by an H1-B holder or developer living abroad. I've worked side by side with them (either physically or virtually) throughout my career. Whether Asian or European, it just isn't an issue. While many of them are stronger programmers than me, that is just one aspect of software engineering. Here are some areas where the typical foreign worker can't compete with me:
* Requirements analysis
* Architecture and design
* Short-term and long-term strategy
* Customer relations
* Documentation

One way or another, foreigners are going to do some programming tasks. They are cheaper. The question is whether you want them to do the work over there or over here. As for me, I'd rather have them do the work here. Does that mean that they might displace some marginal programmers? Yes, but I'm not sure that is a bad thing. If you can't make yourself vital to an organization, maybe this is the wrong field for you.

The problem as I see it is that our colleges aren't preparing people well for software engineering. They understand programming concepts fairly well, but not all the other things in that list above. There is a perpetual shortage of qualified, competent project managers. Americans should excel here, but most project managers I've seen are a net drain on productivity.