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U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

wsj.com

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

#671

Post by k8sToGo »

itake wrote: post #483
vjvjvjvjghv wrote: post #345

My company has a H-1B guy that travelled home to India a few months ago and since then can't come back because the next date he can get with the US embassy is next year. Seems he may get stuck even longer... I am to some degree on board with keeping a closer eye on immigration, but the way the current administration does it feels intentionally cruel. The guy at my company has a house, wife, and kids in the US; his vi…

I'm an American that lives abroad. I have first-hand experience how other countries treat 'immigrants'. H1B is a temporary non-immigrant visa. I could never imagine myself buying a home in a country where I don't have permanent access to that real estate. I am not opposed to voting to prevent non-PRs from owning real estate in order to keep housing prices lower for residents and prevent non-immigrants from shooting t…

When I was in the US as a student (F1 Visa) that is why I decided to go back home instead of trying to optain an H1B. It was just too risky for too long. I did not want to live a life where I had to expect to leave the next day. Besides, it was right at the beginning when Trump won the first time.

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

#672

Post by hvb2 »

kevmo314 wrote: post #626
hvb2 wrote: post #599

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

They did make a decision? The current decision is no, that’s what it means to pause applications.

I don't think you understand anything about an immigration process.

All these cases are meticulously documented. So not making a decision is not at all the same as a 'no'.

A 'no' you can challenge, a pause not so much. They probably cannot and don't want to actually deny all those applications as they'll be in hot water really quick. So this is just the childish, not wanting to really own it, way of trying to achieve the same result.

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

#673

Post by sirtaj »

foltik wrote: post #602
15155 wrote: post #562

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[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!)

They've found their thought-terminating cliche for a particular topic and apply it liberally.

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

#674

Post by unselect5917 »

ericmay wrote: post #141
unselect5917 wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was wondering why you thanked two people who provided secondary sources (very courteous of you), but not me when I'm who you asked and I provided the source immediately. So I opened the reply in a private window and realized the reply I gave with nothing but exactly what you asked for is [dead], but that fact is hidden from me while logged in: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49454527 This site is worse than re…

Sorry to see that - I would have said thank you to you as well had I been able to see your comment. Thanks for trying anyway

Yeah, you seem like a stand-up dude, that's why I was so curious.

>Thanks for trying anyway

Same to you!

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

#675

Post by somenameforme »

eesmith wrote: post #664
dcow wrote: post #608

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 t…

Are you calling for open border with no controls? That's the only way to get meritocracy. The system is set up so the casino wins. You cannot, with a straight face, argue the odds are in your favor, but there are rules about how the casino works, both formal and informal. When a casino only investigates cases where someone wins $1 million on the slots, to see if there's a fault in the system, while never investigatin…

I think what he's saying is if a corporation has a genuine need of some high specialist in a skill, and no American has that skill - then okay, such is life - bring in a foreign worker. But corporations have abused the system to unnecessarily employ immigrant labor in lieu of American, because immigrant workers not only tend to earn well below market wages (which is supposed to be illegal), but also tend to be far more easily coerced and loyal because their visa is dependent upon them staying with their employer.

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

#676

Post by lmz »

epistasis wrote: post #244
9x39 wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why be a citizen at all if non-citizens have all the benefits and none of the responsibilities?

What responsibility does a non-citizen shirk? They must follow lows, pay taxes, etc. Even for things like social security. I sometimes wonder where these concepts come from, because it sounds like somebody tricked you into thinking that non-citizens are somehow taking things from everybody else, rather than contributing just the same as everyone.

National defense, and (more vaguely) a responsibility to keep the host country in good shape as there's no other country they can run back to if things go bad in the host country.

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

#677

Post by cozzyd »

scoofy wrote: post #455
shostack wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cruelty is the point.

I mean, anyone who is still defending this administration isn't even trying to have a conversation in good faith. I have a Republican friend who appreciates the Supreme Court Justices, and then suddenly has zero clue about any news story involving the administration, and shrugs off the war. This despite meticulously following Benghazi hearings when it was someone he wanted to dislike. He would rather Trump be Romney,…

yes, I remember making fun of my british friends for brexit, and then ...

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

#678

Post by dcow »

eesmith wrote: post #664
dcow wrote: post #608

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 t…

Are you calling for open border with no controls? That's the only way to get meritocracy. The system is set up so the casino wins. You cannot, with a straight face, argue the odds are in your favor, but there are rules about how the casino works, both formal and informal. When a casino only investigates cases where someone wins $1 million on the slots, to see if there's a fault in the system, while never investigatin…

I didn’t follow your casino allegory. Anyway I happen to agree that “pausing” is inhumane. What I’m trying to communicate is we didn’t get here in a vacuum. There is a real problem and good faith attempts have been made to curtail it by putting pressure via “taxes” on the “interests of capital” abusing H1B. Cooperation would have prevented this.

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

#679

Post by hvb2 »

conductr wrote: post #603
hvb2 wrote: post #599

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

> You can try again later.

Can they? Because one of the questions on these questionnaires is almost always 'have you had a prior request being denied'.

> But they’re not advising when that may be happening. To me, that tells you everything you need to know.

These are life altering decisions for people that might have put decades into doing their best for the US. This is not about what to have for dinner.

This causes a LOT of uncertainty and chaos for no real reason. If they're so convinced it should all be denied, then issue those denials so they can be challenged.

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

#680

Post by khazhoux »

shostack wrote: post #311
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.

The cruelty is the point.

Like most internet meme phrases, this is both trite and inaccurate. The cruelty is not the point. This administration has decided foreigners are the scapegoat, and wants to get rid of as many as they can. It’s heartless, but cruelty is not the objective.
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