In this thread: people not realizing that a news story about rules working as expected can still show terrible things happening to people — the discussion should be whether the rules are appropriate. Yes H1-B visas are “temporary”, but they are also dual-intent and one of the most popular ways to legally immigrate permanently: a carrot dangled in front of foreign workers to keep them compliant. It is still horrible to toss people aside — the immigration and job system has told these people: maybe I will let you build your life here, but maybe I won’t, try your best to please me and find out. Invest years of your work and life into building this country, and maybe we’ll let you keep the life you build here.

No one is arguing that this isn’t how the system works, but this is the cause of many of its ills! If the system wasn’t temporary, the people with the visas wouldn’t need to work harder than domestic workers for less. The fact that this can happen is why H1-B workers have less power, and why all labor thus has less power overall. All of you cheering the workers being sent back — those jobs aren’t now available for domestic workers, they just don’t exist. Every remaining H1-B worker knows that the ice is thin; they should work even harder for even less because the loss of job means not only the loss of income, but potentially uprooting their whole lives. This is just another benefit for the companies doing the layoffs, not a benefit for any domestic workers.

Perhaps this means that fewer people will apply for H1-B visas to reduce competition for American workers? It’s possible, but we already have more people waiting on these visas than getting them. Those smart enough to see how we treat people bringing their skills to the country may stay home, which may be great for their home country, not so much for the domestic US industry if we now have more skilled workers building more competitive companies in other countries. Those leaving could very well could take their skills and experience and bring their job with them, out of the country.

This is all to say: labor is connected. What is bad for some labor is bad for all labor.

Besides all of this, the H1-B workers I know are some of the most intelligent and hardworking individuals I know, and get paid at the same level as domestic workers. It’s funny that the arguments here are either that a more skilled domestic worker should have the job and do it better, or that the foreign worker is working too hard for too little. Which is it? Are they not skilled or productive enough or too skilled and productive?