General Discussion

(maybe that was your point. if so, this post is for others.)

See: H-1B visa program.

At least in my specialty. Like hires like and many of the former H-1Bs who are now managers, twist themselves into knots (when necessary) to justify contract H-1B hires over hiring Americans. Which knot-twisting often isn't necessary because many bean-counters are clueless and easily duped into thinking the contract hires are better for the company bottom line than hiring entry-level and near-entry-level to develop in-house. The big contracting companies have been running H-1B scams for decades.

It is possible that coding in some languages still has a bright future in the US - but as long as the tech bros are manipulating the government (both parties, sadly, but currently the POT - party of Trump - is far worse), the "learn to code" mantra is just a cruel bait-and-switch for people needing to transition to other occupations.

But maybe the answer is to fix the corrupt "high-skilled" visa program. (Note I am not anti-immigrant - I am anti-H-1B and similar scams, because I have seen the corruption and human costs of this program. Up close, for decades. Fixing H-1B would have cross-party support because most of us who see it don't vote on that issue primarily - both parties are bad on it.)