"IT professionals in the U.S. who are not citizens actually earned more than their American colleagues from 2000-2005 and therefore did not depress the salaries

"IT professionals in the U.S. who are not citizens actually earned more than their American colleagues from 2000-2005 and therefore did not depress the salaries of American citizens" I disagree with the logic in this statement, because I don't think that you can conclude that non-citizens don't depress wages simply because they earn more on average than citizens. By the way, this point of logic doesn't necessarily refute the conclusion, I'm just disagreeing with the reasoning. Suppose that IT Professionals fall neatly into two groups. 90% are software installers, and 10% are ultra programmers. Software installers are poorly paid and have no programming ability. Ultra Programmers are intensely educated, well paid, high IQ people who study constantly. Software installers earn 50K/year, and Ultra Programmers earn 150K/yr. Now, suppose you double the number of ultra programmers through a visa program that results in a 25k salary drop for ultra programmers. Well, the average salary for the non-citizen programmers would still be well above the average pay, and it would have increased the average pay, but it would have decreased the "ultra programmer" pay, right? And it would have done this in a way that led to a decrease in average pay for the citizens. out of 10 (9 * 50 + 1 * 150) / 10 = 60 (old average for all IT pros) (9 * 50 + 2 * 125) / 10 = 70 (new average for all IT pros with twice as many ultras at lightly lower pay, one citizen, one non-citizen) (9 * 50 + 1 * 125) / 10 = 57.5 (new average for citizens)