In 2009, a mere9,000 H-1Bs were received in the first month of H-1B processing. It would be 264 days before the H-1B cap wasreached. In 2010, it took 300 days untilthe H-1B cap was reached. In 2011, therewere 236 days between the April 1, 2011 cap opening and the November 23, 2011cap being reached. Not coincidentally,the USemployment rate from 2009-2011 ranged between eight and ten percent.
On the other hand,the H-1B cap was reached on the very first day in 2007, 2008, 2013 and 2014,mirroring the low unemployment rate.
The lack of H-1B petition filings in years when the unemployment rate is high is compelling evidenceagainst the argument that internationally-trained workers are being used todisplace American workers and lower US workers’ salaries.
Why? Because if H-1B visa labor was being usedprimarily to lower US workers’ salaries, then H-1B filing numbers would not correlate with US unemployment rates. Ifanything, the reverse would happen because the incentive to reduce workers’salaries is likely greater in a recessed economy, not less.
This logic isstraightforward and it is a shame that otherwisesuccessful people do not see employment visas for what they are — tools for growing industries to fill labor shortages. Organizations — and governments — work better when they work ondata and not on nonsense.