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McGregor:
Welcome to the Democratic Hub. It's always refreshing to get new ideas.
After reading your note this morning, I did some more research on H-1B visas, and found that it is a very complicated topic. Although the Wikipedia article about the topic provided a great deal of information, I discovered that the Brookings Institute had produced a study almost exactly 2 years ago that was more accurate.
http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2013/06/18-temporary-workers-wilson
The United States actually issues three different types of visas for temporary workers. The H-1B visa applies to temporary workers in specialty occupations (such as computers). Although the annual cap is 85,000, the United States issued 135,991 H-1B visas in 2012. The H-2A visa applies to seasonal agricultural workers, and there is no annual cap for this type of visa. The H-2B visa covers seasonal non-agricultural workers, and is capped at 66,000 annually. IN 2012, the Untied States issued 65,345 H-2A visas and 50,009 H-2B visas.
Compared to other OECD countries, the United States actually issues a lower percentage of visas to temporary workers compared to permanent immigrants. than other countries. Japan has the highest percentage in the world.
Surprisingly, salary considerations really aren't an issue, since the average salary for H--1B workers appears to be about $60,000 a year, and there are several companies that pay over $100,000 a year.
http://www.h1bwage.com/
The reason that companies like H-1B workers is that it allows them to have the best and brightest talent from around the world working for them, regardless of where they come from. For that reason, the Republican cuts to education are so profoundly STUPID that they should not be allowed at all.. Arizona has suffered the worst cuts to education than any state in the country, but Scott Walker is trying hard to catch up, since he cut $300 million from higher education in his most recent budget.
As a country, we desperately need more immigrants, a fact that you're never going to hear from FOX "news" or the 17 (or so) Republican candidates for President. If you're really got a LOT of time on your hands, you may want to read a few(?) of my thoughts on immigration in general:
http://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2011/11/immigration-man.html