A substantial % of the maximum number of immigrants ppl. want to let in can't afford the median rent in my area, unless they are staying at 2-3x the occupancy of a listed apartment. Landlords will undoubtedly turn a blind eye to this, as the rent money is in their hands today, and the cost of schools, utilities, social services etc. not met by the increasing population is a bill due in the abstract future.
As for the ones who can afford their own houses, I think the market for real estate has increased here at at least 3x the rate of inflation over the past twenty years, we certainly don't need more buyers.
> A substantial % of the maximum number of immigrants ppl. want to let in can't afford the median rent in my area, unless they are staying at 2-3x the occupancy of a listed apartment.
The legal minimum H-1B salary is substantially higher than the median American salary, and of course, the average salary is in turn higher than the legal minimum. They are better equipped to afford the median rent than the average resident of your area.
> the cost of schools, utilities, social services etc
Are you under the impression that immigrants don't pay taxes or something? Skilled immigrants are higher income than average and pay far, far more into the system than they take out of it.
The legal minimum H1-B salary is based on 'prevailing wage' standards, of which there are many to choose from. Sufficiently so, such that one employer I know was hiring PhD statisticians with 20 years of experience in bioinformatics for 90K/yr. In downtown Cambridge, a block from MIT.
Doesn't that sound like a princely salary for today's senior scientist with a family in Massachusetts to support? Maybe they'll throw in a gym membership at Planet Fitness.
Are you under the impression that current rates of state & local taxation realistically reflect the actual cost of servicing future obligations for services and infrastructure, including pension costs? They don't pay that much more into the system....of course, if Trump set the minimum H1-B salary to 300K nationwide, and allowed for a marginal rate of 65%, that would be a different story.
> Are you under the impression that current rates of state & local taxation realistically reflect the actual cost of servicing future obligations for services and infrastructure, including pension costs? They don't pay that much more into the system....of course, if Trump set the minimum H1-B salary to 300K nationwide, and allowed for a marginal rate of 65%, that would be a different story.
The median American worker makes something like 30k+/year. So yes, the person making $90k is paying far more into the system than they take out, even if you account for the fact that the current system is not quite fully funded. Skilled immigrants are also less likely to be on disability, be unemployed, end up in prison, etc, or otherwise end up in a position where they are extracting more resources than they put in.
Current rent in Cambridge,MA is over 3,000 a month for a studio apartment. Someone making 90k a year would most likely spend over half their take home pay on rent, and realistically not be able to provide for a family.
Another interesting fact about MA is the cost of public elementary education is massive, if this employee had children the tax burden per child is greater than 16k+ per year. To offset the tax burden for a 2 child family they would need to own a home that would have a property tax bill of over 32k a year. In many US locations people are a massive tax burden even if they are making what is considered a good salary. Someone making 90k a year wouldn't be able to afford that. In fact someone making $96,250 with a family of 4 can qualify for subsidized housing if they live in Cambridge,MA.
The marginal tax rate in the US is to low for the services the government provides and the country is going broke because of it. The pay for many of these H1-B visa is too low for the location and experience they require. The system has been abused by companies, and neither side is going to correctly adjust it.
Many people raise families in Cambridge, MA (and every other expensive city in the country) on much less than 90k/year. (Also double check your numbers, because that $3k/month figure for the median studio apartment is not correct).
Don't forget that most families have two working parents. $90k/year * 2 = 180k/year.
> Another interesting fact about MA is the cost of public elementary education is massive, if this employee had children the tax burden per child is greater than 16k+ per year. To offset the tax burden for a 2 child family they would need to own a home that would have a property tax bill of over 32k a year.
Many immigrants do not have kids, and the ones that do have kids only send them to elementary school for a very short fraction of their working career. The average person making 90k/year pays more into the system than they take out of it. The system is going "broke" because the median person makes ~$30k+/year, and a large fraction of the population is on public assistance or in prison, not because the people at the 90k/year (or 180k/year) end of the spectrum are draining the system of resources.
Many people raise families in Cambridge, MA (and every other expensive city in the country) on much less than 90k/year.
I've met several while I lived there. In the Rindge Homes, or who were getting Section 8.
The ongoing outlay for city & state services is overwhelming MA, even with its high-earning, high-educated population. Even at a (risable) $90/K a year, the debt keeps growing, and adding more people will only increase the consumption of public services whose costs are not being adequately reflected.
Only certain spouses of H1-B visas holders can get work permits, the idea of the H1-B visa program is to hire the best and brightest where the spouse wouldn't need to work.
Can you find any apartments in the Cambridge area for less than 3k a month, I picked that number because of was incredibly low? If it is so easy can't you find actual show proof. Don't even get started with finders fees for many apartments/rentals. Housing in the Greater Boston Area is a huge game.
The median household income in the US is around 60k, and many have households have spouses that do not work (or part time), and are in areas of low cost of living. There is no way to compare the wage you need in Rural America vs the coasts. Most of the H1B-Visas are in companies in the high cost areas of the nation that haven't correctly scaled over the years.
