I’m quite shocked that this was even open to abuse to begin with. Clearly, the US has very strict immigration and green card laws. So enforcement has been lax? Or were deals made under the table with these companies and previous administrations?

Some more discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50006832

Microsoft isn't the biggest user of this program, Amazon is: https://miserablyunemployed.com/market/h1b

I’m sure the tech CEOs thought they would have some kind of “most favored” status by ingratiating themselves, but everyone who has ever buddied up with a dictator eventually finds out that they too are disposable.