"immigrant-spouses"

Surprisingly, the 'brokerage of intellectual capital' and 'creation of intellectual property' are interlinked or at least so it seems!

Large corporations hire talent from time to time, it’s a necessary process during their business life cycle. And temporary staffing helps by adding flexibility to their recruitment process. But temporary staffing - the process of sourcing talent from overseas, is painstakingly exhaustive because it is tedious and an elaborate process, Corporations outsource this task domestically to its vendor staffing agencies, allowing corporations to focus on core business.

Temporary staffing fills the need as it rests on the basis of human issues and the success of an organization is based on the deliverance of these to attract talent - better pay, less working hours, medical and other benefits for family are every day examples of respect to an individuals contribution to its employer.

The H1B visa is America's second largest work visa program to import foreign talent, and to reward the best and the brightest workers with a permanent residency - the Green Card.

Because American staffing firms are allowed to sponsor workers from overseas and out place them locally, earning a commission for every hour worked by their foreign workers, it has spawned multiple layers of such 'brokers' that work on third-party commission.

This grey market for 'intellectual capital brokerage' may seem necessary to build 'intellectual property' for their employers and even though workers work under sweatshop like working conditions, are in serious violation of human rights. 

Take for example, the case of dual employment specific only to foreign guest workers. Dual employment - where the work visa is owned by one company, and the actual work is performed at another. In such a common workplace scenario in The Americas, the foreign workers are tied to their employers like bonded labor through the term of their visas.

Because workers are petitioned for visas with a low salary commitment, there are multiple layers of such brokers between the client company and the company that own work visas of citizens from abroad. While a certain company has a couple of benched employees, there are others that have staffing arrangements with the end client that needs workers. Companies try to bid in selling these benched employees at a low price, in the process pitting the benched employees amongst one another in their effort of finding work. While the end client may benefit by hiring an employee with minimal out of pocket expense, it however, adds more to the layers of such intellectual capital brokerage, with each agent earning a commission of every hour worked by the foreign employee in the process.

The resulting 'take home" salary of the foreign worker is always lower than the suggested prevailing wage and is an attribute of temporary staffing gone unmonitored.

This has created an indentured workforce of foreign citizens, It has also created a parallel workforce of workers that do similar work, speak the same language and put equal efforts, but compete against one another.

This unhealthy compete creates segregation amongst workers and divides them into separate classes - those with rights against those without!

"You have the right to remain silent when questioned. Anything you say or do may be used against you in a court of law."

These famous quotes are what is known as the 'Miranda warnings' and is part of a preventive procedure that law enforcement professionals are required to administer to protect an individual who is subject to direct questioning from a violation, that constitute the right against self-incrimination.

Every individual has a constitutional right to incriminate oneself - from exposing oneself to an accusation or charge of crime. And that right is to remain silent.

The right to remain silent is a legal right recognized in many of the world's legal systems. It covers a number of issues centered around the right of the accused to refuse to comment or provide an answer when questioned, either before or during the legal proceedings in a court of law. It is provisioned so that adverse comments or inferences cannot be made by the judge regarding the refusal by a defendant to answer questions.

In a true democracy, where every one is treated equal, where every one has a right to a job irrespective of their race, religion, sex or gender - spouses of guest workers on certain categories of work visa programs or of the student visas are prohibited from working, denied a bank account and at times even a driver's license.

Without the right to a job, spouses, even though qualified, are denied participation in the workplace. Often young couples drag their married lives living with a hope and expectations that their living conditions may change eventually once they receive a Green Card, and live the so called 'American Dream'. But unfortunately, since their working spouse's visas are tied to their employers, often the precious years are wasted living life in penury.

The 'Miranda warnings' are repeated ever too frequently behind closed hearts… behind closed doors. Married to a working spouse, tied to the spouse's immigration status - evidence points to the severity in the 'irrevocable breakdown' of marriages.

Though nothing much has changed with the laws, then why is America still a preferred destination by knowledge workers? Is it the hope of a Green Card or just an easy route to escape involuntary servitude meted out by their current employers? These are just a few thoughts to ponder!