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.
"

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.

MolotovCocktail says

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.

How about they just get jobs in India? Novel concept. I know US companies abuse it for lower wages, but much of the money is going back to India. No different than illegals from Mexico and Central America. There's a reason Trump created MAGA. Wish these other countries would do that for themselves instead of on the backs of Americans. They don't and then blame us. It's the twilight zone when people, Americans, get upset about Trump's move on H1-B's.

Another thing that should not be permitted is health and finance information being serviced outside the US.

It simply should not be permitted, either outsourcing OR contracting.

Has to be 110% inside the USA subject to US laws by US citizens with no foreign ties.

DemoralizerOfPanicans says

Another thing that should not be permitted is health and finance information being serviced outside the US.

It simply should not be permitted, either outsourcing OR contracting.

Has to be 110% inside the USA subject to US laws by US citizens with no foreign ties.

Absolutely.

WookieMan says

MolotovCocktail says

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.

How about they just get jobs in India? Novel concept. I know US companies abuse it for lower wages, but much of the money is going back to India. No different than illegals from Mexico and Central America. There's a reason Trump created MAGA. Wish these other countries would do that for themselves instead of on the backs of Americans. They don't and then blame us. It's the twilight zone when people, Americans, get upset about Trump's move on H1-B's.

I wonder why there are so many security breaches in medical information - could it be that the chindians are selling the info?

stereotomy says

I wonder why there are so many security breaches in medical information - could it be that the chindians are selling the info?

The access to US networks and data from the 3rd world shitholes should be banned by the Congress. This would instantly solve the outsourcing, the data theft, the security breaches and tech jobs/salaries stagnation.

Grok sez:

The post accurately reports the U.S. government shutdown's impact on the Department of Labor's Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC), suspending processing for H-1B, H-2A, and H-2B visas as of October 1, 2025, due to a funding lapse that disables key systems like the Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG).

This halt affects over 85,000 annual H-1B visas typically certified via Labor Condition Applications (LCAs), creating delays for employers and potentially opening more opportunities for U.S. college graduates in tech and seasonal sectors.

Replies reflect mixed sentiments, with some users celebrating reduced foreign competition and others noting potential loopholes, underscoring ongoing debates about immigration's role in the labor market amid the shutdown.

I remember attending town hall meeting of a politician several years back. He was a democrat, also gay (lol). Anyway, I recall him telling the attendees..."Is the government your mother? No... don't trust it".

H-1B visa holders are paid approximately half of what an American corporation would have to pay a citizen employee. (they use a structured system).

Looks like word is getting around...

gabbar says

H-1B visa holders are paid approximately half of what an American corporation would have to pay a citizen employee. (they use a structured system).

Not since Obama: he put a floor under it. I know an H1B guy who instant 35% salary bump because of it.

Pausing, not stopping. Maybe for 10 minutes.

Patrick says

Pausing, not stopping. Maybe for 10 minutes.

Pausing to strategize and finding long term workarounds.

gabbar says

Patrick says

Pausing, not stopping. Maybe for 10 minutes.

Pausing to strategize and finding long term workarounds.

It’s not complex. Finance guys open up excel spreadsheet and add numbers to see which costs less.

https://x.com/HumbleFlow/status/1988710579398201525

https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/save-maga-tuesday-november-18-2025

It is all about the foreign worker visas. “Many conservatives,” Michelle Goldberg continued, “were livid about an interview Trump gave to Laura Ingraham explaining the need for H1-B visas.” Trying not to gloat, she added, “Many right-wing influencers reacted with unusual fury, some posting images of burning MAGA hats.”

All this over a single interview? About a 35-year-old problem that Trump is working on? Really?

Complaints about H1B visas began almost as soon as the program was established in 1990. By 1993, Congress was already holding hearings, packed with gripes about tech companies using H1Bs to undercut wages. Labor unions, especially in manufacturing and programming, were the earliest and loudest critics. A 1998 Senate hearing featured an unforgettable and widely reported line, that companies were using H-1Bs as “indentured tech servants.”




If the H1B issue is important to you, watch this 2017 episode of 60 Minutes, describing the long-standing debate. Over 35 years of acrimony and displaced American workers, nobody ever did anything about it.

Apparently, it is nobody’s fault, either. In the Clinton, Bush, and Trump 1.0 eras, Dems blamed Republicans for “selling out American workers,” allowing “corporate indenture,” and raising visa caps. In the 2010s–2020s, Republicans hit back hard, accusing Democrats of outsourcing American jobs, blocking reforms to stop visa abuse, and citing Disney, Southern California Edison, and Silicon Valley as Democrat-aligned institutions screwing American workers.

Congress never did anything. No President except Trump ever did anything about H1Bs.

Here’s the whole disreputable history:

George H.W. Bush created the H1B system by signing Congress’ 1990 Immigration Act into law.

Clinton signed laws in 1998 and 2000 ‘temporarily’ raising the visa cap to 115,000 and then 195,000. (By 2020, it had rocketed to 300,000, including extensions.)

George W. Bush defended H-1Bs as “good for competitiveness.”

Obama expanded tech exemptions (like OPT for STEM), and H1B approvals skyrocketed.

