patrick.net

https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=252559

"
Let's cut the crap on H-1b abuse: The H-1b program is in essentially every single case simple abuse, wild-eyed racism through the effective of the "caste" system into the US and destruction of the wage base .vs. the claimed purpose of the program.

In truth the H-1b garbage and the tech firms, including Elon's, shilling for it is nothing more than the same bullshit run by the construction industry when it comes to illegal aliens putting on roofs or farmers and picking strawberries. Neither industry wants to pay Americans a living wage and so both look for ways to cut their costs and stuff the rest of the money in their pockets. Breaking the law doesn't matter to them and yes, essentially every H-1b as currently used is breaking the law because the law requires first a diligent search for American talent at the wage said talent will accept and then, and only then you must pay more to legally use H-1bs. This is never the case, and the job-shop crap is even worse which I will go into detail on below. The so-called "tech bros" all know this, all exploit this and every single one of them should be imprisoned for suborning it, abusing Americans and foreigners alike.

One of the more-common abuses is to list a "job opening" that has a litany of "requirements" that no reasonably-skilled person in-field actually meets but magically some H-1b person "does." Or so they claim; said person really doesn't have five years of experience in the entire list proffered, but this is the basis of their claim "there's no American who can do this job." As someone who has more than forty years in the computer field as a programmer, networking and systems guy I can spot those "ads" instantly; every one of them is a fraud and used solely to avoid hiring an American. Let me be clear: The posting of a single one of those ads is proof of fraud and thus a felony for which the posting entity should be instantly arrested, indicted and everyone involved in it imprisoned.

If you really are an "exceptional" individual in-field you have no need for H-1b at all irrespective of your nationality; the claim that this program actually provides "exceptional" talent is a bald-faced lie that we must not tolerate in any venue. If you are truly exceptional in your field you can apply for and get an O-1 visa which allows you to work for three years in the United States, it can be extended for additional one year terms indefinitely, it has no tie to a specific employer so you can follow job opportunity or set up your own firm unlike the H-1b that does not and thus forces the holder to stay with the sponsoring company or depart the US, it can form the foundation (assuming you aren't misrepresenting anything and really are exceptional and prove it once you get here) for permanent residency and of course that, over time, can lead to citizenship.

So why don't they do that? Because nearly all of them are not really more-skilled than an average person and further if they were they'd turn their own nation into a technology powerhouse since they have four times our population or more and plenty of natural resources.

H-1b visas as illegally exploited today by industry are essentially indentured servitude. The worker is captive to the employer who sponsors the visa and what's worse is that an entire consulting industry has risen up around these things that siphons off a huge percentage of the pay; many of these people make only the minimum of about $55,000 a year with the rest going to the consulting company which is a direct violation of the intent of the program that is supposed to only allow their use at above-market wages. Of course this means the "employee" winds up working 80 hours a week for 40 hours of $27.50/hr in pay.

No, $55,000 for a "skilled" tech worker who is then expected to work double time for no extra money is not an above-market wage anywhere in the United States. It is in fact way below any such skilled position's wage and in addition that "wage" being that its a contractor position does not include either taxes or benefits.

I know multiple young men and women who, knowing my history in the tech sector from worker bee to CEO asked for my opinion on going to college and entering tech careers a decade or more ago and I warned them of the rise of this program and its abuse -- and that given the cost of a degree unless they had a full ride scholarship it was quite dangerous because they could end up with quite a lot of debt and then be undercut by an Indian on an H-1b who makes a hell of a lot less and they'd have no way to possibly survive and pay down their debt on that wage.

I'm aware of more than one of said young men and women, a few of who are definitely in the top 2% on an intellectual basis (that is, Mensa material and potential future superstars) who completed highly technical degrees with high honors and then left the tech industry entirely and don't work in it today. I do not know if they got directly fucked by the H-1b program as the reason but I bet at least in part it was due to lack of satisfaction with offered working conditions which is driven in large part by this insanity.

Those individuals have deliberately given the finger to the American tech industries despite having the intellectual and educational chops to be top engineers and possibly discover and implement breakthroughs that would change our lives. It is only reasonable to believe they made this decision to stick up their middle fingers due to external market conditions beyond their control and H-1b abuse is a big part of it. And by the way they are also not having kids either; by their actions they have zero intention of putting another generation in that position and this is despite having found an apparently-permanent heterosexual relationship.

