And most indentured servitude arrangements around the world aren't bound to their employers either - but there are other highly coercive forces at play that pre

And most indentured servitude arrangements around the world aren't bound to their employers either - but there are other highly coercive forces at play that prevent people from leaving. Imagine holding someone's family hostage in exchange for them doing something - while they are technically free to do whatever the hell they want, the reality of it is that they are, for all practical intents and purposes, bound to your will. This is, at the end of the day, somewhat of a gray area. How much influence do you need over someone's life before you become a coercive force? IMO the ability to completely unravel your life - to force you to suddenly move (within days!), to eject you from your resident country, etc, clearly falls under this umbrella. H-1Bs change jobs all the time. I've done it myself. But once the green card is in the works, the indentured servitude begins. So perhaps more accurately, H-1Bs aren't indentured servants, but a very large subset of them (i.e., anyone after a GC) are.