You turned this into an H1Bs thing a heartbeat... And this in a country built by and welcoming towards immigrants. Shouldn't we be discussing how to make the industry and the life of H1Bs better?
Why? That does not make any sense whatsoever. Most corporations that use H1Bs have billions sitting in cash in their bank accounts. They are more than capable of paying for local workers. There is a glut of local workers looking for jobs that can do the work that are for the most part as smart as the immigrants.
The work is highly profitable. The skills are present in the local population. Why should anyone want H1Bs in the US at all other than the investors looking for the largest returns for exploiting the poorest people in the world.
Ultimately this whole issue is an issue of exploitation at the behest of the owners of America who don't give a shit about its people. Initially they exploited slaves, then they exploited immigrants, now they want to import not even real immigrants to exploit.
What doesn't make sense is how can the corporations have billions sitting in cash per your logic. Just because they pay the H1Bs less doesn't mean that one time savings creates revenue. The H1Bs must be producing enough satisfactory work to tip the scales the corporation's way. I don't buy into your writing the current 'owners of America' are equivalent to those who 'Initially they exploited slaves'. Another view point: I am currently in Java, Indonesia, where a rice field laborer makes about $4 per day. Some leave to work in Hong Kong as domestic helpers making $20 per day and send money back home. Maybe the Hong Konger feels they are exploiting this person, but this person feels grateful to have the opportunity to earn 5x more. The downside is missing family and friends back home, and Hong Kong provides very little rights to these workers. The US is more generous in this aspect of worker's rights.
H1Bs are our century's slaves, imported to work the tech plantations. Cheaper than locals. Fewer rights. Easier to exploit. And also make their owners a lot of money. In this case they are better off for it, that much has changed.
I'm mixed on your analogy. I would rather argue, H1Bs are the modern day SCABS (union comparison) when you consider Tata and the other body shops. They are there to be used by companies break down wages, remove workers, and ostensibly reduce costs.
Reality is, they do displace workers, but over the long terms costs go up due to lost customers and revenue and the need to replace those workers with competent unsourced individuals (happening a lot over the last 3-5 years).
This is not speaking to the general H1B individual, only those that places like Tata and IBM have been hiring to "offshore work" and "reduce costs"; and those same companies slowly lose enterprise customers fed up with the lack of quality.
HP was another company that took on contracts providing corporate IT services, outsourced them and then found customers firing them and then insourcing talent.
This is quite a harsh analysis but not too far from the truth. The limitations placed on H1Bs and the fact that you are really easier to exploit is one of the main reasons I have chosen in the past to go to a different country for work. If an H1B had the same rights as say a Tier 1 migrant in the UK you would see A LOT less abuse of this system.
A Tier 1 migrant in the UK has total freedom over who they can work for. They are not tied to a particular company and as such can leave for a better job without any administration overhead for them. They also have the ability to start their own company without any restrictions. This places them on equal footing with any local job applicants as they cannot be forced to work for lower than the industry going wage.
Yeah, it's pretty damn far from the truth. If you know of H1B workers who were violently kidnapped in their home countries and stacked like cordwood in the holds of ships bound for slave auctions in America, I'd urge you to log off of HN and contact the appropriate authorities without further delay.
I didn't forget, it's just equally irrelevant. Slavery and other forms of human trafficking are very real issues worldwide, even in the 21st century. It's demeaning (not to mention just plain stupid) to compare H1B workers to slaves.
Tier-1 General category is now closed. https://www.gov.uk/tier-1-general/overview I moved to the UK on a Tier-1 in 2010, and it was very straight forward, points based system.