Ted Cruz is trying to get 325,000 more H-1B foreign workers in.
That's a problem for the IT people for sure. It may reduce offshoring but I don't know the total impact.
Actually, Ted Cruz is trying to get at least 2.75 million more H-1B foreign workers.
Today, the yearly quota is 65,000. Add 20,000 more for Ph.D's and a long list of “specialists.” Multiply times six. Why six? Because each H-1B is automatically renewable for six years. Universities, government agencies, and non-profit labs can hire an unlimited number of H-1B’s that do not count against the yearly quota. How many H-1B’s work “off quota?” No one knows, because there are no records.
The minimum estimate of H-1B’s currently in the USA is 550,000, which is where I get the 2.75 million number for Ted Cruz (550,000 times 500%).
At least one scholar at the Center for Immigration Studies estimates the number of H-1B’s currently in the USA is “close to 1 million.”