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There's been a lot of debate about #H1B recently. People are calling for its reform (or restriction).
On the reform front, the H-1B final rule goes into effect on 17 Jan 2025 and addresses a few key items.
1. F-1 (students) awaiting a H-1B can now get automatic work auth until April 1 the next year
2. Degree requirements modernized
3. Entrepreneurs that own US companies can get H-1Bs for themselves
4. Broadens scope of 'cap-exempt' employers (like research institutions..)
I've seen some confusion about how H-1Bs relate to foreign students in US universities. I've said this before: the H-1B is the primary visa that foreign students already in US universities get after they graduate.
"Employers of F-1 students under OPT often file petitions to change the students' status to H-1B [..] Many times, [..] work authorization would expire prior to the student being able to assume the employment specified in the approved H-1B petition, creating a gap in employment."
Unless you are advocating that foreign students that are already in US universities should not be allowed to stay on unless they marry a US citizen or have a US family member, we need H-1B. We need reform, sure, but we need H-1B.
'But Americans should get dibs!! Not these horrible foreign students!!'
Can't help you with xenophobia, but these 'horrible foreign students' already only have a 1 in 4 chance of actually staying on and getting these jobs (that's the success rate of the H-1B lottery, which is mandatory).
So next time you want to rant about how oligarchs don't give Americans a level playing field, think about that statistic too.
'I just want wage slavery to end, so end the H1B program!'
Thank you for your concern. What is your actual policy proposal for replacing it?
And how does that end wage slavery anyway? Yes, people with visas that can be withdrawn are subject to exploitation. But there are plenty of circumstances where circumstances make people exploitable. And employers take advantage of every single one.
Starting with union busting.
@skinnylatte you don't need to replace it anyway, the core issue there is an imbalance of power. So the trivial fix is to ensure all workers have the same protections (and then enforce this, and make sure they're made aware of their rights). Voila!
@dotstdy at the embassy when you are getting your H-1B stamp, they give you a document that says 'you are entitled to exactly the same rights as Americans. You can strike. You can join a union.'
But in practice, we know how that goes.
@skinnylatte yeah that's a bit of a problem, but certainly a largely solvable one (and like you say also, it's way easier if people don't have draconian visa requirements). It's not like Americans with at-will employment have any kind of functional rights either, and those gaps are the problem, rather than foreign workers per-se.
@skinnylatte I didn’t realize that was a routine part of the process—that’s fantastic. We are often an aspirational country yearning to one day live up to our own beliefs, but more often than people realize we at least have the right aspirations.
@skinnylatte Irrelevant comment,but every time I see that visa name I think about HB and 1B pencils 
@skinnylatte
Just normal work visas not tied to an employer and not indentured servitude?
@skinnylatte maybe some would have been eligible for O-1 out of grad school, but in my research group at the time we had 2/3 Europeans go back to Europe and 1 stayed in the US; Canadian (me) went back to Canada; Indian stayed in the US; 3 Americans stayed in the US...
@va2lam 70% of F-1s in undergrad stay on
@skinnylatte how else could one pay student debt...
@va2lam was probably an easier decision when times were good and jobs were plentiful
@skinnylatte the lottery is utter crap