H1-B Visas - Another Perspective?

H1-B visas are, as you know, filled at the request of businesses looking for particular skills they're having trouble finding domestically. Big tech companies, like Microsoft, are constantly haranguing for more of these, but when you look at their actual requests, they seem like fairly run-of-the-mill systems jobs, and maybe these companies are really just looking for cheap - as opposed to unique - talent.

But there might be another angle to it I hadn't thought of or heard before. In the NY Times' latest effort in its indefatigable mission to enlighten the world on the infinite wonderfulness that is Obama, they "contrast" the candidates approaches to spurring technological innovation (and of course you'll never guess which candidate's positions are flawless, supported by all the smartest people, and unfailingly prescient). But what struck me was a discussion of the topic in Obama's book "The Audacity of Hope":

Many of the engineers Mr. Obama met at Google were from Asia or Eastern Europe. “As far as I could tell, not one was black or Latino,” he wrote. His guide told him that finding American-born engineers of any race was getting so hard that American companies were setting up shop abroad, in part for access to talent. [EA]

Let's imagine, for a moment, in place of Obama's observations, there is the EEOC reviewing employment records. Doesn't it sound a lot easier to just throw up your hands and claim "we can't find any qualified Americans" than to explain why you've hired only certain Americans?