Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Executive order expected to suspend H-1B, other visas until end of year

npr.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 684 posts

Re: Executive order expected to suspend H-1B, other visas until end of year

#101

Post by [deleted] »

awillen wrote: post #22
Forgeties79 wrote: post #4

This has gotten very old very fast (beyond the obvious cruelty). I have several friends who keep watching their colleagues just have to up and leave over this and it’s causing a ton of issues for businesses that employ folks on work visas in general. It’s just disruptive to be disruptive/feed the base.

It's just silly... even if you're a nationalist, isn't the prospect of bringing over talented people from foreign countries to work in America and help our companies profit plus deprive their home countries of their skills a really, really good thing?

[deleted]

Re: Executive order expected to suspend H-1B, other visas until end of year

#102

Post by blntechie »

rantwasp wrote: post #71
jpollock wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This year's H1-Bs don't start until October 1st, and they can't enter the US "early". https://redbus2us.com/h1b-visa-petition-filing-deadline-is-i... .

i don’t know how this suspension would work but the H1B is held in April. I would assume most people have had their visa processed by now but it’s possible i’m just if ignorant. Regarding suspending H1Bs here is some not so breaking news: people on those visas are targeting jobs where no qualified people exist to fill them. Those people, by coming to the US create real value and increase the economic output of the US…

Application process starts in April but even when visa is approved and processed, the holder can’t enter before October 1.

Re: Executive order expected to suspend H-1B, other visas until end of year

#103

Post by ycombonator »

belltaco wrote: post #38

This is great news for Canada. Once the Covid situation resolves, if Trudeau doesn't give a lot of incentives for tech companies to build offices there Canada will miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Canada has already been benefiting from the recent restrictions on work visas and rejecting visas for no reason, for example by saying a forensic pathologist isn't a specialty occupation. https://www.npr.org/20…

They all eventually come back to USA after gaining a foothold in Canada. TN Visas. Majority of TN Visa users are immigrants into Canada.

Re: Executive order expected to suspend H-1B, other visas until end of year

#104

Post by rantwasp »

noncoml wrote: post #79

Xenophobia is a bitch. A few years ago I experienced an atrial fibrillation while exercising, so I called an ambulance, as I didn't know what was happening to me and thought that that was the end. Once in the ambulance the paramedic started asking me where I am from and if I came in on one of "those visas". I was afraid I was about to die, and this fucker was being xenophobic.

this is a textbook example of when someone should lose their job on the spot

Re: Executive order expected to suspend H-1B, other visas until end of year

#105

Post by tartoran »

exsf0859 wrote: post #41
GaryNumanVevo wrote: post #2

The Silicon Valley was built on the backs of H1-B workers. There’s the bay wouldn’t be the technical hub without access to the global workforce.

That's simply not true. SV was built in the 60's thru the 80's long before the H1-B visa program started in 1990.

Maybe the OP means the modern SV aka FAANG and that is not far from the truth or very hard to disprove. Things turned out the way they did for a lot of reasons and none of them can be really discounted.

Re: Executive order expected to suspend H-1B, other visas until end of year

#106

Post by samfisher83 »

noobermin wrote: post #84
samfisher83 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can look at the data, SV companies aren't paying H1B people low wages. Unless you think 200-300k is low wages.

Is this true? The argument I've seen is that H1B's are liked by SV because they can be paid less.

https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=Facebook+Inc&job=&city=&ye...

This doesn't include stock so maybe double that number for TC.

Re: Executive order expected to suspend H-1B, other visas until end of year

#107

Post by retortio »

samfisher83 wrote: post #66
retortio wrote: post #59

H1-B was intended for highly skilled workers that the US had a real shortage of. But now it's just being abused to bring in captive workers that are willing to accept lower wages and worse working conditions than otherwise while crowding out US workers. What if, instead of bowing to corporate greed which cares not a bit for our country or our people, we actually invested in our own population and trained them to do t…

You can look at the data, SV companies aren't paying H1B people low wages. Unless you think 200-300k is low wages.

One thing to remember is that in many cases H1-B workers are brought over by sponsoring companies which take a huge cut (I know cases of 40% or more) out of their salaries for the service of securing them the Visa. So those salaries might appear to be a certain number but the workers themselves may actually receive significantly less while some rent seeking company stashes the differences.

I know for a fact that in my industry (not in SV) H1-B wages are lower, going off both public data and conversations I've had with H1-B coworkers, many who I consider my friends.

As a side note, I don't blame H1-B workers at all for coming here. They're generally great developers and great people.

Re: Executive order expected to suspend H-1B, other visas until end of year

#108

Post by untog »

dx87 wrote: post #58
awillen wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just silly... even if you're a nationalist, isn't the prospect of bringing over talented people from foreign countries to work in America and help our companies profit plus deprive their home countries of their skills a really, really good thing?

If H-1B visas were being used how they were intended, they would be a good thing, but we often see them used as a way to get cheap labor, or even directly replace American workers. The company I work at has H-1B junior web developers, hardly "very niche, hard to fill" positions that they can't find any qualified Americans to do.

The answer here is to actually fix the system with compassion rather than suspend it and harm everyone using it.

I'm not unbiased: I'm a former H1B visa holder and wasn't underpaid at all. I promise you we exist! It's not a fun situation to be in... if you have a pending green card application (up to a certain point in the process) you can't change jobs easily. And if you come from some countries (India, in particular) you have a wait of ten years or more before receiving your green card.

It feels like a collision of a bunch of otherwise unrelated decisions that ultimately harms both immigrant and native workers and only benefits companies. It's all fixable, but like so many things in the US right now, not politically possible.

Re: Executive order expected to suspend H-1B, other visas until end of year

#109

Post by zozbot234 »

ckaygusu wrote: post #78
retortio wrote: post #59

H1-B was intended for highly skilled workers that the US had a real shortage of. But now it's just being abused to bring in captive workers that are willing to accept lower wages and worse working conditions than otherwise while crowding out US workers. What if, instead of bowing to corporate greed which cares not a bit for our country or our people, we actually invested in our own population and trained them to do t…

You can easily achieve this by raising wage requirements, instead of essentially having nothing changed and making the whole US a big open air prison for foreign skilled workers.

Make it easier for H1B's to transfer to another, better-paying job without losing their privilege of staying and working in the country. Then it's a real win-win, for both guest workers and citizens. The only actors who would lose are those seeking to abuse the system in the first place.
Post reply on HN