Exactly. Scratch an economist, or economist-wannabe, and find underneath an apologist multinational shill. As with statistics, in economics one can pretty much prove anything one wants-- just divide the pie in a different arbitrary manner and presto.
At the reality level, this merits a chuckle or two. I would challenge anyone who writes favorably about H1B policy to put themselves in the trenches for a time and experience the effects of the policy firsthand-- something I somehow doubt any H1B advocates ever bother to do.
The damage is not necessarily confined to economics. We are importing thousands of workers from overseas who have, in essence, a fundamentally different idea of what government is and should do in relation to the individual. These folks have little affinity for such cherished notions as the Constitution and Bill of Rights (you will hear from them phrases such as "why do you need that? in my country... [insert third-world socialist policy here]"). Please forgive some of us if we start to roll our eyeballs on hearing this.
And then the imported workers bring their relatives with the same [third-world socialistic, but then socialistic is generally good for multinational business] views.
But, hey, narrow your perspective enough, and align your frame of reference with the current multinational policy being hawked in the bowels of Congress, and any sow's ear becomes a purse. (Now to publish... :-)
You can say that the rewards are worth the pain all you want. But it is all about incrementalism. So go ahead and publish. If we all wake up someday and find a homegrown Bhopal in our own backyards, at least we'll know exactly who deserves the credit.