Still ahead, the H-1B visa program is hurting hard working Americans, and Americans who want to work in corporate America, and just about everybody in the Democratic party sitting in the United States Congress couldn't be happier. We'll have a "Special Report" for you coming up next.
And one of the world's most knowledgeable doctors joins me, one of the most knowledgeable doctors on bird flu, and he says there is no question a pandemic is coming. We'll be talking with him next.
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DOBBS: Many American companies just love our federal government's H-1B visa program. Under that program, corporations are able to hire foreign workers for jobs that should be going to American workers, and it just gets better for U.S. firms. A new study says 85 percent of those foreign workers who are receiving H-1 visas are paid well below what Americans would be making for the same job. It is just further evidence that the federal government is failing to protect our hard working middle class, as if we needed more evidence. Bill Tucker has the report.
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BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): H-1B workers in computer occupations were paid, on average, $13,000 less than Americans doing the same work last year.
In a soon-to-be released study by the Programmers Guild, 85 percent of H-1B workers are paid less than the median wage of an American worker. Not only that, those H-1B computer workers are at the bottom of the wage scale. Lobbyists argue that American businesses can't do without more H-1B's.
JOHN MIANO, PROGRAMMERS GUILD: We're being told that these are people that are highly skilled and that their skills are so important that the nation's economy depends upon it, yet they're being paid wages that are the bottom of the barrel.
TUCKER: The conclusion is easily drawn. H-1B's are cheap foreign labor, and Congress is ready to increase the number of H-1B's issued by another 30,000. The current cap is 65,000 new Visas a year.
However, there are exemptions, such as there are no limits to the number of visas issued to universities and research institutions. And up to 20,000 are reserved for foreign workers with graduate degrees from American colleges going to work for U.S. companies. Critics say American companies save jobs for H-1B workers and deny American workers those positions.
REP. BILL PASCRELL, (D), NEW JERSEY: I'm going to introduce legislation next week that says American workers should have the first crack at these jobs and regardless of what GE does and regardless of what Wal-Mart does and regardless of what Lucent does, give them the first opportunity at these jobs and train them.
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TUCKER: And today, the Senate had the chance to say no to more H-1B's, but they didn't. Senator Byrd of Virginia (sic) offered an amendment to strip out the proposed visa increase out of the budget reconciliation bill. Lou, his amendment failed by a vote of 14-to-85.
DOBBS: That is appalling, absolutely appalling. And we thought it would be interesting to you to see who those 14 senators were who had the guts to say enough on this issue. Standing up for our middle class.
Bill, tell us about these folks.
TUCKER: Well, what's interesting is, it's a bipartisan list. It tilts toward the Democrats -- three Republicans, 10 Democrats, one Independent. But only one state Lou, where both senators voted to take the bill out, and that was Louisiana, where you had Landrieu and you had Vitter, Democrat and Republican, voting to take it out and debate the issue independently of the bill.
DOBBS: Appalling, and good for those 14, perhaps their number will swell if courage becomes contagious and concern for working men and women in this country becomes at least, if not contagious, some people can awaken to the interest of the national interest there.
Thank you, Bill Tucker.
While U.S. companies love our government's Visa program, illegal aliens love our broken borders. As we reported, only 75 miles of our 2,000 mile long border with Mexico is protected.
That means an astonishing 96 percent of our entire southern border has no barrier. My guest, next, wanted to change all of that.
Congressman Duncan Hunter wants to build a double-layer of fences along the border. And he joins us tonight from Capitol Hill.
Congressman, good to have you here. Two-thousand miles of border you want to protect it. How much do you think it's going to cost?
REP. DUNCAN HUNTER, (R), CALIFORNIA: Well Lou, we've actually built the double fence in San Diego, as you may know, and that 14 miles between the coastal hills and the Pacific Ocean were one time the nation's worst drug smuggling --
DOBBS: Smuggler's Gulch.
HUNTER: There it is, right there. It was the worst in the world. We built 12 miles of that, and nobody is able to get through that double layer with a border patrol road down the middle.
