H1Bs are not entitled to unemployment benefits (or any form of government sponsored healthcare). In fact, technically, they are supposed to leave the country the same day they are fired otherwise they are illegally staying.
14 years of taxes is quite a bit at an effective 35% rate without the promise of social security of any kind.
Only in rare cases do immigrants not pay the same taxes (through bidirectional tax treaties) and most of them don't receive the same benefits, if any.
At a most fundamental level, a nation is a group of people who commit to protect each other in case of attack. If you're in the US, we'll protect you from foreign invaders whether you're a citizen, legal resident, or H1-B holder. Because we make that commitment, we get to decide who crosses our borders. We get to decide based on whatever factors we want whether we want to let someone emigrate.
No that is the point. With this statement you are justifying the fact that Visa holders don't receive the same commitments as PRs and citizens because they may or may not receive a GC in the future. Many H1-Bs have to leave the US before they even get a chance to get a GC (all the while paying their taxes and not receiving much of the benefits).
This makes them second class citizens.
As the responses are showing, the moral high ground is largely unavailable for this particular motion.
On the other hand, a country can do what the heck it pleases on letting people in, which is generally the bedrock of its powers anyway, so why is this an issue.
All immigrants know that they are the mercy of a bureaucracy they have to please. Not at the mercy of some high minded ideal system.
- ninja edit for clarity and brevity.
It is a big step, but it's still hard to get green card status unless you really luck out with both the company you work and the manager(s) you report to.