Further, many of these so-called "technical people" on H-1bs, particularly from India, have bogus certificates and degrees that demonstrate nothing; they are really no better than an American with no experience who went through a couple of week bootcamp in Android programming or similar. There is utterly no reason that any of those people should be here instead of Americans doing those jobs; if the job is within their capabilities the average High School graduate can, with nothing more than a High School level of education, learn enough to work at that level inside of a few weeks time in learning.

But will they do that for $27.50/hour when they're treated like human trash and members of an "inferior caste" on the job? Not when they can make $20/hr doing what amounts to a near-mindless job at Buc-Ees and punch a clock with no project pressures and related BS -- they can do that instead with a reasonable path to being an assistant manager at over $30/hr and if they stick with it management jobs in that company, which you really can attain, come with a $100,000+ income over the space of a few years!

What's worse is the staunchest defenders of this crap are Indians who came here either on O-1s or otherwise managed to get out of the H-1b trap themselves and stay -- and now are either in those firms as management or running the job shops fucking all the other H-1b workers for 30+% of the billed hourly rate. They have now brought the Indian caste system with them and have to a large degree codified it into the United States workforce and thus love the job-shop abuse crap that goes on in the tech industry and it shows inexorably in the composition of the workforce that winds up under and around them over just a few years time.

You don't have to look beyond simply walking in the door or touring the neighborhoods where these workers live to see the racial discrimination against everyone other than them and just like every slavery system crafted through history its all about the money.

All of this must end; it is wildly illegal and found everywhere in the tech industry. Those who truly are exceptional, irrespective of nation, can already come here via the existing O-1 visa program which is purely merit-based and has exactly zero "pull" capacity by job shops and others who would seek to exploit those in other lands. The existing H-1b program does that in spades and effectively has become an import of the Indian caste system into the tech industries.

That is not embodiment of American values, it is illegal under federal anti-discrimination laws, it has been increasingly exploited to drive down wages and push Americans out of tech jobs and it must be entirely ended with prejudice right here and now as it is in fact no different than exploiting illegal Mexicans to put on roofs and pluck chickens.

If Trump does not do so then his claim of intent to "Make America Great Again" is just another political LIE and YOU are going to get it further up your ass as an American for the benefit of those who are not.
"

WookieMan says

This is why I don't get it's some humanitarian crisis.

'Humanitarian crisis' is codespeak for remittances cut off. Indians in the US send home about $140 billion annually. That comprises 30% of the Indian government's tax revenue. That's the crisis they care about.

MolotovCocktail says

Damn!

Trump always seems to disappoint that way.

Big promises, failure to deliver.

It's still a good start

mell says

It's still a good start

True.

Maga_Chaos_Monkey says

MolotovCocktail says

What a load of shit, mostly. Notice the entitlement they have?

That was exactly what I considered writing but I suspected someone else would so I held off for confirmation haha..

MolotovCocktail says

For those of you who think I am too much of a racist asshole...you would be too if you lived here to see what happened over 30 years. You would be too if you had to train TWO Jeets to take over my job like I had to. And I personally liked a few Jeets despite that. Not any fucking more. I was stupid.

Exhibit B:

MolotovCocktail says

https://x.com/thejobchick/status/1969840897505542441
I wasn’t planning to make my H-1B overview public just yet.

A supporter read it and offered to cover the paywall - to make sure this went public.

“More people need to see this. Keep the conversation going.”

Message received.
The H-1B article is now free for all:

https://insideredgereport.com/p/pay-to-play-politics
Pay-to-Play Politics?
$100K H-1B Visa Fee Won’t Bring Jobs Back
Amanda Goodall
Sep 20, 2025

I’m not gonna sugarcoat this you guys… Over the last 24 hours, the conversation around Trump’s new $100K H-1B visa fee has been a mess of misstatements, bad takes, and misplaced outrage.

I’ve got a really STRONG OPINION on this H1B news…. I’m not celebrating. I look too much into the workforce data to not care. I have said more than once that H1B’s are the distraction to what is going on with the workforce and The Corporate Revolution.