We can build this, we've had proposals from private companies for about a million bucks a mile. It may cost a little more than that in the tough geographic areas, but we think we can do it between $2 billion and $6 billion.
We're spending billions of dollars every year to handle this flow of illegals, especially the criminal aliens who are clogging up the court system. DOBBS: We can start look very specifically. You're the chairman of the very important House Armed Services Committee. What we're spending to protect this country, yet leaving our southern border and our northern border absolutely vulnerable. It is extraordinary, I think, to most people watching and listening to you, Congressman.
To find that we would not spend considerable money and effort to protect this country from what last year, three million people crossed that border illegally, to protect them from the potential of a terrorist entry.
HUNTER: Lou, you know, the world has changed. Lots of people, especially in Texas and New Mexico. When I started building the border fence in California, I asked those folks if they wanted to build fences and they said no, we want a friendly border.
The friendly border has now evolved into a border, No. 1 through which terrorists can come. We've caught North Koreans coming across, Communist Chinese.
DOBBS: In the past year?
HUNTER: Absolutely. In the past year, people from Yemen, lots of countries that sponsor terrorism, including Iran. So, it's no longer just an immigration issue. It's a national security issue, and I think we had a ton of Republicans sign onto this thing today, we're going to get this thing up and moving and I think we'll get it passed.
DOBBS: Let me ask you something, Congressman. Does the leadership of the House, the Republican leadership of the House, the Republican leadership of the Senate understand?
Do they look at same polls the rest of us do? I mean, the American people are fed up with this issue of illegal immigration. They're fed up with the fact we even have a Department of Homeland Security when we don't even protect our borders. Do they understand that?
HUNTER: Lou, the Republican leadership is on board with this thing. They pushed the legislation, as you know, behind Jim Sensenbrenner, that got Smuggler's Gulch closed. We had to hangup for six years on environmental issues and we now have a waiver for the entire border, north and south, where we can waive environmental issues, build the fences. Let's do it.
DOBBS: Quick test, Congressman. How soon can you get this legislation passed and how soon can you get it done?
HUNTER: I think we're going to get it done quickly, Lou. We got Smuggler's Gulch closed up fairly quickly. I think we'll get a -- it's got a lot of critical mass, I think we'll move it through very quickly.
DOBBS: This year?
HUNTER: I think so. That's my hope and we got the -- we got Smuggler's Gulch closed faster than I thought we would.
DOBBS: Fourteen miles down, 1,986 to go. Congressman.
HUNTER: Bring your pole vaulting team, Lou.
DOBBS: You got it. Thank you very much.
Appreciate it. Congressman Duncan Hunter.
Take a look now at some of your thoughts. Many of you writing in about the so-called diversity Visa Lottery program that our State Department uses, that of course, would allow potential terrorists to enter this country legally because it's a lottery after all.
Why would we want them to use care and judgment? Wieslaw Pogorzelski of San Francisco, California, said, the visa lottery is brilliant. I have another idea, let's elect our president by having the candidates play Russian Roulette.
Darla Howard in Tennessee Ridge, Tennessee, this so-called land of the free is a joke. Let's just give it to the illegal aliens and the terrorists. They get more help from our president and his people than the Americans do.
Jeff Gullikson in Wakonda, South Dakota, the more illegals, the cheaper the labor, the bigger the profits. The only thing about illegal immigrants that concerns the Bush White House is how to get more of them in, and the faster, the better. Security and America, be damned.
And Elisa Writesel of Columbus, Ohio. Lou, as members of the liberal middle class, by husband and I live under a darkening cloud. Thanks for always brightening our day with your no B.S. allowed broadcast.
Jim Speed of Pensacola, Florida. The rule 21 stunt dragged the Senate to a new low with the Congressional equivalent of a fraternity food fight. We have big problems and the Senate Dems are wasting time looking for a Republican, any Republican, to blame for political purposes. Senators have replaced used car salesmen as the ultimate bottom feeders.
