Exactly.
A lot of people are not aware of how our university system works.
Even at the undergrad level, a significant segment of our science and engineering students are either foreign students or the first generation American children of foreign immigrant.
Most come from Asia or India, but with a smattering of European, Canadian, South American, Aussie and Africans students.
At the graduate level, in many science and engineering programs, foreign students are the majority of the students
Americans are just are not opting for the difficult and rigorous disciplines in the numbers they used to, and many who do are the children of H1B parents who have become naturalized Americans.
At the PhD level, Americans are the minority of both the students and faculty.
This is why the H1B visa program was started.
Without the H1B program, America's brain drain of top foreign students returning to their home countries would become a crisis.
And yes, H1B students are cheap labor ( up to 50% less than an American of similar qualifications) that tolerates working conditions and life style no American would tolerate for the first 3-5 years of employment while they get established in the US. In the Silicone Valley, H1B visa is almost a tradition in the mold of what internship used to be for medical students transitioning to become doctors or boot camp is to soldiers.
Like all government programs, there is serious abuse of the program by unscrupulous and exploitative companies and the the H1B visa program needs serious reform to stop the abuse, but H1B is vital to our nations ability to recruit the best and brightest.
Liar.