Visa availability is not the magic ingredient to replicate Sillicon Valley. High wages and high concentration of talent are. What would entice an Indian or Eastern European developer to move to Mexico?
I have thought about moving to South America and opening a startup there. I just don't know that there is sufficient talent to build up a team. We can't even fill our open positions in Southern California. I am curious, how many engineers from Silicon Valley would be interested in moving to South America? Mexico? Has anyone taken a poll?
I don't see highly skilled personnel being all that keen on moving to Mexico. Canada, however, already has a few areas that seem primed to attract new talent, particularly to cities like Vancouver.<p>Edit: I suppose Vancouver wasn't actually a great example. I just really like that area.
I'm still undecided on the startup rule but it seems to me that it's still worth raising the minimum H1-B wage if it can increase the wage of the average american tech worker.
The notion of "good" or "bad" all depends on what you value. If you value the economy above all then this is good for companies outside the US, bad for companies inside the US. If you value jobs for your own citizens over money then opposite is true: better job opportunities for locals, bad news for corporations (at least in the short term).