One of my friends was in almost exactly the same jam with a short deadline, incomprehensible paperwork and difficulty getting processing finished before the date he could be deported. He paid $1000 for expedited handling, he paid it TO THE INS, not to scummy lawyers. It is possible to deal with the system on its terms. And you damn well better. Is that $1000 such a huge sum, compared to a trip through the INS detention center? Or deportation? If you don't have the $1000, maybe the US isn't the Golden Mountain that the snakeheads (including MS, etc) promised.
Cory, it IS directly relevant what the intent of the visa programs is. Sure they approved everyone. Microsoft and other megacorps pressed for fastly higher numbers of visas so they could have more microserfs, and professional organizations like the IEEE fought back to keep the numbers low. Otherwise there would be no professional programmers left in the US. If you want to come down on the side of this argument that supports MS trying to manipulate the laws to further their exploitation of both US and foreign workers, then it is my turn to be disgusted.
You seem to be under the impression that the US owes you a job. They don't. You're lucky to have found a sponsor like the EFF that allows you to sit around your American home and write all day (sometimes even for the EFF). Give me a week, I'll line up a dozen unemployed people who can do the job better than you and with better professional and academic credentials. Face it, you're getting a free ride, you're no poster boy for immigrants, and you're no spokesman for the downtrodden masses.