Right, but if these people are skilled migrants working in in demand areas, that's 2 or 3 orders of magnitude less than an auction would raise.

People on H-1B do pay into programs like social security which they won’t be able to repatriate when they leave.

Agree that an auction will raise more money. My point was that there is significant amount of money H-1B programs generate already.

Social security and Medicare. H1b holders pay into both but are not eligible for either. They are not entitled to get it back even when they return to their country of citizenship.

So yes - there’s a whole lot of $$ that are currently paid into by h1b holders.