Raising the H-1B visa cap does nothing – most are not the “high-skilled” workers their authors say are necessary which proves even if they’re right, they don’t solve.

We know that H-1B workers are not being used to bring in the “best and brightest.”

In dozens of cases – Disney, The Fossil Group, Toys R Us, New York Life, Northeast Utilities, etc. – American workers trained their replacements. The American workers were obviously more skilled. The American worker was the trainer, possessing more knowledge and skills, and the H-1B worker was the trainee.

We typically measure skill levels in two primary ways: wages and educational achievement. We know that H-1Bs are frequently hired at lower wages. And most H-1B workers have no more than ordinary educational achievements.

There is also a widespread myth that the typical H-1B worker is an advanced degree holder from a U.S. University. But as the Table 3 shows, most of the top H-1B employers are using the program to import workers with no more than a Bachelors degree. About 80% of the H-1B workers that the top three employers – Tata, Cognizant, and Infosys – bring into the U.S. hold no more than a Bachelors degree.

For the vast majority of the top twenty employers, more than half of their H-1Bs hold no more than a Bachelors degree. The exceptions are Intel, Google, and Amazon. Further, the Ph.D. degree is very uncommon. For Microsoft, one of the most vocal companies about needing H-1Bs, more than half, 56%, of its H-1B hires hold no more than a Bachelors degree, and only 5% hold a doctorate.