H-1B is for difficult-to-find specialists and O-1 is for people with extraordinary ability in their field.
H-2B is for ordinary workers.
H-2B is for ordinary workers.
I am an immigrant (not to US though), so looking from this standpoint. If I wanted to move to the US, H1B would be a pretty straightforward way for me to do so - as it is for many professionals now. With this path cut off - what is left to people who are just good professionals in their field, but maybe not exactly Nobel laureates? There is Green card lottery, but being a lottery, it's not ideal for life planning, and it doesn't account for one's professional achievements.
Having a degree and expertise isn't sufficient. There needs to be a reason a US company should hire you over a domestic applicant.
The $100k fee basically makes it not about money. It's going to be more expensive to hire a foreign worker - meaning that if they're chosen over a domestic applicant, it's for a real reason, not just because they'll take a lower salary.