On the other hand, Charles Kuck, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, expressed disappointed at the inclusion of the hiring restrictions in the compromise stimulus bill.

"These banks will not able to hire qualified foreign talent to pull them out of this mess -- if that was necessary," Kuck said. "Maybe we've got all the homegrown talent we need to pull us out of this mess, because now we have to hope we do."

While the restrictions don't prevent employers from hiring H-1B holders, Kuck predicted that the affected firms will be unlikely to do so because of the added cost and work that will now be involved. The key advantage of the H-1B program, he said, is the ability it gives companies to quickly hire people to fill available jobs.

"There are very few employers that are going to wait that period of time to be able to do that [under the restrictions] when they have to bring somebody on board right away," Kuck said. "You are effectively saying, 'You can't use the program.'"

The big question, according to Kuck, is whether companies receiving TARP funds will be able to bring in "the best person available to do the job." That's a separate issue, he said, from the low-level work that typically is going to outsourcing firms.