“If they really cared about U.S. jobs, H-1B would be gone tomorrow. But it’s not. That tells you everything.”

But let’s get the facts straight…

What REALLY went down?
On September 19, 2025, Trump issued a proclamation slapping a $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions.

It applies only to petitions filed after September 21, 2025 at 12:01 AM. USCIS clarified:

It’s not retroactive.

Current H-1B visa holders are not affected.

Renewals are exempt.

This is a one-time petition fee, not an annual tax.

So if you already have an H-1B, you’re fine. If you’re filing new, you….or your sponsoring company…need $100K on the table.

The Confusion Campaign
Already, we’ve got videos circulating with Howard Lutnick saying it’s “$100K per year” when he was speaking in the Oval Office when Trump signed the Presidential Proclamation ( NOT an EO btw- more on that later…) Wrong. Miscommunication?

When something happens and the basics are quoted wrong, the spin cycle takes off… and the public gets distracted from the real issue: this doesn’t solve the labor market problem.

The White House’s Spin vs. Reality
Karoline Leavitt, Press Secretary, rushed to frame it cleanly:

Not annual.

Not applied to renewals.

Won’t hit people re-entering the country on an existing visa.

What NOBODY is talking about is the biggest part of the entire H-1B proclamation…

The DHS Secretary has full discretion to waive the fee.

Meaning? The $100K sticker price is only the baseline…. it’s negotiable.

If DHS decides hiring you is in the "national interest," the fee disappears. That’s not reform. That’s pay-to-play discretion - not immigration policy. This is NOT my opinion- this is in the proclamation .

From USCIS X Posting:

President Trump’s new H-1B visa requirement applies only to NEW, prospective petitions that have not yet been filed. Petitions submitted prior to September 21, 2025 are not affected.

This Doesn’t Help American Workers
This is the part no one wants to admit:

Slapping a $100K toll on H-1Bs won’t magically produce job offers for American workers.

Companies don’t have to hire Americans… they can offshore. And offshoring isn’t just about remote postings.

We’re talking entire headquarters, warehouses, and factories in India, Mexico, Eastern Europe, and beyond.They’ll just ramp those up.

Loopholes remain wide open.

DHS can exempt whomever it wants, whenever it wants.

I said it plainly: “The story is a $100K price tag slapped on visas that won’t magically create offers for American workers.” That’s it. That’s the signal.
The Real Cost to Companies
Here’s another piece most people miss because the MSM just doesn’t even talk about this.

For corporations, $100K is just another business expense.

Just like paying tariffs, or just like insurance paying out claims rather than fighting in court, it’s cheaper to just pay the bill than overhaul the model.

Think about it like this: companies already budget for tariffs, lawsuits, fines, and compliance fees.

This is just another line item.
And unlike American workers, H-1Bs are locked into their employer.

They don’t “buck the trend,” they don’t job hop the same way, and they’re less likely to leave midstream.

That stickiness has value.

Companies will gladly eat the $100K fee for predictable labor.

Petition Math… (seriously this is WILD)
Here’s the part nobody in media is spelling out. And bare with me -- I’m not a math girl…

The $100K fee isn’t assessed on “approvals” - it’s assessed per petition filed.

That matters, because the number of petitions is always higher than the number of approvals.

Companies flood USCIS with initial and continuing petitions; most get approved (denial rates for these firms hover around 2–3%).

But it means the ceiling number everyone is actually screaming about … $4 billion … is just that: a ceiling.

Recently I did a report on the companies with the most H-1B approvals… 11 of them to be exact.

Now let’s go company by company, using USCIS Data Hub numbers:

Amazon (all entities combined: Com Services, AWS, Data Services)

~13,200 petitions filed in FY 2025 (3,800+ were brand-new initial hires).

If every petition got hit with $100K? $1.32B.

If it’s just the initials? $380M.

Amazon revenue: $590B. This is pennies.

Microsoft

~5,300 petitions filed; ~1,300 were initial.

$530M max exposure, $130M realistic.

Revenue: $245B.

Apple

~4,300 petitions; about 1,000 new.

$430M ceiling, $100M real exposure.

Revenue: $383B.

Meta Platforms

~5,250 petitions; ~900 new.

