As head of DHS, Napolitano could not unilaterally raise the cap, which is now set at 85,000 -- a figure that includes 20,000 visas for advanced degree graduates. Congress sets the H-1B cap, but the head of DHS oversees how the program operates.

"Napolitano has publicly and repeatedly called for major H-1B expansion," said , an assistant professor of public policy at the Rochester Institute of Technology and author of Outsourcing America , and "in that respect she is no friend of American IT workers." Hira said that Napolitano believes employers should have easier access to H-1Bs, "meaning she would try to streamline the application process even more."

In a speech at the National Press Club in February 2007, Napolitano, also indicated that she wants to make it easier for foreign graduates of U.S. schools to get green cards, bypassing the need H-1B visa in those cases. Napolitano believes that after they pass a background check, scientists and engineers "should have a green card stapled to their diplomas."

If Obama pushes ahead with her nomination and if she is confirmed, one thing Napolitano will have to deal with at USCIS are . As many as one in five H-1B petitions had problems, including fraud, according to a study recently released by the USCIS.

Arizona had been using offshore call centers to provides services to welfare recipients, but Napolitano ended the practice in 2004. A TV news report looked at the practice; an annotated copy of that report is archived on the Job Destruction site .