U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

Post by dcow » Thu, Aug 27, 2026, 7:00 AM UTC

eesmith wrote: post #693

dcow wrote: post #663

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Is an un-rigged and meritocratic system possible if there are border controls? If not, then using words like "rigged" and "meritocratic" as a complaint about the current system can only mean that you want no border controls. If so, how? Every system I can think of can be rigged, and exclude people who have merit, resulting in a system which favors the rich and powerful.

Post by bubblethink » Thu, Aug 27, 2026, 7:01 AM UTC

alphabeta3r56 wrote: post #705

bubblethink wrote: post #702

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a mobster way, more like a weasel way. The reason it is a weasel's move is because decisions at the consulate are made by consular officers who are career public workers and won't deny visas for arbitrary reasons. That is bad for the political leadership because they just don't want to issue visas. So they need to invent evasive moves to throttle the pipeline by adding trainings, background checks, and other…

> The reason it is a weasel's move is because decisions at the consulate are made by consular officers who are career public workers and won't deny visas for arbitrary reasons. No? Visa can be denied for arbitrary reasons based on what executive branch of US. there have been multiple cases where it has been clear that visas are a privilige not a right. Visa needs a reason to be granted, by default it is denied.

Post by dcow » Thu, Aug 27, 2026, 7:03 AM UTC

eesmith wrote: post #691

somenameforme wrote: post #660

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 mo…

If true, that interpretation hardly seems relevant given that all immigrant visa applications are paused, with the goal of determining whether immigrants are likely to become dependent on public benefits in the US. It's not simply a pause on immigration by people applying for a category which requires special expertise.

Post by roarcher » Thu, Aug 27, 2026, 7:05 AM UTC

spacechild1 wrote: post #686

roarcher wrote: post #623

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you agree with the person you're responding to, but you're attacking them for stating it with less melodrama than you would prefer? What a useless comment.

OP is right. There are too many people here in the comments who act surprised although it has been very clear what the Trump administration is trying to do. The cruelty is the point and they are not even trying to hide it.

Post by jeremyjh » Thu, Aug 27, 2026, 7:09 AM UTC

rayiner wrote: post #484

baby_souffle wrote: post #473

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The moral issue is the same in both cases: there’s a big sign that says “temporary.” People have chosen to ignore the sign. No. Your analogy works well solely for the concept of temporary authorization. If you're offering up 2h parking as proof that the moral stakes are equivalent...

The moral issue is defined by the nature of the rule, not the stakes for someone who has transgressed. Enforcing the rule doesn’t become less legitimate just because someone has invested more in breaking it.