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Tech companies are telling immigrant employees on visas not to leave the U.S.

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Tech companies are telling immigrant employees on visas not to leave the U.S.

#31

Post by lazyasciiart »

SanjayMehta wrote: post #16
throwaway5752 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regardless of your opinions of guest worker visas, they are here voluntarily on legal visas. The immigration lawyers at these companies are advising them they may not be allowed to reenter, for no cause. It is a disgrace to the honor of America.

At two different US companies I had to attend training led by a lawyer on how to file H1b and L1 applications, how to write recruitment ads and coaching visa applicants for their interviews. Both training programmes were surprisingly similar, even two years apart. No notes were allowed. No slides. Even the call for attendance was verbal and in person. This is a US corporation problem, not the US government’s.

The government wrote the rules those classes are teaching you to meet.

Re: Tech companies are telling immigrant employees on visas not to leave the U.S.

#32

Post by Taniwha »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #15
viraptor wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not "don't leave", but "don't put yourself in a situation there you have to reenter". It's in neither party's interest to be in that situation.

What happens if and when ICE starts rounding visa holders up to deport? No snark intended, this is a genuine question based on all available evidence. I don’t endorse such action at all, but we are existing in exceptional times and the discussion is important. “If you stay, what are you getting yourself into?” is a serious question to ask and to manage the risk around.

At the moment it looks like they are snatching people off the street, they're already rounding up people to deport, no "your visa has been cancelled, you have 30 days to leave" more people in masks snatching you off the street

Re: Tech companies are telling immigrant employees on visas not to leave the U.S.

#35

Post by smallmancontrov »

tomohelix wrote: post #22
MPSFounder wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most interesting thing I see is people overestimate how resilient the system is. Unfortunately, this is at the whim of a president, who with a majority in the court, dictates the law. With a ban or at his whim, even legal residents can find themselves out. We tend to think the system is resilient to this, but ultimately it really isn't. Scholars cannot even agree on whether these tech workers are entitled to the…

Wait until they declare nonresidents are not entitled to properties in the US and seize all bank accounts and 401k, USSR style. The scariest thing, and most absurd to me, is that even though I made that joke just 1 minute ago, now that I think about it, it is not completely impossible in this current political climate... I dread to think about what the US will be 10 years from now. Trump is not the problem. He is a s…

Citizens aren't far off. I give it until election season.

JD Vance wrote a cover blurb for a book arguing to the MAGA base that all the milquetoast liberals they know are actually "secret communist revolutionaries" who must be "crushed" by any means necessary.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unhumans

Re: Tech companies are telling immigrant employees on visas not to leave the U.S.

#36

Post by lazyasciiart »

orochimaaru wrote: post #19
compiler-guy wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one is claiming that everyone is on a legal visa or that companies don’t break the law. The argument is that reentry, even if you are legal right now, might be denied for reasons which wouldn’t have gotten you even a sideways look six months ago. Which surely you don’t disagree?

I'm not sure. The media is pointing out specific cases but the question is what % of travelers on visa made it in/out without trouble. There is heightened focus on enforcement. They may have trained their software to have a lower threshold of social media posts for entry. So, I do believe that you're at risk if you've made controversial statements not in line with what US considers as friendly behavior.

Or if you have a criminal conviction of any kind that is many years old and was known on the application that got you the visa, like the German and Filipina residents. So the rules have changed - they are now saying that visas valid at the time of approval should never have been approved based on the circumstances at the time.

Re: Tech companies are telling immigrant employees on visas not to leave the U.S.

#37

Post by HEmanZ »

tomohelix wrote: post #22
MPSFounder wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most interesting thing I see is people overestimate how resilient the system is. Unfortunately, this is at the whim of a president, who with a majority in the court, dictates the law. With a ban or at his whim, even legal residents can find themselves out. We tend to think the system is resilient to this, but ultimately it really isn't. Scholars cannot even agree on whether these tech workers are entitled to the…

Wait until they declare nonresidents are not entitled to properties in the US and seize all bank accounts and 401k, USSR style. The scariest thing, and most absurd to me, is that even though I made that joke just 1 minute ago, now that I think about it, it is not completely impossible in this current political climate... I dread to think about what the US will be 10 years from now. Trump is not the problem. He is a s…

I don’t think your hypothetical is crazy at all. I learned this weekend that much of my close family, who were pretty normal conservatives just a couple of years ago, now believe that all legal and illegal immigrants have been let into the country by jws to eliminate the white race. And that’s not an exaggeration at all. Like I’m mincing words to make them look less bad.

My family is not the down and out, they never supported these things because they have financial stressors. If anything the economy of the last 20 years has been too good to them. They are relatively wealthy and have stable lives and good jobs. They listen to too many alt right podcasts and are too deep down the Facebook hole.

Two weeks ago I was relatively optimistic. Now I’m really scared, how do you cope with loved one’s who believe these things? We’re off to a really dark place.

Re: Tech companies are telling immigrant employees on visas not to leave the U.S.

#38

Post by ok_dad »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #15
viraptor wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not "don't leave", but "don't put yourself in a situation there you have to reenter". It's in neither party's interest to be in that situation.

What happens if and when ICE starts rounding visa holders up to deport? No snark intended, this is a genuine question based on all available evidence. I don’t endorse such action at all, but we are existing in exceptional times and the discussion is important. “If you stay, what are you getting yourself into?” is a serious question to ask and to manage the risk around.

> What happens if and when ICE starts rounding visa holders up to deport?

Read the news, it's already happening. One video I saw showed a woman (a PhD student in a legal visa) being surrounded by plainclothes officers with neck gaiters over their faces and they took her away in an unmarked car. Her family hired a lawyer who still hasn't contacted her though they claim she's in a specific facility in Mississippi. Her crime? Speaking out against Israel. If the first amendment is dead, hopefully the second can save us.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/29/us/rumeysa-ozturk-tufts-unive...

Re: Tech companies are telling immigrant employees on visas not to leave the U.S.

#40

Post by mixmastamyk »

tacticalturtle wrote: post #27
brcmthrowaway wrote: post #18

If you are on H1b, buy a burner phone before you leave and enter the country. Should he fine.

If they’re checking phones, having a burner phone with no or few contacts seems like a great way to arouse suspicion at the border.

A newly purchased phone is not a problem.
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