How about the H1B program? They need to get rid of that program or at least restrict it to be for only people making 150K+ per annum and allowing such people the freedom to change jobs without government interference. The H1B program is designed to destroy the upward mobility of American-born scientists as companies no longer see much value in investing in the people in the USA when they can just import millions of captive indentured underpaid servants in any decade under the H1B program. My guess is that at least 85% of the H1B visas are granted under fraud.
Or if you have some really talented, highly educated professional who wants to emigrate, use a points system and if they score high enough, let them just apply for their Green Card and don’t jerk them around for ten years. Dispense with the rest.
H1B is particularly odious, IMO. I'm sure that some H1B's have their benefits, but I've not seen it.
I was outsourced at a former job. At first they tried to replace me with a H1B worker with "comparable" skills. Didn't work. They added a second. Still not able to keep up. Then a third....
....Finally, they wound up with a total of five (5) H1B's trying to do the work that I did. Unsuccessfully, too, I might add. Company scrapped the idea, hired another local middle-aged white guy to replace me (no WAY I was going back...) and now, the company is back to normal again.
Now, was I doing the work of five men? Not hardly. I'm not that arrogant. But they couldn't find five H1B workers to do the work of one competent local.
That seems a bit high.
I think there's a place for immigration programs as long as they are administered correctly. A friend has had a worker from Japan working under OPT for about a year. Says she's the best worker he's ever had. On time, polite, good work ethic. The person is highly compensated, so it's not a job where they low-balled a salary for a foreign workers.
He has had problems with American workers (but he's also had more of them).
As far as foreigners on any visa program taking jobs away from US citizens, you won't find any non-US citizens in defense contracting jobs - US citizens only. And they are begging for workers. It's a sector that is ripe for the picking if qualified motivated US citizens want to do the work. I know a college grad who had with ME/AE degrees. He said the foreign students were by far harder workers in courses. But they're never going to do DOD work.