he did to make sure that his stay was 100% LEGAL in the U.S. by going out of his way to pay sales taxes on goods that he purchased on the internet to the local taxing authority so that he could never be questioned when time came to get his Green Card. Well, I said, you were being naive... nobody is going to come after you for that... but you did the right legal thing... most people don't do that.
Next, he said, his employer paid for unemployment insurance to the state government which his American colleagues who were laid off were able to use to get up to six months of money that helped with their expenses. When he suggested to them that they were essentially getting "free" money, one of them blew his top and told him that the government was simply giving him back what he [or his employer] had been putting in every paycheck as unemployment insurance. Guess what? He said... I could not and according to law would not be allowed to collect even one penny of that money. U.S. employers are required to pay for unemployment insurance even for foreign workers on staff.
Next, he said, his employer put in matching funds into his 401K account which he hoped to see grow into a nice piggy bank for retirement. But the moment he lost his job, he lost part of that matched money since he was not fully "vested" yet. Forced to pull out the remaining funds since his employer was going out of business, he lost more money due to the down market.
Now, pray tell me, he asked quite agitatedly, why should Americans complain when they see an illegal immigrant trying to use public facilities such as schools and hospitals? Have I not paid for all of that as well as subsidize the costs for American Citizens themselves?
"But you know what?" he said with a smile that I could imagine on his face on the telephone on the other side of the world... "When I told all this to an American lady sitting next to me on the plane back home, instead of appreciating the contribution that I have made to this great country, she said something that rankles me to this day." "What did she tell you?" I asked, eager to find out what bothered him so much. "Well," he said, "Her response was - That is what you have to pay for the privilege of working in America!!!!!"
That lady actually viewed all of those taxes and monies that my friend paid as a moral obligation and legal duty to pay for the so called "privilege" of working in America. I am not sure if that should be considered a joke or an insult. What do you say?
Regards,
Ramesh
P.S. You guys, on the other hand, give plenty of reasons why this country is such a great one after all... keep up the good work.
****************************************************
Keep it up.
-vetri.
It is worth reading the following response from one of our fellow. We are living in the same situation. This is 200% true. But, those who are living out side of this system will never understand (like last paragraph). We have to appreciate Ramesh.
Source: http://www.usvisanews.com/memo2002.html
****************************************************
Ramesh, I have to tell you, I'm almost afraid to see the type of responses we will get to this one, but that's what this is all about...stimulating intelligent discussion, right? (-; Thanks again, pal, and tell your friend that I hope the future is full of blessings for him and his family. Jose
----- Original Message -----
From: Ramesh
To:
Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2003 12:55 PM
Subject: A reader's thoughts...
Jose,
I am trying to give you some perspective on the issue that you just raised about foreign nationals getting "free" medical treatment in the US in your column entitled "Foreign Visitors Overloading U.S. Hospitals". Hopefully you will publish this hastily written article so that your readers get some perspective on what H-1B workers [especially IT workers] have done to subsidize the lives of Americans [and the illegal immigrants that you have written about] with their hard-earned dollars. Most IT workers on H-1B were on high salaries and hence it makes sense to write about their contribution since many have been forced to go back home with nothing.
A close friend of mine went back home last year after he was laid off at work due to the declining economy and he was on H-1B. Unlike many of his friends, he hesitated not a moment longer to take the next available flight to India after surmising that it was not worth spending his hard-earned savings in the bank on future stay looking for new work and burning it all up. He made a wise decision because he is now comfortably settled in India with his U.S. Dollar-based savings multiplying into a tidy sum in Indian Rupees, and he can even look forward to see that savings grow over the years. Recently I spoke to him and congratulated him for his fore-sighted vision and calculated decision based on logical assumptions.
Guess what? He just went on a tirade about how he had been "screwed" by the American System. First, he told me that as a professional earning over $80,000 a year in the IT profession for the three and odd years that he had been here, he had been paying something like $30,000 dollars in federal, state, and local taxes for which he got zilch. Well, he conceded, after I asked him to take a look at one of your previous columns and said, okay, maybe, "The interstate highway system; the G.P.S. satellite system; and, the FAA Air Traffic system, which does a wonderful job". What else? He asked. I could not reply. Next, he told me that he paid over $5000 dollars for Social Security and Medicare for which he truly got zilch... he was paying to support those on welfare and social security and the elderly out here, that is all. I was unable to argue since I know that unless you are a U.S. Citizen, you will never get to see a penny of that in your lifetime. Living in Connecticut, he said, he had to pay property taxes of around $500 a year for a car [the law here], and that he said was used to support the local school system. Next, he cited the long list of things that he did to make sure that his stay was 100% LEGAL in the U.S. by going out of his way to pay sales taxes on goods that he purchased on the internet to the local taxing authority so that he could never be questioned when time came to get his Green Card. Well, I said, you were being naive... nobody is going to come after you for that... but you did the right legal thing... most people don't do that.
Next, he said, his employer paid for unemployment insurance to the state government which his American colleagues who were laid off were able to use to get up to six months of money that helped with their expenses. When he suggested to them that they were essentially getting "free" money, one of them blew his top and told him that the government was simply giving him back what he [or his employer] had been putting in every paycheck as unemployment insurance. Guess what? He said... I could not and according to law would not be allowed to collect even one penny of that money. U.S. employers are required to pay for unemployment insurance even for foreign workers on staff.
Next, he said, his employer put in matching funds into his 401K account which he hoped to see grow into a nice piggy bank for retirement. But the moment he lost his job, he lost part of that matched money since he was not fully "vested" yet. Forced to pull out the remaining funds since his employer was going out of business, he lost more money due to the down market.
Now, pray tell me, he asked quite agitatedly, why should Americans complain when they see an illegal immigrant trying to use public facilities such as schools and hospitals? Have I not paid for all of that as well as subsidize the costs for American Citizens themselves?
"But you know what?" he said with a smile that I could imagine on his face on the telephone on the other side of the world... "When I told all this to an American lady sitting next to me on the plane back home, instead of appreciating the contribution that I have made to this great country, she said something that rankles me to this day." "What did she tell you?" I asked, eager to find out what bothered him so much. "Well," he said, "Her response was - That is what you have to pay for the privilege of working in America!!!!!"
That lady actually viewed all of those taxes and monies that my friend paid as a moral obligation and legal duty to pay for the so called "privilege" of working in America. I am not sure if that should be considered a joke or an insult. What do you say?
Regards,
Ramesh
P.S. You guys, on the other hand, give plenty of reasons why this country is such a great one after all... keep up the good work.
****************************************************
Keep it up.
-vetri.