Why yes:
1) Cost. Companies big and small in the US hire overseas to reduce development costs.
2) Access to talent. In a tight market, getting the right people in the US is often too hard.
Why not:
1) difference in work culture. There's often a big gap in expectations from the businesses perspective.
2) differences in communication style: Even when the expectations are aligned, different communication styles (e.g., candid vs coded) can lead to frustrations.
3) lack of infrastructure. I passed on some highly recommended people because when we got a video call, their internet connection was not good enough for us to have a conversation.
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Reasons for not considering overseas contractors come down to friction: language, culture, timezones, payments and money, taxes, legal issues, etc. Small things can combine to make an overseas contractor too much hassle to work with. Cultural norms and language differences can scare off customers not experienced with overseas contractors.
Reasons for considering: significant savings in cost, unable to find, recruit, hire, and keep local talent.
Open source contributions mean next to nothing in most professional contexts. Unless you have your name all over a project everyone has heard of, don't expect much interest in that work. You have to communicate ability to solve business problems and add value; contributing to open source projects generally doesn't do that.
Referrals, word of mouth, reputation remain the best way to find good contract work (or f/t jobs). Cultivate a professional network and a real track record before putting lots of energy into a "tech stack" or open source contributions.