FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE/January 15, 1998
CONTACT: Sara Foer [202/651-7023]; Joan Meehan [202/651-7020];
http://www.nursingworld.org
American and Foreign Nurses Abused by Massive Visa Fraud
American Nurses Association Says Scam Hurts U.S. Nurses' Wages
Washington, D.C. -- The American Nurses Association (ANA) calls the smuggling of foreign registered nurses into the United States a blatant fraud upon both American and foreign nurses, as well as a denigration to the profession as a whole.
"Registered nurses from foreign countries were illegally brought to the United States and taken advantage of by unscrupulous individuals," said ANA President Beverly L. Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN. "The deception carried out on American and foreign nurses is reprehensible. The foreign nurses were abused and given false promises of higher wages and good working conditions while American nurses missed out on job opportunities and millions of dollars of income."
According to the U.S. Attorney Paul E. Coggins, "Operation Windmill," a 33-month investigation by the South Plains Texas Visa Fraud Task Force, resulted in the breakup of a major smuggling ring that used fraud and deceit to obtain legitimate H-1A visas, a special non-immigrant work visa category created in 1989 as a response to a sustained shortage of registered nurses (RNs). The program was allowed to sunset in September 1995, since a shortage no longer existed and American nurses were being underutilized.
Using the H-1A program unlawfully, this smuggling ring brought more than 500 alien RNs into the U.S. illegally. According to the U.S. Attorney's office, the RNs were working in 35 states across the country, earning substandard wages, living in crowded and sometimes unsanitary conditions, and mostly residing here illegally. While each of the conditions under which the RNs were brought into the country is deplorable, the payment of substandard wages violates the Nursing Relief Act of 1989. In some cases, RNs were hired as nurses' aides at an hourly rate as low as $5.00. According to the Texas Nurses Association (TNA), a constituent member of ANA, some of the foreign nurses had contacted TNA explaining that they feared deportation if they complained about their wages and working conditions.
In April 1995, the U.S. Embassy in Manila discovered an abnormally high volume of H1A visa petitions being filed by nursing homes primarily in Texas and Oklahoma, all of which were allegedly signed by the same individual. Billy Denver Jewell, an owner of 22 nursing homes in Texas and Oklahoma who led the smuggling ring, and four others pleaded guilty yesterday to federal charges of visa fraud and alien smuggling. In addition, TNA brought attention to this situation by filing a complaint with the regional wage and hour commission on behalf of the foreign nurses.
Under the guise of a nursing shortage that existed during the mid-1980s, Jewell was able to carry out his moneymaking scheme, in which some nurses paid up to $7,500 to obtain a fraudulent visa.
"While some areas, especially California, face a possible nurse shortage as a result of converging factors, such as an aging population, increased demand for RNs outside traditional hospital settings, and downsizing, the country as a whole has enough nurses and does not need to import them in large numbers from other countries," said Malone.
While the U.S. Attorney stated that the hospitals, nursing homes, and clinics were most likely unaware of the situation, ANA asserts that those health care facilities were most certainly aware that they were paying wages lower than the prevailing rate. According to TNA, an RN in Texas could earn up to $14 an hour; however, as foreign nurses entered the market and accepted lower wages, the prevailing rate for Texas nurses dropped to about $11 per hour.
"The impact of this fraud upon American nurses has been immense," said Thomas McKeever, chief of criminal investigations at the Diplomatic Security Service. According to investigators, as a result of the influx of foreign nurses, the unemployment rate of American nurses in Lubbock County increased, with American nurses' losing more than $13 million a year in salary opportunities.
Although the news media report that patients experienced no apparent harm to date, the presence of nurses working on fraudulent visas raises one critical question: how can the public be assured that patient care was not placed in danger when no one was responsible for ensuring that these foreign nurses were qualified and licensed practitioners?
ANA supported the sunsetting of the H-1A visa program because the program was unnecessary due to the current trend of downsizing of RNs within the health care industry, the increasing numbers of nurses entering the United States under the negotiated trade agreements, and the increasing supply of domestic RNs.
"Employers who provide good wages and working conditions have no trouble recruiting and retaining well-educated nurses," said Malone. "Continuing the H-1A visa program would have been misguided in today's environment, especially since it opens the door to abuse of foreign and American nurses."
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The American Nurses Association is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.6 million Registered Nurses through its 53 constituent associations. ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the work place, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.
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