American engineers, scientists, and mathematicians can convincingly show that they are not in short supply, as corporations claim. But increasingly, politicians are siding with big business, which wants the government to loosen restrictions on the H-1B visa program, by which low- to mid-level technologists come to the United States each year from foreign countries.
The H-1B visa recipients, who must have a bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience, can stay for three years with an option to extend to six years. Now, the number permitted to enter is capped at 85,000 yearly. (This has changed through the years.) More than half of H-1B entrants are in computer-related fields, mostly from India.
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