>>> After all, the workers who qualify for H1-B's are a self-selecting group who are, by definition, identified as the most talented employees. There is no guar

>>> After all, the workers who qualify for H1-B's are a self-selecting group who are, by definition, identified as the most talented employees. There is no guarantee that their counterparts who stayed home are able to do the job properly This is false. Many (at least 50% of H1B Indian workers) do not fall under this category. To give you an example (in software): a company like Infosys would send you average or below average consultants who are good at communicating in English. And then Infosys would charge you higher than the premium developers located in the US, while paying the worker just about average (or even minimum pay by market standards). Over a longer period of time, there are quality issues, reworks, extensions and dependability created. Now, even if a client decided to leave Infosys and hire a premium developer - it is hard and costly. Who wants to take responsibility of a bad quality thing without being given time to improve quality. The rest of the 50% who are talented, they get paid well, they contribute positively to the US economy and indirectly hurt the Indian economy.