Bill to Eliminate H-1B Visa Program Introduced in Congress • Hacker News Board

Re: Bill to Eliminate H-1B Visa Program Introduced in Congress

#171

Post by qcnguy » Wed, Jan 07, 2026, 4:23 PM UTC

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #169

qcnguy wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody says math is a conspiracy, except maybe the far left educators who think math is some kind of racist white supremacy. That's a ridiculous straw man. https://www.hoover.org/research/seattle-schools-propose-teac... > China is a conservative country but they believe in education China is a communist country that banned private tutoring because some children were getting ahead, creating inequality (the "double red…

China is less communist than America these days. And even if they were bonafide communists, that has no real relation to conservative values. When you give American conservatives actual numbers on the economy, weather, healthcare, they assert that they would much rather go with what they think is true vs what actually is true. They simply don’t believe in data and math, you aren’t going to advance much in tech that w…

The Chinese economy is far more heavily planned than America's is, and they are far more totalitarian. There is no meaningful way you can claim America is more communist than China. China is less communist than under Mao, for sure, but it must still be kept in perspective.

You are conflating "government data" with "math" as if they're the same thing. That's a massive error and suggests you should fix your own understandings before attacking other people's. Someone saying they don't trust the government to report honest/accurate numbers doesn't mean they think math is a conspiracy, and it's a ridiculous distortion to present it like that. In fact, it's exactly that kind of behavior that causes conservatives to not trust leftists (and by extension the government departments most full of them).

Re: Bill to Eliminate H-1B Visa Program Introduced in Congress

#172

Post by myk9001 » Wed, Jan 07, 2026, 4:44 PM UTC

Muromec wrote: post #139

yc-kraln wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What costs are you calculating with that, net of taxes and rent, you can't survive as a single or even couple on 1800€+ in Berlin? Like the median income here is extremely low, that salary puts you in the top 10%. Help me understand because this doesn't make sense at all to me--context: living in Berlin the last 13 years

Not me. I guess the GP wants to save 1k a month in case the nuclear war happens and drives a car to eat kebabs for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That sounds about right for American, so the saving are going towards health issues down the line. /s

And GP guesses your comment might be using humor as a coping mechanism.

I'm not American, the question was why Europe can't keep talent ("talent" doesn't really include me).

Well, the compensation is just depressing. And as that person from Ireland pointed out, all the talk about worker protections is barely more than fairy tales (maybe not in the Netherlands, idk).

Were we looking at 120 instead of 80, deciding between Europe's quality of life and pursuing career and money in the US would a real tough dilemma. With 80 just enough to pay rent and for groceries... Saving a thousand a month (a wild sum!) gets you to a 20% downpayment on a 500K home in just 8 years...

Re: Bill to Eliminate H-1B Visa Program Introduced in Congress

#173

Post by Tadpole9181 » Wed, Jan 07, 2026, 4:47 PM UTC

10xDev wrote: post #93

Unfortunately there are consequences for its abuse. Is eliminating it the right consequence? Who really knows but it should have never been abused especially in favour of one particular country that is taking over tech. People talk about brain drain but people do go back home and they are opening more offices back at home.

And does this bill also establish consequences for offshoring work to third party contracts or satellite offices in other countries?

No.

So it solves nothing and just makes things worse.

Re: Bill to Eliminate H-1B Visa Program Introduced in Congress

#174

Post by draebek » Wed, Jan 07, 2026, 4:53 PM UTC

palmotea wrote: post #145

Literally who cares? Most bills that are introduced go nowhere, and this one was introduced by a congresswoman who recently resigned (Marjorie Taylor Greene). But what Congress really needs to do is introduce an onerous tax on offshore labor, that's a much worse problem.

https://www.eisneramper.com/insights/tax/halting-internation...

Re: Bill to Eliminate H-1B Visa Program Introduced in Congress

#175

Post by instagib » Wed, Jan 07, 2026, 5:06 PM UTC

palmotea wrote: post #145

Literally who cares? Most bills that are introduced go nowhere, and this one was introduced by a congresswoman who recently resigned (Marjorie Taylor Greene). But what Congress really needs to do is introduce an onerous tax on offshore labor, that's a much worse problem.

This is how controversial things get introduced. People who are not going for re-election, retiring, or were recently instated will be forgotten versus the party as a whole.

Look at the shutdown vote and other consequential votes where they need to reach across party lines.

It does get conversations going though and could be re-introduced again soon.

She or others can get some good deals from their party to push bills, votes, or speeches in exchange for donations or speaking venues.

Re: Bill to Eliminate H-1B Visa Program Introduced in Congress

#176

Post by SilverElfin » Wed, Jan 07, 2026, 5:22 PM UTC

palmotea wrote: post #162

SilverElfin wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But what Congress really needs to do is introduce an onerous tax on offshore labor, that's a much worse problem. This is called a tariff and is the same as raising taxes on every American.

