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U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

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

#861
I see a lot of comments in this thread in support this stance, as if that is something good for Americans, and say it is not a political statement.

One thing that changed my viewpoint was this book. Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism by Anne Case, and Angus Deaton.

In it, they make a point that, almost all US economists agree that immigration, both legal and Illegal Immigration, is not the cause for American working middle class failure. It is lack of education, and capitalistic system wherein rich steal the money from the poor, which is like a reverse robinhood.

Hacker news crowd can easily verify this by spot-checking. But still we fail for the false narrative and divisive exploits of immigration topic, which is certainly not aimed to solve the problem of American well-being at hand. Truth to be hold, politicians know this too.

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

#862
post #631

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>There's no real Us culture to preserve. Fish Fails to Detect Water The easiest way to see it is look at Japanese portrayals (outsider perspective). Cowboys, horses, guns, pride in our military and our free speech, fireworks and BBQs. Just because you look down on the culture doesn't mean there isn't one.

That's one subset of Americans and not representative of all. NYC and Los Angeles are the biggest cultural exporting centers in the US and have none of that.

LA has a lot of that actually. Simulated and on screen, but that's what they export.

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

#863

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. People seem to hold views that getting visas to the US is a human right. It’s no fun, but these are adults (and often very privileged adults) that decided to move to a new country for more upside at the cost of no residency. Conflating this with “inhumane” is just a basic misunderstanding of immigration and the contract these people signed up for. Very uncomfortable, yet a risk these people took, and hopefull…

You are both conflating technical correctness with morality

[deleted]

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

#864
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…

> Just 'putting a pause' on people with existing appointments with no answer for when they might resume is.... Inhumane

For the admin that closed USAID overnight, sent innocents to El Salvador, incited ICE to gun down American citizens, this seems to me like business as usual.

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

#865
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…

Theyre pinching H1B visas to bootlick for fascism.

Any other rationale ignores history.

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

#866

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was never about talent. It's about companies hiring foreigners on h1b visas at below market wages where their life in the USA is contingent on their job performance forcing them to work harder and longer than their peers to remain in the country. It's a situation that only benefits companies, while harming US citizens who have to compete with the lower wages of foreigners.

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…

> As an interviewer, I don't even know if the person I interview is a US citizen

I don't either, but my guess is almost none are

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

#867

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. People seem to hold views that getting visas to the US is a human right. It’s no fun, but these are adults (and often very privileged adults) that decided to move to a new country for more upside at the cost of no residency. Conflating this with “inhumane” is just a basic misunderstanding of immigration and the contract these people signed up for. Very uncomfortable, yet a risk these people took, and hopefull…

You are both conflating technical correctness with morality

You are conflating morality with proper governance. Democratic government must enact the will of the citizen body, even if immoral in some frameworks.

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

#868

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> when you treat immigrants like they were not people with lifes, you are just one step away from treating poor people as they were not people and then too treat all common people as they were not people. "The way that a society treats its prisoners is one of the sharpest reflections of its character." - Nelson Mandela http://www.mandela.gov.za/mandela_speeches/1998/980625_dcshr...

I did not know this but true. I would point out that when you are talking about criminals there is still a layer of judgment from society given the crimes. When talking about legal immigrants and refugees there is even less space.

The US is an outliner on prison terms and sizes etc. Under the surface it is hard to tell if the public lead the prisons or if the big prison business shapes public opinion but from the outside it seems crazy.

Different societies are at different places on the prison is for punishment to prison is for rehabilitation spectrum, and their reoffending rates reflect that.

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

#869
post #532

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 leaving part is not the issue, as you try to immigrate into a country you're subject to the rules that country sets. You're always free to not immigrate into that country (this is not about asylum). The issue here is that, if you just left the country to do everything the country asked you, you are now in limbo. For how long? No one can tell. Does this mean you lose your job? Maybe. And when you decide it's no lo…

> The leaving part is not the issue, as you try to immigrate into a country you're subject to the rules that country sets

These are non immigrant work visas.

So maybe just don't engage in immigration fraud?

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

#870
post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think many (if not most) countries in the developed world should reduce immigration, and usa in particular should abolish birthright citizenship. The first because a lower supply of labor is going to create breathing space for an entire working population who will see tremendous job upheaval due to AI automation. A lower aggregate demand on houses, services will also be welcome to take the fuel out of inflation, an…

Birthright citizenship is a constitutional right in the US same as freedom of speech, religion, the press, and the right to sue the government. The change would require 2/3 of all states to approve a constitutional amendment. It won't ever pass. Most of us are only citizens because someone up the chain was born under this rule. My family came here in the early 1700s and fought in the revolution. It would be a disgrac…

> Most of us are only citizens because someone up the chain was born under this rule.

This understates the situation. All of us who are not naturalized citizens are citizens only because of the birthright clause in the Constitution. The US does not have any other way for a person born here to become a citizen.

If the birthright clause of the Constitution stops being enforced, Congress (or more likely in our current iteration, the President) will have to create a brand-new set of rules determining which of us natural-born citizens get to retain our citizenship and which do not. There is no existing law to guide them, so they can make it up out of whole cloth.

More plainly: if we choose to eliminate birthright citizenship, whoever is running the country at that time gets to determine whether you are still a citizen.

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