From KCRW in Santa Monica and PRI, Public Radio International, this is To the Point.

Are H-1B visas costing American jobs?

Hello again, I'm Armin Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

H-1B visas are supposed to provide highly skilled workers from overseas, but only when Americans aren't available.

Now, they're a nightmare made real. Veteran employees are not only laid off, but required to train younger, cheaper replacements from other countries.

It's happened at an iconic American company, Disney.

Now tech giants, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook want more foreign workers.

We'll hear how the H-1B program is dividing both parties in Congress

and candidates on the trail to the White House.

Today's talking point is abortion becoming almost impossible in the lone star state.

First, here's the news.

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comes from the members of KCRW and from the Public Radio International Program Fund. Hello again,

Warren Al-Neback with To the Point. Critics say the H-1B visa program is almost an incentive for American companies to replace their employees with lower paid foreign workers. We'll hear how some Americans who are IT workers have been laid off and then required to train their own replacements from other countries. Today's talking point, it's already hard to get an

abortion in Texas. Now, a federal appeals court has upheld restrictions that will make it even more

difficult. The H-1B visa program was begun in 1990. It's designed to fill jobs requiring advanced

science or computer skills when American workers can't be found.

Immigrants who are qualified, then receive temporary work permits. Federal guidelines are clear

the practice should not adversely affect the wages or working conditions of American employees.

Well, last week, the New York Times reported on what happened to 250 IT workers

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