When you go to school in the US and then get a job, you build a network of both personal and professional relationships, you get settled in a place, etc. Why should someone who's actively contributing to the economy be forced to throw that away?

I'm in the same boat as OP's colleague. Graduated from a US grad school, now working in SF with an apartment, furniture, friends, a girlfriend, a professional network, etc. The company I helped start has created 4 jobs in the last month or two, with many more to come.

And now I'm in a lottery against some large companies who view the visa as just an opportunity to place cheap labor.

How is that fair, sane, reasonable or sensible in any way?