$525M ceiling, $90M real.

Revenue: $142B.

Google (Alphabet)

~4,181 approvals, ~20% initial → ~4,300 petitions filed.

Roughly 900 initial.

$430M ceiling, ~$90M real.

Revenue: $307B.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)

~5,650 petitions filed; ~1,450 initial.

$565M ceiling, $145M real.

Revenue: $29B. Even here, the ratio works… cheaper to pay the toll.

JPMorgan Chase

~2,500 petitions; ~600 new.

$250M ceiling, $60M real.

Revenue: $162B.

Cisco Systems

~1,600 petitions; ~400 new.

$160M ceiling, $40M real.

Revenue: $57B.

General Motors

~590 petitions; ~150 new.

$59M ceiling, $15M real.

Revenue: $171B.

Visa Inc. (Tech + Ops divisions)

~480 petitions; ~120 new.

$48M ceiling, $12M real.

Revenue: $35B.

Totals across all 11 entities:

~39,000 petitions filed (FY 2025, prelim).

~8,000–9,000 were truly initial hires that would realistically face the $100K fee.

That’s $3.9B at the ceiling, but only about $1.0–$1.1B in reality.

Four billion spread across eleven giants is not reform.
$1 billion spread across eleven companies whose combined revenues exceed $2 trillion is a rounding error, and corporations will gladly pay it.

These firms spend more than that on snacks, lobbying, or one failed moonshot project.
Then, there is the ‘loophole’
The fine print is everything.

The proclamation allows DHS to waive the fee entirely if it’s deemed in the ‘national interest.’

That’s a moving target. What counts as “national interest”?

AI engineers? Cybersecurity?

Whatever the administration decides this week as things and the geopolitical landscape changes?

Big Tech and Fortune 500 firms with lobbying power will be just fine.

The smaller players, startups, and less-connected firms? They eat the full $100K cost.

This is all about optics, not structure.

Optics: “We’re cracking down on H-1B abuse.”

Reality: The architecture of underpayment and exploitation doesn’t change. It just gets a new cover fee.

You don’t fix the pipeline by tolling it. You fix it by restructuring the incentives that created the abuse in the first place.

Expect three things to happen now:
Lobbyist carveouts. Big companies will use the DHS waiver clause to bypass the $100K. We probably won’t hear about this, but the workforce data will keep show. Companies can’t keep saying headcount its remaining the same when Americans aren’t being hired and they are denying paying the 100K fees… or we will know what is up.

Offshoring surge. Companies unwilling to pay will move more work abroad. This is a no brainer for many. But honestly, after that Tech WH dinner… I would imagine it’s all water under the bridge and planned out. I don’t expect the Mag 7 to do a thing.

Restructuring risk. Smaller companies may use the cover of this policy to RIF American workers while justifying H-1B hires as “market necessity.”

My Take… Straight Up
This isn’t about “protecting American jobs,” it’s about creating a new revenue lever the government can pull at will.

A $100K toll that can be waived for the well-connected isn’t reform… it’s rent-seeking.

The quote I’ve already dropped still stands:

The $100K visa fee won’t bring jobs back. It just makes it more expensive to underpay imported labor. This won’t magically create offers for American workers… it just shifts the price of exploitation. Pay to Play.

The other thing I haven’t mentioned…..
Here’s the metaphor that explains it:

Imagine buying two homes next door, knocking them both down, and building one mega-house.

Companies can do the same with their workforce.

They’ll RIF American workers under the cover of “restructuring,” and replace them with H-1Bs—even if they have to eat the $100K per head.

Why? Because in the long run, it’s cheaper and stickier.

That’s the workforce math.

Can I be a bit counterfactual?
If this was really about protecting U.S. workers, the government would kill the H-1B program outright. But they didn’t. Why?

Because corporations want it. Because the system is built for them, not for American workers. And until that changes, this is what many on X seem to call a nothingburger.

This move isn’t structural reform… it’s political optics.

Don’t get distracted by the sticker shock. Watch the loopholes, the discretion, and the inevitable carveouts.

The labor market is still broken. And the $100K H-1B fee doesn’t change that.

Sticker shock without structural change is still theater.

