"Greatly expanding our quotas for the highly skilled, would lower wage premiums over lesser skilled," said Greenspan. "Skilled shortages in America exist because we are shielding our skilled labor force from world competition,' he said.

Greenspan said Visa quotas, "have been substituted for the wage pricing mechanism. In the process we have created a privilege elite whose incomes are being supported at non-competitively high levels by immigration quotas on skilled professionals," he said. "Eliminating such restrictions would reduce at least some of the income inequality."

The views cited by Greenspan . H-1B opponent say there is no skills shortages, and the H-1B visa has been used to reduce wages, especially by replacing older workers with younger workers from overseas. One recent study found that for some occupations, including programmers.

Greenspan cited failures in the U.S. educational system, in part, for the need to bring in more foreign workers. He cited the high percentages of foreign graduates of advance degree programs.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), who chairs the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship, cited the role in of immigration in the U.S. economic development. "Because of immigration, Google, Yahoo, Intel and eBay, are American success stories," he said. "In New York, one quarter of all business of immigrant owned."