if you provide people in h1 with job mobility, there will be less reason to stay in one place. infact, most of the bodyshop companies bank on this. if people leave for better pay and can do without issues, the companies have no choice but to raise the wages. unless this is fixed, even if h1b abuse is reduced by increasing wages, there are more than 300k people waiting in green card line who will also be part of wage supression. it is not that every employer actively need to seek these exploited crowd, they will do this themselves, as they are worried about rejection at every possible step. my gc application had request for information, because USCIS does random audits with more than 30% of all applications. thus to get to some stage where I have to wait for my green card took me 2.5 years. if my priority date is close, i am not going to take this type of risks at all. the line for india is 150 years long. there is unlikely to be any progress in this line anytime without legislation.
$10 hour IT people filling up buildings with rows and rows of desks would disagree with you. But hey, living with 15 other guys in bunk beds is living the American dream right?
H1Bs absolutely suppress wages. Our public university system is also flooded with those accepted because they are willing to pay international tuition. Sucks for kids here trying get into home state schools.
Most people have a certain amount of pride in their ideology. That doesn't mean we shouldn't call a spade a spade.
As long as we're giving out free advice, I'd recommend you be careful about outing yourself as a self-identified globalist anywhere outside the safety net of big tech.
There is massive wage suppression here. It is simple economics of supply and demand. Wages have been stagnant for 18 years once you factor in inflation.
It stands to reason that all immigration benefits the immigrants. That's not the issue being discussed.
To your specific point, I actually agree. H-1B should be thrown out in favor of a streamlined green card process that makes it fast and easy for highly-skilled workers to stay indefinitely. It's absurd that it takes over a year (or even 5-10 years) to actually get the piece of plastic after being approved and thoroughly vetted.
But also keep in mind, this applies to a relatively small number of people. I'm only talking about the skilled workers themselves (as in EB-2 or EB-1), not their entire extended families.
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Think of H1-B employees that work in IT (admins, DBA, etc). It's in the 1000s.
As long as we're giving out free advice, I'd recommend you be careful about outing yourself as a self-identified globalist anywhere outside the safety net of big tech.
I'd support policy measures to make it even better for the immigrants, of course. Anyone who wants a green card should get one within 12-18 months.
To your specific point, I actually agree. H-1B should be thrown out in favor of a streamlined green card process that makes it fast and easy for highly-skilled workers to stay indefinitely. It's absurd that it takes over a year (or even 5-10 years) to actually get the piece of plastic after being approved and thoroughly vetted.
But also keep in mind, this applies to a relatively small number of people. I'm only talking about the skilled workers themselves (as in EB-2 or EB-1), not their entire extended families.