H-1B Visa Changes Approved by White House

Shift from Lottery to Salary-Based Selection

• Many see wage-based weighting as more rational than a pure lottery, arguing it favors genuinely high-value, high-skill roles.
• Critics counter it advantages deep-pocketed employers and effectively lets wealth “buy” visas, moving away from equal chance.
• Some note this resembles a Trump-era rule that was blocked in court; debate over whether the current administration has authority to do it now.

Auctions and Price Signals

• Several propose auctioning H‑1Bs to companies, or ranking applicants by offered salary, to deter cheap-labor use and capture economic surplus for the U.S.
• Supporters argue this would naturally select employers who truly value the talent rather than those seeking exploitable workers.
• Opponents warn auctions would let big tech and rich firms hoard visas, shut out startups and smaller employers, and risk shell-company abuse.

Abuse, Body Shops, and Wage Suppression

• Repeated claims that outsourcing/consulting firms (especially Indian “body shops”) flood the system, underpay workers, and use immigration status to control them.
• People cite examples of underpaid, overworked H‑1Bs and widespread use of the lowest legal “prevailing wage” tiers, plus outright fraud and wage theft.
• Others note large U.S. tech firms often pay H‑1Bs at standard rates, but may still benefit from the worker’s reduced mobility and dependence.

Impact on U.S. Workers and Inequality

• Some view H‑1Bs as a tool to displace or undercut U.S. workers, especially amid layoffs and a weak tech job market for new grads.
• Others argue restricting skilled immigration will just push more work offshore, not meaningfully raise domestic wages.
• Broader debate emerges about overall immigration, labor supply, offshoring, and whether national “prosperity” matters if median workers remain squeezed.

Alternative Visas, Green Cards, and Gaming

• Commenters distinguish H‑1B (work visa), O‑1 (extraordinary ability), L‑1 (intra-company transfer), and employment-based green cards, noting all are being gamed in various ways (PERM job ads, fake credentials, etc.).
• Some argue genuinely elite researchers and specialists should use O‑1/EB‑1, and H‑1B should be tightened or taxed heavily to curb routine cheap‑labor use.

Suggested Safeguards and Reforms

• Ideas include: high per‑visa taxes or tariffs; salary floors (e.g., 90th percentile); extra fees earmarked for U.S. worker training; bans on H‑1B use by firms that recently laid off staff; harder penalties and blacklisting for abusers.
• There’s concern salary-based selection alone, without these guardrails, will reduce abuse at the margins but leave core structural problems intact.