50K seems incredibly high for a relocation. Do you have a source on that? What are the expenses that add up to that amount? All that aside, that's a one-time c

50K seems incredibly high for a relocation. Do you have a source on that? What are the expenses that add up to that amount? All that aside, that's a one-time cost. H1B workers can be kept in limbo for years, since employers can apply for their green cards (or not) at their discretion. > The salary has to be in the same range as the other workers in the same position What constitutes "the same position"? Call the H1B a "systems analyst" instead of a "software engineer", and voila, you've got a much lower paid position, even if the job duties are the same in practice. > why would big tech so this if average Joe is qualified and could do the Job? I'm not a fan of arguments of the form "why did X do Y if Z?" because answering them requires knowing unknowable motives and other factors that your opponent couldn't possibly be privy to. But since we're using those arguments, I've got one for you: If H1Bs are more expensive, why did Disney famously lay off huge numbers of IT workers and make them train their H1B replacements in the process? Kind of hard to argue that they couldn't find suitable American workers when they were already working there.