Hey, I have 15 years of experience with xBase, Foxbase, Foxpro and Visual Foxpro, in a tremendous range of settings - I've written some really leading-edge stuff, not necessarily from a technical viewpoint, but from innovating solutions for business problems. I was laid off back in January, and had a heck of a time finding a job - but I finally got one as a data analyst, because that was a large part of what I did previously, along with my development and business analysis/design work. I agree that VFP is a good language for certain applications, and that it isn't a big deal to go from VFP to VB or Access. But VFP simply isn't a good database package for enterprise development, with its 2 gig file size limit and the way it processes data - its a bandwidth hog. And the other problem you face is that HR departments simply run word recognition programs on resumes and don't look at far more valuable skills such as total programming experience or business experience. But you probably don't want to work for a company like that anyway.
Emphasize your business and application skills - IMO programming jobs are going to be a dime a dozen in upcoming years - maybe try to get into management. See if you can get a contract position - that can Trojan Horse you into a company where you can prove your worth - find an agency that specializes in contract work, and they can help get you in the backdoor easier than you trying to kick down the front door. And, if you were an effective developer (and it sounds like you were), you had to learn the business for which you were programming - that's probably more valuable now than your programming skills. Look for those kind of companies, and apply there. Also, re-package your resume, and dwell less on your programming and instead emphaisis achievements. And hang in there - I went through some really low times when I was unemployed, but things will get better.
And I generally agree with you about the H1-B program - but IMO sooner or later a lot of programming jobs were going to go overseas if there was no H1-B program. Companies, for the most part, just don't care any more - they pursue the bottom line, and politicians are more than glad to lie for them to help them pursue their goals.
You'll have freepmail, also, in a few minutes - I have an anecdote I don't want to post on the open forum.