Silicon Valley could be facing a massive skills shortage if the US government were to clamp down on H-1B visas.
Census data reveals that about 71% of Silicon Valley’s tech workers were born outside of the US, along with about 50% of tech workers in the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward region.
Most of these workers would be employed under the H-1B visa, which is intended for speciality occupations.
In 2016, more than 2 500 H-1B visas were taken up by Google hiring foreign workers, while Apple accounted for almost 2 000.
Opponents that the H-1B visa allows foreign workers to steal American jobs, either at home or via offshore outsourcing.