I’ll keep an eye on the workforce. Question is… will the stock market care? What sectors will rise and what ones will have a moment. Many are already keeping their eye on ACN -0.12%↓ - INFY -3.70%↓ & CTSH -5.43%↓

Amanda Goodall | The Job Chick

Through TheJobChick.com, I deliver exclusive reports that break down workforce trends… auto, energy, tech.. and more .. and can brief your team on actionable strategies for investors, workers, and executives.

My InsiderEdgeLIVE membership, launching next week, is your ticket to weekly deep dives, custom trade alerts, and one-on-one consulting tailored to your portfolio or business. This isn’t cookie-cutter analysis… you know me from X. You know that is not what I am about… it’s personal, precise, and built on a decades of decoding labor markets to predict global shifts.

Reach out now at amanda@thejobchick.com or visit www.thejobchick.com to secure your spot for InsiderEdgeLIVE early access.

Membership means direct access to my expertise… real-time workforce analysis, custom trade support, and the kind of reporting that turns chaos into opportunity.

Email me today, join the membership, and let’s turn these signals into your success.

The world’s shifting… be the one who’s ready.

preed says

Companies don’t have to hire Americans… they can offshore. And offshoring isn’t just about remote postings.

We’re talking entire headquarters, warehouses, and factories in India, Mexico, Eastern Europe, and beyond.They’ll just ramp those up.

If that were true, they would have done so already. Hell, Intel, Microsoft, META, Alphabet, etc. already have such offices set up in India already.

So why the need for H1Bs here?

Also she doesn't realize what the effects on schools, housing, etc is here. Ship their asses home.

Trump definitely failed this one.

Fortwaye says

Trump definitely failed this one.

This to scare Modi, I think.

HOW IS THIS IN THE INTEREST OF AMERICAN PEOPLE?

- - -

In fiscal 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services listed the H-1B visas numbers approved for Michigan companies. Here are the top recipients:

Ford, 649
General Motors, 574
University of Michigan, 333
Atos Syntel Inc., 266
HCL Global Systems Inc., 186
HCL Global Services Inc., 179
FCA US LLC, 171
Populus Group LLC, 141
TATA Elxsi Limited, 104
Henry Ford Health System, 102
Ally Bank, 101
Aptive Corporation, 87
KPIT Technologies Inc., 85
Robert Bosch LLC, 78
United Wholesale Mortgage, 77
Akkodis Inc., 71
Michigan State University, 71
Rocket Mortgage LLC, 69
Epitec Inc., 68
Tata Technologies Inc., 68
Miracle Software Systems, 66
Technosoft Corporation, 60
Alixpartners LLP, 57
Stryker Corporation, 52
Wayne State University, 48
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, 45
Altimetrick Corp, 44
Strategic Staffing Solutions, 43
Credit Acceptance Corporation, 38
Ford Motor Credit Company, 36
Infostretch Corporation, 35
Manga Electronics, 35
Altair Engineering, 34
Altair Product Design, 33
Domino's Pizza, 33
Aptive U.S. Services General, 32
Whirlpool Corporation, 32
Comerica Management, 31
BorgWarner PDS USA, 28
Reliable Software Resources, 27
Flagstar Bank, 27

https://www.reddit.com/r/StopH1B/

https://www.reddit.com/r/H1BVisaFraud/comments/1nhfdl1/how_i_expose_h1b_indian_scammers/

⁃ 700,000 H1B’s
⁃ 250,000 L1 visas — hire in India and transfer to the US
⁃ 100,000 country-specific visas
⁃ 350,000 “intern visas”to go home and permanently take your job
⁃ 1 million “student” visas with work privileges
⁃ 250,000 “OPT” visas that function like H1B

All while Americans can’t find work

MolotovCocktail says

Too bad.

https://x.com/i/status/1969223485391323215

The main innovation of Silicon Valley was H-1B visa abuse. Well-known secret.

Under the guise of "meritocracy," tech companies rejected qualified American students to hire cheap, indentured foreign labor.

I rage quit my tech job when I realized it was an immigrant abuse farm.

Patrick says

Another is they are captive to their original employer, so the employer has leverage over them. These H1-B workers are not going to get poached by another tech company. That is because "H1-B portability" is likely not common.

