H1B as a visa status (and the one nearly everyone in this thread being affected by the green card status) is only 36 years old.
The immigration act of 1999 very clearly created it as a temporary visa not a stepping stone to a green card. That's a modern invention.
The "only" is doing A LOT of heavy lifting. Also, you're being a bit dishonest here, because this does not only apply to H1B visa holders.
Also, are those people not the exact demographic that so-called "anti illegal" Republicans should want? They're highly educated and desirable, not welfare queens right?
I will repeat my point. You have been lied to. The Republicans do not give even a single shit about what is legal and what is not. What they desire is less brown people, and then they work backwards to justify it. Any other interpretation is just not reasonable at this point, with the evidence we have been given.
congress made h1b dual-intent in 1990