Reforming h1b is a must. We should replace the current h1b lottery system with a salary based auction system. So whichever company pays the most salary gets the visa. Of course, we have to normalize for location & exempt nonprofits. (otherwise, rich bay area companies will get all the visas).

In the long run, we should go for a point-based immigration system like Canada.

Its sad people don't show the same empathy for legal immigrants they show for undocumented immigrants!

No, the h1b visa comes with an option to apply for permanent residency (Green card). So the comparison here is the ten-year software license comes with an option to buy the lifetime license.

Anyway, the issue here is that the archaic laws discriminate based on race (country of origin) which is both unfair and doesn't make sense for the category (employment-based visa).