If these companies had never been able to hire the best people, there wouldn't now be the same companies hiring more Americans. They would simply exist in other countries, instead of the United States.
By the way, I work at one of these companies and have had frank discussions about compensation with many of my coworkers and I can guarantee you that H1-B holders are NOT being paid less than Americans.
Obviously none of this applies to body shops like Infosys and Tata.
> On immigrating here... I'm not opposed to immigration if it's done the old fashioned way like my dad did it. Come here, apply, wait your tenure for green card, and eventual citizenship.
This suggests to me that you don't actually know what an H1-B visa is. Getting an H1-B is the first step to coming here, waiting for green card, etc. How else do you propose people do it? Out of curiosity, what papers did your dad have that allowed him to come?
My dad moved here from Europe in the early 60s, went through INS, got a green card, a job, and 6 months later was drafted into the Army and went to Vietnam. Unlike Americans at the time, my dad was given the choice to accept the draft or go back to Europe. He accepted the draft, fought in Vietnam, was injured, and EARNED his citizenship the hard way. My dad was a stellar man in many ways. He exemplified the best work ethic I have ever seen and likely will ever see. He went from being a civilian handyman and cook to E9 in the military (only 1% make this grade by law) to earning almost $200k a year before his death.
It's a shame especially considering the hardships your immigrant dad had to go through to give you an opportunity to live in this country.
It took us 10 years of constant applying, thousands of dollars spent before we got our green cards. I still remember my interview because I got my green card in 2015 and it was the most invasive thing I've ever gone through. I still even remember all the interviews we had to do before we got our visas to come to America.
In my opinion, I don't think OP really knows how difficult it is to get to America in the first place as an immigrant. It's not as simple as the media makes it out to be.
Not many immigrants want to sign up for that duty though.
How exactly do you envision for this to work? "come here" how? as a tourist? "apply for a green card" based on what grounds? etc etc.
>> hire Americans first and then consider foreigners ONLY if no qualified Americans can be found in the 50 US states.
sure, sounds good in theory. in reality though, how do you propose this actually happens? hire more gov-t bureaucrats to harass companies to make sure they went from Jacksonville to Anchorage looking for candidates lol ? what if they did happen to find someone but they don't want to relocate? etc etc. It's easy to be throwing slogans out there but reality is a bit more complex.
That said - I do agree with the fundamental intent of the proposed bill as the rampant abuse of the system by big time consulting shops is very real and needs to be addressed, but again it has to be done in a way that doesn't hurt businesses they are supposedly are trying to help.
I would support any law that REQUIRED American companies to hire Americans first and then consider foreigners ONLY if no qualified Americans can be found in the 50 US states.
If America wants to do good by her workers, she needs to put Americans first. Always and foremost. Let India, Vietnam, and China take care of their own people first.
H1-B visas have always been bad for American workers. And they always will be. I would raise the minimum to $250k, were it me. Very few companies will pony up the currency to play that game. If companies were to hire Americans again FIRST, as they should have been doing, perhaps American primary and secondary schools as well as universities would have stronger STEM programs. No one is going to suggest STEM to their children if they have to compete with foreigners.
On H1-B and desire to immigrate here... I'm not opposed to immigration if it's done the old fashioned way like my dad did it. Come here, apply, wait your tenure for green card, and eventual citizenship. Don't come here for an American passport, come here because you want to be an American.