Trump 1.0 was the first — and only — president to pull H1Bs back. Ever. He issued Executive Order 13788 (“Buy American, Hire American”). Visa approval rates plunged from ~95% to ~75%. Requests for Evidence (RFE) rates jumped above 60%. Fraud detection got aggressive. Meanwhile, Trump got zero help from Congress, not even performative help. Less than zero, actually.

Joe Biden promptly reversed all Trump’s H1B restrictions. Approval rates shot right back to 95%+. RFEs collapsed. Trump’s new wage rules were suspended.

During Trump 1.0, Congress could have helped the president. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) even filed a bipartisan H1B reform bill, the “Raise the Wage H1B Reform Act,” but Republican leadership never allowed it to the floor for a vote. The whole time the bill languished in committee, grandstanding Congressional Democrats sang epic songs about how racist Trump’s H1B rules were.

Trump stands alone as the only president who ever cracked down, and he had to do it over Congress’s dead body.

So this year, as soon as Trump got back into office, he once again started doing whatever he could without help from Congress to cut back on H1Bs. He reinstated his old rules and added new ones. After everything he has done, fighting fierce political opposition every step of the way, President Trump must now feel pretty bitter about conservative critics crucifying him for the H1B problems. ...

Because if —thanks to this media-fueled, red-on-red MAGA civil war— Trump does become a lame duck, then guess what happens next? H1Bs will never ever get fixed. Do you really think Gavin Newsom will fix H1Bs? Pritzger? Whitmer? No, H1Bs will double or triple under Democrats, of course. Think about that mortifying possibility whenever you’re tempted to complain.

I’m not saying don’t complain. I’m saying don’t help Democrats. And I’m saying: help Trump.

All of those doctors and engineers.

The highest amount of H1b visas issued in one year was 400,000 in 2024 by Joe Biden admin.

Under Biden a conservative estimate of 2-3 million illegals entered the USA per year.

Which of the 2 was the bigger problem?

Which one has Trump already solved?

Which one is hardly mentioned anymore?

Which one do the anti trumpers continue to bitch about?

Handling which one first will bring more jobs to working class Americans?

Which one impacts "college educated" voters more?

On avg who did college educated workers vote for in 2024?

On avg who did working class workers vote for?

If you were a politician which one would you handle first, the one that impacted your voters the most or the one that impacted the other person's voters more?

The main impact of H1B visas is mostly seen in blue large cities like NYC, Boston, San Francisco as well as tech hubs like Dallas and San Jose.

The main impact of illegal immigration is country wide and hits industries like construction, manufacturing, transportation, agriculture, hospitality, general services, retail. Etc.

If you were a politician which would be a bigger problem for you to solve, the issue that impacts almost every industry that the majority of your voters work and compete for jobs in or the issue that impacts fewer industries mainly concentrated in the blue cities that voted for your opponent?

Luckily, Trump isnt a politician and decided to try to solve both problems as quickly as possible. The border is secured, no illegals have been allowed to enter the country in 6 months. (1 to 1.5m fewer illegals to take jobs). On the H1b visa front he increased fee to $100k, launched operation firewall to crackdown on fraudulent use of the visa with more than 200 current active investigations ongoing and the dept of labor is rewriting the rules to increase the wages companies need to pay H1b visa holders ending the "cheap labor" loophole. Sadly, those fixes to H1B visa program, unlike the border, won't be seen until next year giving the anti trumpers months to play pretend and attack him on H1b visas.
https://x.com/unseen1_unseen/status/1992900977372844328?s=20

Key Trends in the Graph
• Early 2000s Surge: Approvals peaked in 2002–2003 near 200,000 due to tech expansion and relaxed caps.
• Mid-2000s Dip: Approvals dropped sharply after the dot-com bust and tighter quotas.
• 2010s Recovery: Steady growth resumed, with approvals rising from ~110,000 in 2009 to ~190,000 by 2018.
• 2020–2025 Stability: Despite COVID and political shifts, approvals remained near 185,000–198,000 annually.

🧠 What Drives These Numbers
• Quota Caps: The annual cap for new H-1Bs is 85,000 (65K regular + 20K for U.S. grads), but renewals and exemptions push total approvals higher.
• Tech Demand: Major employers like Amazon, Google, and Infosys drive demand for software engineers and data scientists.
• Policy Changes: Presidential administrations influence visa scrutiny, lottery rules, and employer compliance.

Only Congress can reduce the number of H1Bs

It should be the question of every incumbent and primary challenger alike: Reduce/eliminate H1Bs now to stay in office, or promise to if elected.

DemoralizerOfPanicans says

Only Congress can reduce the number of H1Bs

It should be the question of every incumbent and primary challenger alike: Reduce/eliminate H1Bs now to stay in office, or promise to if elected.

No matter what they say prior to election, they will do what's in their interest post election.

Patrick says

Pausing, not stopping. Maybe for 10 minutes.

For good PR.

gabbar says

DemoralizerOfPanicans says

Only Congress can reduce the number of H1Bs

It should be the question of every incumbent and primary challenger alike: Reduce/eliminate H1Bs now to stay in office, or promise to if elected.

No matter what they say prior to election, they will do what's in their interest post election.

Truer words have never been spoken.

Your government hates you.