Immigrant Visa Worker Champion Gov Hogan’s Unemployment Program Fails Marylanders

Thousands of unemployed Marylanders have run into issues accessing the state’s new jobless claim portal run by Sagitec Solutions. According to the Washington Post, Governor Larry Hogan awarded the $49M contract to the firm, which is dependant on H-1B Visas.

A popular Visa job site says that Sagitec has filed 302 labor condition applications for H1B visa and 84 labor certifications for green card from the fiscal year 2017 to 2019. Sagitec Solutions was ranked 671 among all visa sponsors.

Unemployed Marylanders have run into issues accessing the state’s new jobless claim portal. The upgraded portal has repeatedly malfunctioned & frustrated unemployed workers.@GovLarryHogan awarded the $49M contract to Sagitec, an H-1B dependent IT firm.

Unemployed Marylanders have run into issues accessing the state’s new jobless claim portal. The upgraded portal has repeatedly malfunctioned & frustrated unemployed workers.@GovLarryHogan awarded the $49M contract to Sagitec, an H-1B dependent IT firm.https://t.co/Gh9sURehEY

— U.S. Tech Workers (@USTechWorkers) May 4, 2020

Many have found themselves unemployed thanks to the Coronavirus and the states’ stay at home order. The now unemployed workers have even taken to the firm’s Facebook page to express their grievances.

One Facebook user said, “Whatever Maryland paid you is too much. BEACON is horrendous and causing so many Marylanders harm and frustration. You obviously weren’t capable of the job. Shame on Maryland for hiring you.”

Immigration watchdog Numbers USA retweeted the U.S Tech Workers tweet and pointed out that Hogan “also advocates for more H-2B workers to displace Marylanders and drive down wages in seafood processing jobs in his state.”

They called on President Trump to expand the immigration ban and “give Marylanders and all Americans the opportunity for employment in the U.S.”

Gov Larry Hogan also advocates for more H-2B workers to displace Marylanders and drive down wages in seafood processing jobs in his state. President Trump Give Marylanders and all Americans the opportunity for employment in the U.S. #ExpandTheBan @DHS_Wolf @HomelandKen

.@GovLarryHogan also advocates for more H-2B workers to displace Marylanders and drive down wages in seafood processing jobs in his state. @realDonaldTrump Give Marylanders and all Americans the opportunity for employment in the U.S. #ExpandTheBan ?? @DHS_Wolf @HomelandKen https://t.co/44pXiwyDx8

— NumbersUSA (@NumbersUSA) May 4, 2020

Hogan wrote a letter in February to Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia requesting them to “take immediate action to increase the number of H-2B Nonimmigrant Temporary Worker Program visas — now capped at 66,000 — to the maximum allowable under federal law.”

Hogan was successful last year in pushing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to release an additional 30,000 visas through the H-2B program. This came after the federal administration’s 2018 decision to limit the number of visas available, a move that he claimed inflicted harm to the local crab industry and seasonal employers.

Recently, Hogan appeared on left-wing comedy “news” program, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, where he criticized the Federal response to the Coronavirus. Noah had recently done the same by saying that Trump “seems to think of chaos as an essential service.”