They usually are.
The law requires companies to make a "good faith" effort to hire Americans, and to hire a foreigner only after they've "proven" that they can't find a qualified American.
So, the way they get around that requirement is to craft a job description that nobody can meet*, announce that there are no qualified Americans available, and then hire a foreigner. The foreigner doesn't meet the job description either, but nobody goes back and verifies or enforces that he does.
*I have personally seen job postings in the IT world demanding, e.g., 5 years experience with a technology that had only been out in the market for 3 years. This is done to justify hiring a foreigner "because there are no qualified Americans".
So, the way they get around that requirement is to craft a job description that nobody can meet*, announce that there are no qualified Americans available, and then hire a foreigner. The foreigner doesn’t meet the job description either, but nobody goes back and verifies or enforces that he does.
*I have personally seen job postings in the IT world demanding, e.g., 5 years experience with a technology that had only been out in the market for 3 years. This is done to justify hiring a foreigner “because there are no qualified Americans”.
And many big corporations have H-1B specialists in HR—one displaced worker told of a department devoted to H-1B visa workers.