It is significantly advantageous for American corporations to hire H-1B in our country and outsource jobs to foreign countries. Corporations are doing it for only dollars. I hope further changes to this shit program are in the pipeline.

Along with H-1B, gov is now looking at another interesting category: lottery per county! This is a non merit category run every year.

This is what I voted for.

They can pay them less, but most of all, no unemployment when they cancel a project. CA and NY have very limited exceptions (ie they found another job that starts before 60 days but still maybe a month out, but that's minimal) Another massive advantage for employers to seek H1Bs.

Hassan and Ramesh and Wu don't get months of unemployment when Apple cancels the iDildo.

Making employers pay H1Bs unemployment benefits as Citizens would be a great reform.

When I started my h1b stint during the peak of the dot com boom everybody and their mother was employed and they still needed workers. You couldn't find an apartment or hotel to stay at, and we camped out in our cars and medical rooms. Eventually the craig motel (rip 2004) in palo alto had an opening and provided time to find a roommate situation.

It didn't start feeling like an immigrant abuse farm until a few years later when the bubble had burst. The dot com heydays were great and it was fantastic to be part of it. Californication was the peak music album for the heydays. It's good though they're putting and end to the abuse. Especially those indian bench farms have just been ridiculously exploiting the program.

Patrick says

Motherfucker!

Modi is scared.

We also need a stop to Healthcare and Financial record keeping and customer service being based outside of the USA.

It's insane that your Credit Card or Medical Records are in another Country, and serviced on literally the other side of the world.

DemoralizerOfPanicans says

We also need a stop to Healthcare and Financial record keeping and customer service being based outside of India.

It's insane that your Credit Card or Medical Records are in another Country, and serviced on literally the other side of the world.

I have steam for our businesses hiring practices. I call it “anyone but Americans hiring system”.

Edited my post above. Had a brain fart and said "based outside of India". I mean the USA, but was thinking of those accounts being serviced in India.

Reports: India Demands Migrant Visas for Job-Seekers in Trade Talks

Indian diplomats want the draft U.S.-India trade deal to welcome more Indian job-seekers into the United States, say U.S. and Indian media reports.

“Indian officials will ask US trade negotiators this week to ease access for thousands of skilled workers, a person familiar with the matter said, days after President Donald Trump’s abrupt announcement to restrict H-1B visas,” said a September 24 report in TheHinduBusinessLine.com.

The report, which is attributed to Bloomberg News, adds:

Indian negotiators led by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal will raise the issue of movement of skilled professionals, such as IT workers, in their current round of trade talks in Washington, the person said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private.

Trade talks up to now have centered around easing access for goods only, but Trump’s latest crackdown on [H-1B] immigration have pushed New Delhi to widen the negotiations to include services industries, such as IT. India’s economy is heavily skewed toward services, which make up more than 50 per cent of gross domestic product.

The reports suggested that India’s government wants to expand the one million-plus population of Indian graduates who are now in the white-collar jobs needed by Americans. Each year, at least 400,000 additional Indians arrive to work U.S. white-collar jobs legally or illegally, so pushing a huge number of American graduates into lower-tier jobs, such as coffee barista.

But Indians may also want to send more low-wage workers into U.S. jobs via the H-2A, H-2B, B-1, and M-1 visas for trade school students. Many Indian migrants use B-1 tourist visas to work as illegal truckers and cargo handlers on U.S. freeways.

https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2025/09/25/reports-india-demands-more-migrant-visas-in-trade-talks/

MolotovCocktail says

What a direct contrast to this dumbass Democrat senator:

MolotovCocktail says

.

DemoralizerOfPanicans says

Reports: India Demands Migrant Visas for Job-Seekers in Trade Talks

Yeah. They want it codified by Congress.

I think this is a face losing mistake for New Delhi. Because they aren't going to get this, I think. Thus their opposition is going to rip Modi a new one for failing to do so.

After all, they got what they wanted from the Brits on this from. Even an exemption for their workers in UK from paying payroll taxes.

Yeah, whatever happened to all those laid-off factory workers who were told "learn to code?"

Now we have STEM coding graduates being fucked over, just like the factory workers in the 90's, for H1B bullshit.

It was always a scam, aided and abetted by the very government "we elected."

Fuck this shit.