[freeangel]

You prove my point exactly. There is no need to bring in foreigners who will work for less and displace fully qualified Americans--unless it is to help business cut costs.

[voletti]

Fair enough.
Here's a small connect the dots exercise.
Fact#1: High tech jobs by their very nature are increasingly mobile in an interconnected world.
Fact#2: There exists a very big and very real cost differential between doing many of those tech jobs here and doing them in Asia.
Fact#3: If the jobs don't get filled here at H1B wages, they migrate slowly but surely to Bangalore or Beijing.
Fact#4: Math and sciences are inherently difficult subjects to master compared to liberal arts etc.

All in all, it doesn't add up to a pretty picture. You can maintain status quo or go protectionist (eliminate the H1B program altogether) and yet continue to lose jobs overseas. or you can get more H1Bs in to keep those jobs here at H1B wages. The benefit - all ancillary employment that depends on those jobs being here remain here as well.

Hey, just a thought. I make no claims of knowing the optimal solution here.