[Hoot Gibson]

Compensation in technology fields has been static for 20 years. H1B is the reason why. Issuing green cards to foreign technology students will reduce all the barriers of a work permit and allow flooding of technology workers into the country. This will result in severe depression of the wage market.

This is being driven by both the Indian Technology Lobby and by American Technology firms. American Technology professionals with student loan debt, will not be able to compete with foreign labor that has no debt burden and a 3rd world cost of living.

The increase in foreign workers has depressed tech wages, but if the numbers stayed the same and current H1B visa holders were issued green cards, wages would go up, not down. Democrats would love to accelerate the process for foreign workers and I suspect that is what is behind Hillary's proposal. The large number of H1B visa workers keeps wages down. Businesses like the H1B visa workers because they keep wages and turnover low. All else being equal, a good programmer trading an H1B visa for a green card will get a nice pay raise because his/her negotiating position is much better.

I don't really understand why you think H1B workers have a third world cost of living. The median cost of a house in Fairfax County is over $500,000 and many H1B workers own homes here.