I was reading "The Institute", which is a monthly newspaper printed by the IEEE (Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers) to inform members of what the IEEE itself is doing. One of the letters to the editor is from a US member who is concerned about IEEE-USA's stance on H1B Visas. IEEE-USA is a self-governing organization that exists to further the interests of US members, who make up greater than 50% of the total membership.

IEEE-USA has arranged relatively low cost benefits for US members such as health, life, and property insurance, retirement accounts, money market accounts, and other benefits that you could get from most places of employment. The advantage is that these benefits would be portable as you move from job to job.

So far, none of these benefits are controversial. The problem is that IEEE-USA also tries to represent its members politically by lobbying Congress. Now, anytime politics is involved, you will not get concensus from your members. And that is what has happened with IEEE-USA's official position to prevent or minimize the increase in H1B Visas.

H1B Visas are used to allow foreign technical workers to work in the US. They are mainly used by high-tech companies to import much needed skills, mainly from the Pacific Rim and India. One problem is that these workers will and do work for less money than their US counterparts. There are studies that have shown that there are enough of a work pool to satisfy our current demand for high-tech skills. Many high-tech companies disagree, bringing up their own experts and studies to show that there is a shortage of high-tech US workers.

The issue with some of the US membership regarding the HIB Visas is that by supporting H1B Visa limits, we are violating two of the points in the IEEE Code of Ethics. These are that: we agree to treat all persons fairly regardless of race, sex, religion, etc and that we agree to assist colleagues and co-workers in their professional development. H1B Visa limits are in a sense a form of discrimination based on nationality, and they also can prevent our foreign-born colleagues from improving themselves by coming to the US to work (and learn).

I can see this argument, which is ideals based. And I can see the more pragmatic argument that we should support our own citizens who, because of culture and a higher standard of living, require higher pay than their foreign colleagues. It's not an easy problem with a facile solution.

In my mind, I have to support the Code of Ethics. It's not part of the IEEE or IEEE-USA charter, so it's not something for those two organizations to follow. It is meant for the individual engineer, but since engineers make up the people who run the IEEE-USA, it should reflect those ideals.

The question is, are H1B Visa limits contradictory to the Code of Ethics? I'm not too sure, I haven't really read up on the IEEE-USA side of it. One thing IEEE-USA should do is somehow help make US engineers more hireable than foreign engineers. They either know more (support extension education), or (especially for the older engineers) should be protected from being discriminated based on age. As usual, few issues in life are clear-cut.