> This is called a tariff and is the same as raising taxes on every American. Come on, what are you going to do next? Mic drop "I, Pencil"? Libertarian rhetoric is tired and old, and doesn't adequately address present-day concerns. It's not the 90s anymore, get with the times. FYI, free market economics has taught me to love the idea of tariffs, other similar taxes, and trade barriers. I'm glad those ideas are back o…

Labeling something as “libertarian” isn’t an argument. But a tariff is a tax. Which means you are proposing to take money from others to subsidize people who aren’t able to compete on their merit. Why should they be subsidized? If they can’t make it in STEM they are free to get a different job. But vilifying Indians and Chinese and other immigrants, who have made our companies and economy strong, all over a small 60k visas a year, is irrational.

Re: Bill to Eliminate H-1B Visa Program Introduced in Congress

#177

Post by RealityVoid » Wed, Jan 07, 2026, 5:28 PM UTC

myk9001 wrote: post #104

RealityVoid wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First of all, I am an EU citizen and I absolutely don't have to split rent with any flatmates. In fact, I own my residence. Second, I did in fact split my rent with flatmates during my 6 years of college, we lived 5 people in about 200sqft, then my first job I split and apartment with 3 other people. That was luxurious already! Sure, it would tricky to live like that if you have a family, but as a young person? It's…

If you own, you hit a jackpot, basically. Then, yes, life in Europe can be very nice. Sharing an apartment while in college is OK, even fun in my book. We're talking about immigrants though, right? (If you don't want more of us in your country, I don't think you're a monster, btw. But entertain me anyway?) Go check out, say, Berlin salaries on levels.fyi or glassdoor or wherever you prefer and filter out US companies…

> We're talking about immigrants though, right? (If you don't want more of us in your country, I don't think you're a monster, btw. But entertain me anyway?)

I was more talking about the choice to remain in my home country vs move to the US. And I assure you, I personally don't care where you come from as long as you do your job, we can understand each other and you're not a raging asshole.

My only pet peeves with immigrants is the people who never bother to engage with the host culture at all. I find it a bit disrespectful, but that's a personal take.

Re: Bill to Eliminate H-1B Visa Program Introduced in Congress

#178

Post by _DeadFred_ » Wed, Jan 07, 2026, 5:43 PM UTC

leptons wrote: post #29

calculatte wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think anyone working with the global talent can tell you there are absolutely no controls around measuring their quality. The skilled talent simply isn't skilled at all. They are willing to engage in kickback schemes. Even the O1 "genius" visa is being given to onlyfans models. Immigration is completely broken and it's by design.

Your take only applies to recent developments. For the entirety of the H visa program, it has brought in very valuable talent, which stayed here to generate incredible wealth for the country. "onlyfans" is a recent thing. The kickbacks are a relatively new thing. Sure immigration is broken, but that's what happens when the government is intent on breaking the country.

The H visa program has been heavily exploited since the 1990s when I started in tech. By recent do you mean 26 years?

Re: Bill to Eliminate H-1B Visa Program Introduced in Congress

#179

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jan 07, 2026, 5:43 PM UTC

anal_reactor wrote: post #98

happytoexplain wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's nuts - but I can only speak with anecdotes. The Americans around me are desperate to pull absolutely any lever that will slow the death of the American dream, and at this point even the "light" version of the dream is dying (work hard, be smart and a little lucky, spend on an education in a strong field, get a family and small property). Stats and experts be damned - that's what desperation is. In the specific c…

The message "guys, it's really not that smart to let in a huge number of people from a completely different culture, this is going to be a problem" was completely ignored and labeled racist.

[deleted]

Re: Bill to Eliminate H-1B Visa Program Introduced in Congress

#180

Post by _DeadFred_ » Wed, Jan 07, 2026, 5:46 PM UTC

piva00 wrote: post #80

mattnewton wrote: post #11

Not only are we throwing the baby out with the bathwater, I feel like the current rhetoric in the US doesn’t even acknowledge the existence of the metaphorical baby anymore. The strongest advantage of the US has always been the ability to absorb global talent. I don’t think that is a popular view anymore, and we are instead stuck talking only about stopping abuse that is ultimately still bringing skilled workers to t…

> and we are instead stuck talking only about stopping abuse that is ultimately still bringing skilled workers to the US. In my opinion this is even more general: there's a culture of focusing on punishment in the USA that creates more issues than the abuse it tries to punish. It's one of the reasons of much of the bureaucratic mess in many systems, like healthcare and social welfare, an eternal game of whack-a-mole…

This is by design by replubicans so that they can claim government doesn't work, or so that they ca kneecap programs before becoming successful and permanent.

Look at their plan to 'starve the beast'. They claim they are for fiscal responsibility as their number one priority, but they would rather bankrupt the country in order to get their political way than be fiscally responsible. They have zero morals. It's hard to have a working government when half the people in charge don't want a working government.