Two congressional reports, a number of academic studies have shown that H-1Bs are paid less than Americans. Underpayment of H-1Bs is usually done in full compliance with the law. The problem is primarily NOT one of lack of enforcement or fraud. The use of foreign workers for cheap labor pervades the entire tech industry, including the large, mainstream firms, and including the foreign workers hired from U.S. universities. It is NOT limited to the "bodyshops." Age is a core H-1B issue. Most H-1Bs are under 30, and since younger workers are cheaper than older ones in both wages and health care costs, employers use the H-1B program to avoid hiring older (i.e. 35+) Americans. There is no tech labor shortage. No study, other than those sponsored by the industry, has ever shown a shortage. HR departments routinely exclude CVs of applicants they deem "too expensive"--those that are over age 35 (so managers never see these CVs). The world's "best and brightest" should be welcomed, but only a tiny percentage of H-1Bs are in league. Meanwhile, many of our own best and brightest are squeezed out of the market once they accumulate 10 years or so of experience, and worse, many top college students are discouraged from pursuing the field in the first place. Though the industry lobbyists claim that the importation of H-1Bs avoids the offshoring of work, the visa is actually used to facilitate shipping the work abroad. The National Science Foundation, a key government agency, actually advocated the use of the H-1B program as a means of holding down PhD salaries, by flooding the job market with foreign students. The NSF added that the stagnation of salaries would push domestic students away from PhD study, which is exactly what has happened. The per-capita rates of entrepreneurship and patents among immigrant engineers have been the same as that of the natives. Thus the displacement of the American workers has not produced a net positive effect. Proposals to establish fast-track green card programs to retain the foreign workers are misguided. First, in the EB-1 green card category, which is for outstanding talents, waits are short. Second, and more importantly, the foreign workers are mostly young, and would still crowd out American workers of age 35+ even with green cards.