The H1-B visa program allows employers to hire foreign workers with special skills they can't find among American job applicants. However, with unemployment at 6.1 percent, the annual limit on new H1-B visas automatically rolled back to 65,000--a cap set in 1990. Pro-labor groups support the rollback, which they believe will open up more jobs for American workers. However, some industry analysts fear that as the economy begins to improve, business may be hurt by a lack of skilled workers
See "Cap cut on foreign work visas", T. Shawn Taylor, Chicago Tribune, September 30, 2003