[vikramkr]

They know how many have h1bs, but not how many of them are actually in the US. Which is just amazing. We need to bend over and let them take our privacy away so they can fight the terrorists apparently, but the same government doesnt even keep track of how many h1b holders are in the country? If the data of who every citizen is calling on their phones is so important for national security- how is it not worth the government's time to collect and analyze data to figure out who is actually in the country?

[arcticbull]

Especially since the government gets from all non-immigrants:

- Common carrier arrival manifests.

- Visa stamp process arrival record and I-94 issuance. [4]

- US-VISIT biometrics collection on arrival. [2]

- Form I-9 when starting a new job. [3]

- Form AR-11 every time they move. [1]

- Common carrier departure manifests.

- Tax returns.

As far as I can tell the only people who "sneak out" do so by crossing the border into Canada and the US should have access to that data from Canadian authorities after the fact also.

[1] https://www.uscis.gov/ar-11

[2] https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/usvisit/usvisit_edu_trav...

[3] https://www.uscis.gov/i-9

[4] https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/

[paxys]

They definitely have all the data they need, verifiable many times over. No one wants to do the work to talk to all the different agencies involved to compile it.

[hanniabu]

It's unbelievable how much inefficiencies are created from this. I presume it's on purpose to make oversight more difficult.

[asdff]

If there were a pressing need for the exact figure, it would be more accessible. The fact that it isn't means there hasn't been a need for it yet.

[enraged_camel]

When was the last time you traveled outside the USA? Did you notice how Customs and Border Patrol did not check and stamp your passport, like they do for incoming travelers?

Therefore, since there is no way to detect when an H1B worker leaves the country, there is no easy way to estimate the number of H1Bs currently in the country.

[woobar]

Common carriers used to collect paper I-94 forms when visitors were checking in for their return flights. Now they transmit this information to CBP electronically.

This site will let you search your own travel history with both arrival and departure dates - https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/history-search

[Frost1x]

I find it difficult to believe that official forms of transport passenger manifest data isn't made available to the government, be it plane, ship, etc. especially with "no-fly" lists and the type of information you have to provide (at least for flights). For boats, I have no clue, but I would imagine it wouldn't be too far off.