Canada has created a visa program specifically catering to American H-1B visa holders. The program allows H-1B holders in the United States to apply for up to 10,000 Canadian visas to work for any employer that will hire them. The visa only lasts for three years with no extension possible. This small-scale, temporary policy has the U.S. media acting as if this is proof that our immigration system is broken, and the only solution is even more immigration. The Wall Street Journal framed this Canadian policy as pouncing on aliens “fed up” with the U.S. immigration system. The Washington Post claimed Canada was proving the “dysfunction” of our system. Forbes also chimed in with how this is proof we need a more permissive H-1B system to compete with Canada. These alarmist articles neglect to mention the fact that H-1B applications in the United States are setting annual records, and they certainly do not mention the discrimination against American workers and the wage theft that is pervasive in our own H-1B system and tech sector.
Let’s start with the idea that this temporary and extremely limited Canadian program is proof that workers are “fed up” with our “dysfunctional” system. Registrations for H-1B workers in the United States skyrocketed over the last four years, and the H-1B cap of 85,000 has been filled each year. In 2021, U.S. employers registered for 274,237 H-1B workers. In 2022, the number was 308,613, and in 2023, it was 483,927. Finally, in 2024, employers registered for 780,884 H-1B workers. Obviously, the 10,000 temporary slots made available by Canada will not tip the scales.
Curiously, some of these articles do mention the fact that the tech sector, the primary users of H-1B, are laying off workers in droves. Somehow, they believe the primary employers of H-1B workers laying off hundreds of thousands is proof that we need more H-1B workers. This, despite the fact that the IT job market is shrinking. In February 2023, the IT sector job market shrank for the first time in two years. June 2023 saw the IT job market reduced by 171,000. Layoffs and job contraction leave a bleak outlook for American tech workers, especially when they are also competing for jobs with tens of thousands of cheaper foreign workers for the few jobs available. However, the media thinks our main focus should be on how to fix the H-1B program so that the tech sector can import more cheap labor that it clearly does not need. Such is the state of the current immigration debate, where impenetrable blinders are affixed and no facts can point to anything other than the need for more immigration.
Another point made in these apologia for H-1B expansion is that the real trouble is that the United States does not let these temporary workers stay permanently in the United States. Nevermind that the program they are applying for is a temporary employment visa (and, of course, Canada is making clear that their program is temporary as well). H-1B workers get an initial three year stay with an opportunity for an additional three years. After that, their employer can sponsor them for legal permanent residence. While it is true that the wait is long for some aliens, particularly Chinese and Indian nationals, keep in mind that applicants for adjustment of status can apply for employment authorization documents (8 CFR 274a.12(c)(9)) while they await a decision, and the availability of a green card. Also, let’s not forget Optional Practical Training (OPT) for students in the F, M, and J visa categories. This allows potential tech recruits to stay in the country and work for years after they graduate. So aliens can presumably stay in the United States for their four years of college, three years in OPT, six years as H-1Bs, and then get employment authorization while awaiting adjudication of their adjustment of status application. The media judges this as not accommodating enough.
Keep in mind that OPT and employment authorization for applicants to adjust status are illegal. They were created by the executive branch without Congressional approval, but in the context of the argument the media is trying to make, these polices obviate their supposed concerns. One possible explanation for this is that the media does not actually understand the law and are making claims based on what lobbyists for mass immigration tell them. On the other hand, they could just be using whatever arguments they can, no matter how misleading, to keep up the neverending onslaught for massive expansion of immigration to the country. Either way, any real review of current immigration policy renders their argument unsound.
In the midst of all of this caterwauling, there is no similar outcry about the abuse within the H-1B program. There has been widespread wage theft found in the program. Tons of companies are discriminating against American tech workers in their hiring and firing processes. Where are the litany of stories covering this aspect of the H-1B program? Canada creates one small program for 10,000 H-1B workers and you can’t read a major newspaper without bumping into a story about how this proves we need to make the H-1B program bigger and more permissive. Meanwhile, the laundry list of abuse of foreign and American workers largely goes uncovered. They do not mention these stories even though they would bolster their argument. If you want to argue that the H-1B program is frustrating workers, wage theft is likely a good place to start. If you want to argue that the H-1B program is dysfunctional, then evidence of mass discrimination against Americans in favor of foreign workers is your proof. Of course, this evidence points to reforming H-1B to be more restrictive and reducing the number of visas, which is not the point they wish to make.
JARED CULVER is a Legal Analyst for NumbersUSA
