> At least in the big companies, H1Bs get the same offers as American employees.

This happens in skill sets with high demand and short supply where free agent shopping between a multitude of offers between gigs in the $200+/hour range is viable because supply is so constrained. I guarantee you will not see this uniformly happen in big companies where skill sets are in high demand and even moderate supply, not to speak of high supply. Otherwise, Disney would not be able to use the vendor-supplies-staffing-for-outsourcing-entire-department-contract loophole via HCL and Cognizant, a situation particularly susceptible to that loophole, explaining its popularity among companies big to small.

Of course H1Bs get and accept the same offers. That's exactly the issue.

Don't tell me you never knew the H1B who knowingly accepted a low salary because that was their chance to move to the US, get their food in the door, and hopefully move up. I've known many, from both Asia and Europe, who told me exactly this.

Companies knowingly use this to keep wages lower than the US-based supply would otherwise demand. At one level, I support this -- it maintains a competitive edge.

So what's wrong? Unlike a citizen or permanent resident, H1Bs feel indentured. They are even more risk averse. If you believe in free trade, then the freedom of both parties must be protected. Both H1Bs and undocumented immigrants feel far from protected. There are both moral and economic problems with the arrangement.

A good chunk of low wage h1bs are students. They are desperate to get h1b within the 12-18 months they are allowed to remain in the country. So they will accept any kind of job they can get at very less pay. I know teams that exclusively higher these students instead of bringing someone from India. It's far easier to hire these students and then apply for their h1b than get h1b for someone in India that can easily take 1-2 years. These students are the primary source of all the h1b scams like the ones mentioned in this article. People in India rarely have access to these US scam companies. Also, Indian companies like Infosys hire a huge number of students. Now looks like they have cut down on that, so will see where all these students will end up.