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

U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

wsj.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

611–620 of 1000 posts

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#611

Post by rootusrootus »

itake wrote: post #548
yodsanklai wrote: post #357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work in a global company. As an interviewer, I don't even know if the person I interview is a US citizen. I don't even know if they live in the US or another country, and I'm probably not allowed to ask. I just rate their performance. And everybody is paid the same. I think the situation is quite simple. Companies want the best candidates they can get, and the larger the recruitment pool, the better. If tomorrow yo…

If the h1bs are given access to the jobs (training and experience), then is it the American's fault that they are no longer considered "best"? Google (and friends) famously have teams composed of a single national origin (or caste...). What does that say about their hiring bar? Google (and friends) are already expanding the Shanghai and Zurich offices.

> Google (and friends) famously have teams composed of a single national origin (or caste...). What does that say about their hiring bar?

That racism isn't only something white people are capable of.

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#612

Post by foltik »

15155 wrote: post #566
scoofy wrote: post #561

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, the point isn't that "Leave to renew" is some kind of horrible policy. Such bad-fucking-faith on display everywhere. The point is maybe signal to people that we will soon be pausing all visa renewals so people who trivially have good jobs and good records know they ought to literally just plan on moving out of their apartment rather than have to deal with paying thousands of dollars to have someone else move t…

[flagged]

Do you have anything constructive to say about the merits of the leave to renew policy itself? Or the zero notice halt of visa processing?

Or just vague gesturing about how immigrants aren’t entitled to anything? (but you presumably are!)

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#613

Post by conductr »

hvb2 wrote: post #609
conductr wrote: post #590

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The issue here is that, if you just left the country to do everything the country asked you, you are now in limbo. I feel like I’ve said it a few times but - Yes, exactly. The country wants you to leave and then get’s to decide if you can come back. That’s how it’s designed. On purpose. You’re approaching it from a perspective where you’re being asked to leave and your reentry is a right. It’s not. They never said,…

> I feel like I’ve said it a few times but - Yes, exactly. The country wants you to leave and then get’s to decide if you can come back. That’s how it’s designed. On purpose. That is how it's designed, and that's fine. But make a decision... They're pausing the decision making for an indefinite amount of time. That's not how it was designed, but it sure does look like that's on purpose.

Pause is a silly way of saying No for now. You can try again later. But they’re not advising when that may be happening. To me, that tells you everything you need to know. That they don’t know themselves because it’s to be determined, maybe. Until then, no.

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#614

Post by brookst »

rayiner wrote: post #448
baby_souffle wrote: post #442

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s like saying that it’s “cruelty” to remove someone who uses a 2 hour parking spot as their permanent car parking. That's a very weak analogy for the moral issue here. The consequences are radically different; losing a parking space is a minor inconvenience; losing immigration status can/does involve relocation and upends employment, family, property, and years of life planning / general stability.

The moral issue is the same in both cases: there’s a big sign that says “temporary.” People have chosen to ignore the sign.

Do you think the moral issue is the same if someone fails to hold a door for you, or if they shoot you? It’s rude either way, right?

I don’t have words for it, but the US has been infected with some kind of hybrid reductionism / nihilism where people think that vicious bad behavior can be enjoyed and justified, even righteously glorified, if a disingenuous analogy can somehow be crafted to something banal and comparatively harmless.

Nobody actually believes it, but it’s become a game of sorts. I don’t like it.

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#615

Post by seebeegeebee »

scheme271 wrote: post #606
hvb2 wrote: post #15

So for those that don't know, it's quite common for a visa renewal to be required to leave the country. Depending on the visa, you might have to do this every year. So just imagine, having a normal job in the US and you're asked to leave to renew your visa and this stuff happens. That's no more appointment, not even a new date and you're now very likely unable to work and possibly can't even enter the country to get…

The pause is for immigrant visas so most visas like H1 or H2 or O visas aren't affect this time. But it's definitely part of the US admin's overall theme of ratcheting up visa restrictions and making any immigration or travel to the US extremely difficult.

[flagged]

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#616

Post by lefra »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #436
tptacek wrote: post #406

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of countries have temporary worker status. The requirement to leave the country to re-up it appears to be a distinctively American thing.

Is extremely common in europe and asia

I've known several people on visas in my european country. They don't need to go out of the country to apply for renewal.

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#617

Post by MisterMower »

delecti wrote: post #480
moomoo11 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

didn't big tech co's layoff thousands of people here and then filed for thousands more h1b ?

If it happened, there should be evidence (an article link). If it isn't supportable, then the implication is disingenuous to make.

“Who are you going to believe? Me or your lying eyes?”

But since you asked, here you go: https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/microsoft-...

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#618

Post by dcow »

foltik wrote: post #607
shostack wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cruelty is the point.

Look around the thread and notice how little the comments defending these policies have to say about the policies themselves. Instead, what they all have in common is a vague underlying fear of being displaced, or sense that something owed to them is being taken.

The program has always "threatened" to displace citizens. That's not new and if that were the only reason motivating people then why wait till now to complain? Frankly I don't care if I'm fairly displaced. That's meritocracy at work.

The reality is the program has been abused and stretched far beyond its intent by corporations in pursuit of cheap (I’d argue slave) labor. You cannot, with a straight face, argue that the spirit of the program is being upheld. Come on. People are upset because they are realizing that they haven't been playing fair--the game's been rigged this whole time. I think that's a very understandable and normal human emotion all things considered.

Fraud is illegal. And when people enrich themselves fraudulently it does tend to feel like something has been taken by someone not entitled to it, yes. That works for both the corporations fraudulently hiring H1B and the fraudulent credentialing rings being operated to supply the labor.

It is sad that good people and valid visa holders are swept up in this. Aim your ire at the fraudsters, not the people trying to enforce the law and fix the problem.

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#619

Post by seebeegeebee »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #295
conductr wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not trying to make a political point at all and perhaps a controversial take. But, it’s specifically and maybe implicitly by design. Meaning they made this way precisely so you have to reapply so they can change their mind or block you out later. Nothing about getting a visa is permanent and you’re fully at risk when you move here with that type of status. If you evaluate the situation that’s always been the case.

Unless you use the visa to marry Donald Trump, as his 3rd wife did.

So brave

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#620

Post by thayne »

seebeegeebee wrote: post #615
scheme271 wrote: post #606

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The pause is for immigrant visas so most visas like H1 or H2 or O visas aren't affect this time. But it's definitely part of the US admin's overall theme of ratcheting up visa restrictions and making any immigration or travel to the US extremely difficult.

[flagged]

Maybe if legal immigration were more achievable we wouldn't have so many illegal immigrants.
Post reply on HN