[geebee]

The problems with employer controlled work visas are so apparent, and have been apparent for so long, that I believe these issues really are a feature rather than a bug. Keep in mind, the people and companies that lobbied hard for this program are the same ones that orchestrated a massive and clearly illegal collusion to suppress wages.

I think they've gotten away with it for this long because they have an exceptional tool in their arsenal - calling anyone who opposes employer controlled visas "anti-immigration". Even PG got in a few digs[1]. They get an assist from genuinely anti-immigrant people, whose opinions they present as the only argument, and they succeed in making people with reasonable objections to employer-controlled immigration spend the rest of the talk show disassociating themselves from this allegation.

At this point, I'm convinced that part of the reason we don't have a skilled immigration that preserves the freedom of mobility of the immigrants themselves is that high tech companies and investors don't want immigrants to have this freedom. They like it that an immigrant's right to reside in the US depends on staying in the good graces of their employer. They like it that a founder's right to live in the US depends on the blessing of a venture capitalist. Employers and investors don't want their power to end at offering a job or money, they want more power over people than this. They keep things this way because it gives them a tremendous amount of power over their workforce.

[1] http://www.paulgraham.com/95.html