Even ignoring the cost, H1B candidates need to file their paperwork 6/7 months before starting, which means interviewing 7/8 months before October. And then you get a 50% chance that the application is going to be rejected by the initial lottery.
This doesn't apply to companies "cheating the system" (looking at the consulting companies that apply for most of the h1bs w/ a lower salary), but most real companies that apply for real h1bs would much rather find a similarly qualified US person.
Re:There is no shortage of STEM workers
by liopleurodon on Monday February 15, 2016 @05:24PM
(#11106506)
Not sure if this is what GP was getting at, but H1Bs by some estimates make significantly less than non-H1Bs and thus would pay less income tax
>pay the same taxes or more
Resident aliens pay the same tax rate, but do not qualify for many of the tax benefit tools (as an eg 401k is effectively useless because it becomes taxable income as soon as the person no longer resides in the US). Additionally one should consider that resident aliens pay significant tax with little hope of ever claiming a benefit, we do not get social security if unemployed (infact we get deportation), medicaid for our senior family members (they have no right to be here) etc.
> is far more likely to buy real estate
This is due to immigration rules. One cannot reasonably buy real estate unless they have some assurance of being able to stay in the time that buying makes sense. That timeline is 5-10 yrs at a minimum. H1Bs and other visas have 3 yr limits on them and can be revoked at any time.
> assuredly un-employ some American
You have little to no proof of this. I would argue the cost of bringing an H1B into the country (>= $10k) should make the existing American employee quite attractive.
I hope you can see that the deck is actually stacked in the local American's favor, and that a protectionist policy just drives jobs out of the country where they cannot be taxed at all.