The National Foundation for American Policy released a study this week that claimed that the filing fees associated with the H-1b program have reached $3 Billion over the past decade. H-1b filing fees have funded scholarships for 58,000 US citizens seeking higher education in the sciences and math. They have also funded training programs for over 100,000 U.S. workers. Further, this study echoed findings from the GAO released earlier this year, making the claim that H-1b workers are not paid lower wages than U.S. workers in similar positions. When one considers the huge cost to employ an H-1b worker and that the wage to be paid the worker must meet prevailing wage standards, a person honestly looking at the H-1b program should reach the conclusion that the H-1b worker just might be what the U.S. employer needs for a specific position. Or, one can just ignore the facts and continue to shout as loudly as possible “The H-1b program is stealing American jobs !” As Congress is currently debating certain facets of the H-1b program, it would be nice if we could believe that our Congresisonal leaders would at least consider the facts. Of course, it would also be nice if the tooth fairy were real.