[h1bf1throwaway]

This is a huge step forward. The issue of "immigration" is much more important than just building a wall or undocumented / illegal workers, yet those are the apparently the only topics routinely covered by the media.

I spent 2 years on an F-1 visa, 1 year on OPT after that, 6 years on an H-1B working 12+ hours a day in a high paying job that few Americans consider doing. I delivered real value to clients, trained, managed and interviewed juniors, busted my ass effectively 24/7...

In the wake of a "challenging market environment", I was one of 3,000+ laid off... only a few months before my green card arrived. I had never received a bad year-end review package. Apparently the firm 'forgot to check' my immigration status before making the decision.

I have easily paid more than $1 million in taxes to Uncle Sam over the past decade. Yet I can't stay in the country unless I get some other visa.

I can't get an H-1B because I've maxed out on the 6 years I'm allowed to stay. Which makes no sense, since the longer I've been here, the more experienced I am and the more I can contributed to the economy.

I can't start my own company because there are no "real" work visas besides the H-1B, and all work visas require an "employer-employee" relationship, as TFA alludes to.

I can't get a green card because that process would only allow me to start working about 24 months after pressing go.

I can't marry an American because that's not a real solution and, most importantly, I'm already married.

My choices are investing $800k in some shady project for a 0% return over 5 years to get an investor visa or going back to school for another F-1 visa that doesn't allow me to work.

For a country founded by pilgrims and built in large part with the sweat and blood of immigrants, this situation feels unreal.

Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

[wing-_-nuts]

I've heard heard many different versions of your story over the years of working in this industry. I'm firmly convinced that the h1b system is exploitative to the workers who use it. IMHO we should do away with it in favor of simply granting green cards (and later citizenship) to people who wish to come here based on a strict points based system like Canada. Sadly, our government is so captured and dysfunctional I doubt that will happen.

I wish you the best of luck with your issues.