I don't think anyone would argue that there is a shortage of service-sector labor. The debate there is purely over prices: there are business models designed around having large quantities of $7.50/hr-and-no-benefits labor available (in some cases, $5/hr under the table), and they are averse to having to pay more. But pretending that their unwillingness or inability to pay $10/hr means that there would be a "shortage" of unskilled labor at that price is disingenuous. There's plenty of it available, but maybe only for "fairly cheap" rather than "dirt cheap". That might just mean that certain business models are not very good business models.

In any case, that's not what the H1B program is officially about: the purpose of the program isn't supposed to be to keep wages down in sectors where wages would otherwise get too high for businesses to afford them. Instead the argument is that businesses literally can't find workers in these areas, so H1Bs constitute talent filling a critical national skills gap. My argument is that, if that were true, the wages in these critically-lacking sectors would rise accordingly.

I agree the H1B program is abused, but I dont believe there is enough local talent to replace the tens of thousands of h1b workers.

It will result in a lot of small and mid size business closing down. Unfortunately I dont have any suggestions on improving the h1b program.

If the h1b program were closed, I think companies would miraculously discover how to (1) pay more (moving to sfbay is a ludicrously bad economic decision for most families), (2) train employees, and (3) stop leaking women, minorities, and parents out of their companies. In other words, they'll figure it out just fine if forced to do so.

You're not thinking this through: they'd set up more operations abroad.

You apply tax sanctions against them then. It's done constantly to level the playing field between domestic and foreign industry.

> farms and restaurants will collapse.

because they have based their business on illegal practices.

I agree its based on illegal practices. But quite a few of the businesses (not all obviously) do it for survival because that is the only way for them to stay in business.

No, not in the slightest. Take strawberries: an additional 5 cents per pint would increase picker wages by 50% [1]. Businesses minimize worker pay both because they can, and because there is a collective action problem that needs to be solved by the government. Wages for fast-food employees are similar. viz the raise in minimum wages in Seattle which, contra all predictions from conservatives, has not driven restaurants out of business. See eg study suggesting a minimum wage of $15 for fast food workers would increase customer prices by 4.3% [2].

[1] http://www.ufw.org/_board.php?mode=view&b_code=res_white&b_n...

[2] https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2015/Q3/study-raisi...

Your business is not a business if it's survival depends on treating workers as slave labor.

Then they should go out of business?