Previous threads we've done: https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=proberts.
Why?
It's their money and their business.
What business do you or I have in forcing upon them what they can do? any more than they would have any business forcing themselves upon us?
It is a race to the bottom that Americans will never win.
Americans who want a normal wage and life are never going to be able to compete on price with someone in South America or Eastern Europe.
This is the kind of things that should result in massive tariffs and extremely onerous tax and paperwork for the companies that do it.
Otherwise, all of our expertise will just move outside of the world and to the desperate abroad. And for what benefit?
It would also help enormously if the immigration was not tied to a specific company, i.e., the worker could jump to a new company at will without having to convince Company-B to do the whole sponsorship process. As it is, (iirc) if they lose their job, they have only 90?180 days to find a new sponsor or go home. This would make it much less exploitative, and also lower incentives for companies to sponsor H1Bs instead of seeking US workers. Write your congress-reps & Senators.
(Source: tech co founder in some companies that did H1Bs, so not sponsoring but managing the workers brought under the process; also competed under a coach that my school took exceptional efforts to get here from Austria because of his world-class qualifications, they still had to really fine-tune the requirements)
Isnt it the employers exploiting the system?
The parent's sentiment is valid. There's no reason the US needs to import startups - there's plenty here in the US that don't get funding/support/attention they already deserve.
Instead of helping immigrate potential founders - I'd rather see YC do outreach in these other countries to empower/support founders within their home nation.
But, that might slightly diminish YC's chances of funding the next Facebook or something... so here we are.
Well, that's a woefully short-sighted and zero sum way of thinking.
"an impressive 44.8% of Fortune 500 companies in 2023, equating to 224 companies, were founded by immigrants or their children."
So, it is more accurate to say that the US is abusing and exploiting other countries by stealing their job-creators and thus, jobs.
Source:
https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/news/new-report-r....
AFAICT, the parent answered that with "This whole system...puts U.S. citizens out of work." (Whether that's actually true or not, I'm not entirely certain, but the argument could definitely be made, and, in all likelihood, convincingly.)
> What business do you or I have in forcing upon them what they can do? any more than they would have any business forcing themselves upon us?
Presumably, it's people's business because the US is basically a nation governed by the people who see it as their responsibility to help ensure their basic values (peace, prosperity, life, freedom, justice, pursuit of happiness, etc.). So, when there's regulation that affects the people, it actually is their business.
This is commonly stated but is not true. US companies are required to pay the "Prevailing Wage" [0] to H-1Bs, so they cannot use foreigners to undercut US citizens.
However, foreigners whose presence in the US is dependent on their employment are certainly more likely to be abused by employers
This is laughable. I do not know how the government calculates those wages, but as someone who got to US on H-1B visa this year I'm making more than 2x the "prevailing wage" listed on my LCA application.
Just to clarify: my job is a Software Architect, in one of East Coast states, and the prevailing wage listed in my application was $84k. So it is not that my salary is especially good, it's this government-mandated one that is a joke.
I'm lucky, because I came here to work for the same company I used to work in my home country so I got offered good terms (somehow H-1B was easier to get than L-1). If some company offered me a job for the "prevailing wage" I would laugh in their face, but I'm sure for some people that would seem like a lucrative offer.
I know from talking to my American colleagues that my total comp is around the same level as theirs, so at least at my company they don't undercut US citizens.
Your listed PW does seem quite low, and I don't know how they actually measure it. I certainly agree that companies will do whatever they can to lower wages for all worker, and not including stock or bonus in the prevailing wage is ripe for abuse. Perhaps some reform for this law is in order.
My family were the ones told 'no Irish need apply' and now you want me to tell someone else's family off and that they aren't wanted? My family fled eastern europe for their lives but you want me to tell someone else my fear of a threat to my income is more valuable than them? Nah bro, I'm good. Don't claim to be a defender of me/America/Americans. Your type didn't want my family here either back in the day but the USA thrived even with our/my existence. Being American isn't in your blood, it's in who you chose to be. Alway had been/always will be. And Americans don't choose fear over welcoming.
I'd give every new American a huge welcome hug if I could because they are us and are family. They are your parents/grandparents/great grandparents/etc. Sad that you have forgotten that or chosen to forget because you are scared too 'share'.
Everyone reading this, I'm glad you want to come be part of this great experiment. I hope you chose to stay, it's a pretty cool place with pretty cool people.