> If there are indeed programmers skilled enough to take high paying jobs, why haven't they already been hired and brought into the country?

Immigration caps. You don't think that there are millions of programmers in less developed countries capable of handling high paying jobs in developed countries? China and India alone have over 2 billion people. They have plenty of competent programmers who want to move to the west.

Why do you think big companies like google are pushing to lift the H-1B visa cap--it's because they want to do exactly what you propose hire them and bring them into the country.