The H-1B debate frames international hiring and domestic employment as competing priorities; the debate over H-1B visas has become a proxy for a larger question regarding America’s economic future, where it is questioned whether or not the country should prioritize foreign talents or protect opportunities for American workers.
Most recently, a viral debate erupted on social media after Y Combinator general partner Ankit Gupta called prioritizing American workers a form of DEI, drawing backlash from America-first advocates and showcasing a strong divide over whether skilled immigration strengthens the U.S. economy or disadvantages domestic workers.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of data scientists is projected to increase by 33.5% between 2024 and 2034, while software developer employment is expected to grow by 15.8%. These projections point to expanding demand for technical expertise, although they do not, by themselves, establish a nationwide shortage of qualified workers.
But the controversy misses the point. For employers, the challenge is finding people with the experience to build, deploy and manage increasingly sophisticated technologies. For American students and early-career workers, it is gaining the practical skills needed to compete for those opportunities.
The two problems are related, but they are not interchangeable. Hiring an experienced AI engineer does not automatically prepare a domestic worker for a similar role. Equally, training more students does not immediately provide the expertise companies need today.
The question, then, is whether immigration and workforce development can be designed to reinforce each other rather than treated as separate policy concerns.
A different approach to skilled immigration
Many companies have refrained from seeking foreign talent due to visa restrictions and immigration limitations, yet there are solutions that work around this. Fellowship programs are seeking ways to handle the H-1B cap-exempt visas, which allows U.S. employers to sponsor foreign workers in specialty occupations without being subject to the annual 85,000 numerical limit or the H-1B lottery system
Danielle Goldman, CEO and co-founder of Build Talent Labs, a U.S.-based company that provides H-1B cap-exempt sponsorship and connects global professionals with American companies and universities, believes international professionals can contribute to the U.S. economy beyond their primary jobs.
“They are universities, nonprofits affiliated with universities, and nonprofit or governmental research organizations which aren’t accounted for in the annual cap. Congress decided that institutions whose work serves education and research shouldn’t have to compete in a lottery for talent,” Goldman said while in conversation with The Sociable.
Through the Build Fellowship, participating foreign professionals work for U.S. employers while undertaking part-time mentorship and training activities through qualifying nonprofit organizations and university partnerships.
According to the program’s published description, activities can include one-on-one training, webinars, peer review, and micro-internships.
This knowledge transfer could be particularly valuable in fast-paced technical fields, where students will benefit directly by learning from professionals working with current tools, systems, and industry practices.
Rather than viewing immigration and domestic training as competing investments, the model attempts to connect them through a single arrangement.
Can the model benefit American workers?
An ambitious fellowship like the one proposed by Build Talent Labs relies heavily on the results demonstrated by students, on employers seeing value in the arrangement, and on the training translating into tangible educational or employment outcomes.
The number of fellows and students reached would be one starting point; completion rates, changes in technical proficiency, internships secured and subsequent employment outcomes would offer a clearer picture of its effectiveness.
Independent evaluation would also help establish whether the program provides benefits that students could not readily obtain through existing university courses, internships or other workforce-development initiatives.
There are important limitations to consider, however. Part-time mentorship cannot on its own resolve every skills gap in the U.S. economy. Nor does a training component automatically answer concerns about competition for jobs, wages or the availability of opportunities for domestic workers.
There is also a matter of misinformation, with many companies not really aware of how a cap-exempt visa works.
“Very few companies realize that there is something in the law called ‘concurrent employment’. This means that one foreign national can hold multiple concurrent H-1Bs. Companies may know about cap-exempt H-1Bs, but they can’t just make themselves cap-exempt, so even when they hear about the pathway, they think it wouldn’t apply to them,” Goldman explained.
What it means for U.S. immigration policy
The fellowship also highlights the importance of the institutional arrangements behind cap-exempt H-1B sponsorship.
Because eligibility depends on specific statutory and regulatory requirements, this is not a universal workaround for companies seeking to hire foreign workers. It relies on qualifying organizations and compliant employment arrangements, making the details of implementation central to the model.
“Beyond just immigration strategy, the cap-exempt framework matters to the country. There’s a reason Congress kept these institutions out of the lottery: you have healthcare professionals at university hospitals and highly specialized experts at nonprofits working with universities, and government research institutions. And in our Fellowship, Fellows work with Build to train U.S. students in their specialized field, which helps close the skills gap we have in this country,” Goldman explained.
Still, it raises a question worth considering in the wider policy debate: can employers, universities and nonprofit organizations create more structured pathways for transferring technical expertise to American workers?
Such partnerships would not eliminate the need for investment in domestic education, apprenticeships and training. Instead, they could complement those efforts by connecting students with people who have direct experience in specialized fields.
For policymakers, the challenge is to distinguish promising mechanisms from proven outcomes. Any attempt to expand similar models would need clear standards, legal compliance and evidence that participating students and workers benefit.
Featured image: Jacinto via Unsplash+
Disclosure: This article mentions a client of an Espacio portfolio company.
