I would love to know Paul Graham's reaction to this story. H1Bs are a f-ing scam. There is no shortage of tech talent, there is a shortage of companies willing to pay for said talent.
And stop talking about H1B holders as "immigrants". They are not. H1B is a non-immigrant visa.
H1Bs can be useful when there is a (single) person you would like to hire because of individual skills or talents, and plan to pay them the same as any other employee.
I've had this happen to me a handful of times in my career, and the H1B program was genuinely helpful there. Unfortunately, it is more often used to save money in situations like this article, making the program less useful for more legitimate situations.
You should read the article. H1Bs are not immigrants but they are allowed to try to become immigrants while in the US. The process to get permanent residency is not any different between someone who has an H1B and someone who is oversea (ie finding someone to file a petition, either a spouse or a company). The only difference is that the H1B can live and work in the US during the process.
All you're saying is for the right amount you can pretty much get anyone to do anything. Most people would agree with that. Water shortage in CA? Well not for the rich dude who is going to pay thousands of dollars to get a tanker to water their lawn. That does not mean there is no water shortage.
And stop talking about H1B holders as "immigrants". They are not. H1B is a non-immigrant visa.