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

841–850 of 1001 posts

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

#841

Post by account42 »

furyg3 wrote: post #746
motbus3 wrote: post #736

Genuine question for any american fellows: Is this a real problem ? Is this a really a priority problem in your pov ? If if is why ? In my country, we do have a policy of integrating people quite early on if they come from a fragile situation and for other people if they have jobs and can sustain themselves it is a bonus as they contribute with taxes and will have basically no benefits like retirement. I am not makin…

I'm an American who's lived in Europe for the past 20ish years. Comparatively, the US is extremely good at 'integrating' immigrants for whatever reason they come (asylum, work, family reunification, etc). There are a lot of factors, but I'd say the biggest one is that the "American" identity is one of immigration and is generally more flexible than say, the Dutch or Norwegian identity. I'd also say the general lack o…

> I'd also say the general lack of a safety net compared to more socialist countries mean you pretty much have to hit the ground running and work, which usually means learning English quickly and all of the social components that come with work.

Even before that, the US only attracts people who are at least willing to work.

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

#842

Post by eudamoniac »

foltik wrote: post #547
shostack wrote: post #302

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.

It's okay to be against immigration.

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

#843

Post by orsenthil »

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

#844

Post by account42 »

tayo42 wrote: post #619
unselect5917 wrote: post #475

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

#845

Post by [deleted] »

theF00l wrote: post #838
codingisfreedom wrote: post #677

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

#846

Post by gchamonlive »

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…

> 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

#847

Post by cyanydeez »

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…

Theyre pinching H1B visas to bootlick for fascism.

Any other rationale ignores history.

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

#848

Post by klooney »

yodsanklai wrote: post #347
sinecure wrote: post #97

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

#849

Post by eudamoniac »

theF00l wrote: post #838
codingisfreedom wrote: post #677

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

#850

Post by wood_spirit »

motbus3 wrote: post #820
locknitpicker wrote: post #754

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.

Post reply on HN