I don't think the H1-B abuse is straightforward. IMO, many institutions (private and government) are deeply entangled in this. 1. There are many poor universit

I don't think the H1-B abuse is straightforward. IMO, many institutions (private and government) are deeply entangled in this. 1. There are many poor universities promising MS degrees in CS (here in California, there's Silicon Valley University, ITU etc). Not casting aspersions, but I doubt the quality of education from them. 2. Students can't get funding/scholarship. They tend to do odd jobs to make ends meet (many are illegal as students can't work outside of campus). They get in to severe debt. 3. Once they get a degree, clock is ticking to get a H1B. Note that recent OPT extensions give them breathing time. But nonetheless, they must get H1B to stay in country. 4. This is where one room consultancies come in to picture. They sponsor H1B and legally allow staying in US. 5. Students start working at lower end of pay spectrum. A friend of mine is willing to work for $20 - $25/hour (after commissions to consultancies) even after 10+ years of experience. The friend is in web application testing. 6. Sticking with consulting firms, it takes long time to break the "low income" cycle as projects are short lived, pay is low and job insecurity is high. So, #3 and #4 are serving each other. Private universities gets income from students. US consulates in Asia give visas with, probably, tax dollars in mind. I even suspect private universities have some sort of lobbying that allow students from Asian (or other) countries to come for education. So, my point is, this H1-B visa thing is quite deep and goes way back to universities and students coming for education.