I’ve got a whole department of them over age 50 who were passed over for years on job applications.
Yep, the problem is coupled with age discrimination. I think it comes down to health insurance costs more than anything. It sure isn’t capability. In my personal experience H1-Bs are usually not competent compared to most home grown (when it comes to problem solving especially). But alas, the bean counters don’t understand tech well enough to understand or maybe just don’t care.