First, no medium or smaller company is going to want to own IT hardware, and employ IT Staff. they want to buy applications from Cloud. Or thats what they think they need - damn the torpedos and the internet availability issues and loss of control. Even large companies dont think their dedicated, hard working folks offer any competitive advantage. They are just overhead in MGT eyes. Levels of bureaucracy ensure that workers get no credit for their succes.
Second, letting H1B workers in displaces US workers, and drops the labor rates in the US for all other US workers. We train the foreign workforce,then chase them away so they go home with a clue on how to run businesses. Is it better to keep them here or not let em in, or restrict H1B count? Either way, business wants to pay less for what it perceives as commodity skillsets. (again, not recognizing the skills of the domestic worker).
Then the jobs can go offshore and then the contracts that are written and the cross training provided results in a loss of control of the IP, as well as the financial performance. The guy in the next cube works for your competition, and gets the sales reports for both before you and before your competition, and goes on day trading escapades accordingly.
The question never asked: Is the US worker more productive, more creative and more effective at doing IT work? I've heard hte rate is about >> 2:1 for headcount, favoring the US worker, but this is not acknowledged.
EU has a protectionist view. Wonder how history will see that?