H-1B reform requires a more honest conversation

America has always been a melting pot of talent, and its status as a global leader in innovation is not an accident. Immigrants have helped build and run this country’s tech sector and startups. They have powered our universities, hospitals, and the broader STEM workforce with skill and with drive.

Foreign-born individuals account for 19 percent of STEM workers. Among U.S. startups valued at $1 billion or more, 55 percent had an immigrant founder. Almost 13 percent of education workforce is foreign-born. For higher education that number jumps to more than 17 percent. In health care, over 17 percent of all workers in the field, and a staggering 26 percent of physicians and surgeons, are immigrants.

Overall, immigrants play an outsized role driving the U.S. economy by fueling innovation and sustaining growth. So, it is in our national interest to continue to welcome the world’s best immigrant minds.

The H-1B program is the main avenue to bring talent into the country. Every year, 85,000 H-1B visas are issued through a lottery system. But the H-1B program is under fire. The federal government recently enacted a $100,000 fee for new H-1B petitions. Additionally, Congress is reviewing a bill to reform the H-1B and L-1 visas to raise the wage requirement and to add more U.S. labor protections. Some politicians are calling for the full elimination of the H-1B program. The national H-1B narrative has become “tech companies vs. American workers,” and “H-1B = foreign programmers,” or “they are taking our jobs.” This rhetoric makes H-1B program politically vulnerable.

The debate needs a more honest conversation. We need to ask what exactly is broken and how do we fix it?

The behavioral contract

H-1B program is not without its flaws. It’s imperfect, exploitable, and due for reform. But if we’re going to reform it, let’s at least be honest about what it has become.

Companies apply for H-1B visas to fill roles with foreign workers. The visa is tied to the employer. If the worker leaves the job, they have just 60 days to find another visa sponsor employer or leave the country. Recent analysis by the Pew Research Center finds that  majority of H-1B workers are from India, accounting for over 70 percent of the program in the recent years, mostly working in the tech sector.

Companies love the H-1B program. Businesses like predictability, stability and control. When it comes to workforce, H-1Bs provide that and more. H-1B status is like a behavioral contract. You behave; you stay. And employers know it. That’s why so many companies quietly depend on H-1Bs. It’s not just a talent pipeline. It’s a control structure.

I came to the U.S. over 25 years ago and lived the life of an H-1B visa holder in the tech sector. Eventually, I became a citizen, built businesses, and even ran for mayor in Rochester. I have also managed teams with H-1B workers. So, I write with experience on both sides of the table.

Much of the debate is around whether H-1B workers drive down wages or whether there truly is a talent shortage. But what drives demand for H‑1Bs isn’t just talent shortage, it’s the behavior the system encourages. The real reason companies love H-1B workers isn’t because they are cheaper. It’s about output, predictability and control.

To many Americans, the H-1B program feels like a wage issue, and a way for companies to hire cheaper labor. But in reality, especially in tech and research sectors, these workers are often paid market or premium salaries. H-1B is a behavioral labor model. You can’t find many American workers, regardless of background, who will consistently work late hours and weekends, stay silent, take direction without resistance, and live for years under the stress of visa renewal.

It is often said that newly arrived immigrants work harder. H-1B immigrants are no different. Combine that with the desire to prove themselves and to fit in, H-1B holders often go the extra mile. In addition, H-1Bs are valued for how little trouble they cause. While they are eager to prove themselves and skilled in what they do, they are also tied to a visa they can’t afford to lose, are unlikely to push back or ask questions, eager to over-deliver and put in extra hours, and are focused on performance, not work politics. This combination creates a workforce that delivers without resistance. That, in a lot of cases, is a manager’s dream.

Most hiring managers are not setting out to exploit anyone. They are simply responding to what feels like strong performance: alignment with expectations, a solid work ethic, and extra hours. From that lens, a “high-performing” H-1B hire doesn’t feel like exploitation; it feels like commitment. And managers naturally lean into that pattern. That’s where the systemic effect creeps in. That’s what H-1B incentivizes. That’s what companies love, knowingly or not.

I remember what it felt like to know my future was tied to silence. Now, with distance, I see more clearly that the same system that promised the opportunities I sought also thwarted personal goals and freedom.

Immigration, especially in tech, has driven real innovation, growth, and progress in the United States. But we can’t pretend that it hasn’t also become a way to install a low-friction, high-output compliant workforce.

Rochester’s H-1B story

The new $100,000 fee may make things worse. Companies will likely seek to lock in workers with clawback clauses, making it even harder for them to leave or negotiate. The proposed fee won’t hurt Silicon Valley; big tech companies can afford it and will simply pass the cost on to customers. In fact, this fee may consolidate the visas in the hands of bigger tech companies, which can absorb the cost. Collateral damage will occur in places like Rochester’s universities and hospitals, which likely can’t afford to pay the $100,000 visa fee.

When people think of H-1Bs, they picture computer programmers or computer-related jobs in general. In contrast to the current political rhetoric, Rochester’s story plays out a little differently. Department of Labor occupation-level data tells us that the majority of our H-1B holders are Ph.D. researchers and professors at the University of Rochester and at Rochester Institute of Technology, including postdocs advancing medical science, physicians filling hospital gaps, and engineers helping local manufacturers stay competitive.

Though Rochester has never been a major destination for H-1B workers, there has been modest growth here. As the Beacon’s Jacob Schermerhorn pointed out in his Nov. 6 article “The new cost of global talent,” Rochester has overtaken Buffalo in bringing H-1Bs in recent years. Additionally, further review of data tells us that Monroe County (mostly Rochester) over the last 17 years (based on data available on the USCIS portal) primarily brought H-1Bs in two areas: education, professional, scientific and technical services; and health care.

Rochester does have H-1Bs in tech roles, but those numbers now are modest, and declining. As the chart below shows, the Professional, Scientific & Technical Services category, which includes software and IT companies, has trended downward in recent years. Meanwhile, Educational Services and Health Care & Social Assistance have surged, especially in 2025. This reinforces the fact that Rochester’s H-1B profile is shaped more by its academic and medical institutions than by the tech firms.

The fact that Rochester’s H-1Bs are in education and health care matters. It challenges the narrow “H-1B = corporate profit” narrative and instead shows that the program supports essential public institutions such as hospitals and universities, which are central to community well-being and long-term national strength.

Without H-1B talent, Rochester’s future-looking economy would be slower, smaller, and less competitive. The result? Universities will struggle to improve and stay competitive. There will be less innovation, longer hospital wait times, and fewer breakthrough ideas coming from our labs.

H-1B reform

If we’re serious and smart about H-1B reform, there are ways to improve that will be beneficial to the country, as well as to places like Rochester. As part of the solution, we should first untie the visa from the employer. Let approved H-1B holders work wherever they want for the duration of the visa. This change will be beneficial to both American workers and the H-1B holders by taking away the behavioral incentive that companies have.

Second, we should do away with current lottery system in favor of a more intentional, point-based system, similar to Canadian immigration, with focus on bringing world’s best and brightest here. This point system can be reviewed and adjusted annually to ensure the program stays true to its purpose and for the changing needs of the country.

These reforms will address the H-1B program’s current flaws, while ensuring U.S. leadership in intellectual, scientific and innovation arena.

Shashi Sinha is a Rochester resident, entrepreneur, and former H-1B visa holder. He recently ran for mayor of Rochester and has spent over 25 years in the technology industry.

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