U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications • Hacker News Board

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

#961

Post by jandrese » Thu, Aug 27, 2026, 2:55 PM UTC

NeutralWanted wrote: post #414

testbjjl wrote: post #409

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there are a lot of inhumane things happening around the world right now to label this inconvenient, at best. We need better leadership through higher voter participation and an informed electorate to stop these inhumane and inconvenient policies.

Speak for yourself, I voted for exactly these policies.

This feels like one of those times where it is easy to vote for a policy when the effects are on a vaguer or populational level, but when you actually meet or make friends with someone affected it takes on an entirely new light.

I mean this is how gay marriage flipped, enough people got to know their homosexual friends, neighbors, or even family members and realized that the policy was hateful against someone they cared about and the stated harms were clearly rediculous when put in the context of that real person you know.

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

#962

Post by rayiner » Thu, Aug 27, 2026, 2:55 PM UTC

conductr wrote: post #942

tclancy wrote: post #830

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> when you treat immigrants like they were not people with lifes Thus the rebranding of humans as “illegals”.

That term has been in use for at least the half century I’ve been alive. It’s a common word almost every where in the US, shows up in daily conversations, but it’s been deemed not politically correct. That’s why you maybe never heard it in media or from a politician in the past. This presidency is all about breaking political correctness though and it’s on brand. This is why his devotees love him. Simple things like…

Trump is not about “racism.” He won more racial minorities in 2024 than any republican president in modern history. Trump is about Americanism versus third-worldism. Among immigrants themselves—half of whom voted for Trump in 2024–it’s about whether immigrants should Anglicize and dissolve into the American polity, or whether they should bring their home cultures with them and retain their separate ethnocultural identity.

Fundamentally, it’s a disagreement over what makes countries the way they are. Does a Bangladeshi start thinking and acting like an American the minute they set foot within borders where the 1st, 2nd, etc., amendments apply? Or is culture deeper than the words on paper.

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

#963

Post by mikewarot » Thu, Aug 27, 2026, 2:55 PM UTC

sinecure wrote: post #957

Educated, young Americans are pissed off because the life they were promised when they went to college is not attainable for a majority of them. Inflation caused by the government's pandemic response has devastated US consumer buying power and increased the cost of everything in life, while simultaneously Americans are being forced to compete with the entire world of professionals for US jobs, driving down wages. Eve…

This boomer would be quite happy if the price of his home went back to it's purchase price, the cheapest house in town by far. I just hope Social security holds out.

We were promised socialized medicine, we got socialized insurance oligarchy instead. I'll never forgive Obama and especially Rahm Emmanuel, his chief of staff, for that.

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

#964

Post by newswasboring » Thu, Aug 27, 2026, 2:55 PM UTC

Georgelemental wrote: post #480

yodsanklai wrote: post #336

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…

> Companies want the best candidates they can get, and the larger the recruitment pool, the better. Yes, at the lowest wages they can get. Increase supply -> lower prices (wages) -> more corporate profits! However, there are those who believe that corporate profits are not the highest good. Some of us also care about the earnings of American workers. Also, "best candidates" alone does not "best company" make. You nee…

Your entire comment assumes people of different cultural backgrounds cannot collaborate on technical challenges. As someone who manages a team where almost everyone is from a different country I don't see where you got this from. A Laplace transform is a Laplace transform, whether you learn it in a school in India or Nigeria or Lichtenstein.

Your comment is veering uncomfortably close to bigotry.

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

#965

Post by zem » Thu, Aug 27, 2026, 2:55 PM UTC

mportela wrote: post #847

zem wrote: post #356

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the "only in your home country" change happened very recently, late 2025 or early 2026

Not really… Theoretically, you could get it issued in a third country under very restrict conditions (renewing to the same class, in Mexico or Canada, force majeure, etc). However, the likelihood of it being denied was considerably higher, so basically all immigration lawyers strongly recommended going back to the home country. The recent policy change ended that possibility altogether.

at least for Indians, going to Mexico/Canada and renewing to the same class were both very large use cases. consulate appointments in the home country are super backed up.

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

#966

Post by mullingitover » Thu, Aug 27, 2026, 2:56 PM UTC

conductr wrote: post #942

tclancy wrote: post #830

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> when you treat immigrants like they were not people with lifes Thus the rebranding of humans as “illegals”.

That term has been in use for at least the half century I’ve been alive. It’s a common word almost every where in the US, shows up in daily conversations, but it’s been deemed not politically correct. That’s why you maybe never heard it in media or from a politician in the past. This presidency is all about breaking political correctness though and it’s on brand. This is why his devotees love him. Simple things like…

> Simple things like saying the words we were told we couldn’t say really resonates with some people.

Nobody said you couldn't say them, it was that open bigotry is something everyone associates with being a person of low class. When it's used by the upper classes it's as a divide and conquer tactic to keep the lower classes from focusing on the group that's actually exploiting them.

The normalizing of open bigotry is a kind of 'death of despair' for US culture: it indicates that, en masse, people have given up on elevating their class in society and being better people, and have decided to just wallow in it. Blaming the 'other' isn't anything new, it's the basic lazy tribal default and it's the 'easy' button for a culture that simply gives up.

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

#967

Post by mattnewton » Thu, Aug 27, 2026, 2:57 PM UTC

rayiner wrote: post #945

motbus3 wrote: post #699

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. also it has been quite convenient explanation for adopting systems such as Flock and allowing all kinds of para-police actions which seems very similar to what happened in germany circla 1930-1934

You treat them like they are people without personal agency. Temporary worker programs are a deal offered on open terms: people can come to work, but they have to leave afterward. The laws are plastered with the word “temporary.” People take advantage of the deal knowing the terms and there is nothing wrong holding people to the deal.

This is not that, these are people seeking to immigrate to the United States legally getting jerked around instead of a process that approves or denies them on a set timeline.

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

#968

Post by dcow » Thu, Aug 27, 2026, 2:57 PM UTC

motbus3 wrote: post #779

dcow wrote: post #702

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you talking about general immigration or asylum? If general, what country do you live in? I’m going to plan an extended visit.

I won't dox myself, but you'd be welcome if you needed to. Following World War II, we took in European immigrants who had lost everything. More recently, we have welcomed individuals from countries in the Middle East and South America. Within a few days, you would receive your citizenship and be integrated into the system. I believe there are some initial advantages, but based on what I've heard, the expectation is t…

> the expectation is that you'll need to become self-sufficient very quickly because the financial support diminishes rapidly

The US has this same expectation. It’s the long and short of what this reaction of pausing visas is about: bickering over how to make sure the expectation is being met during visa screening.

I don’t see anybody anywhere even remotely implying that hard working immigrants shouldn’t be given the benefit of the doubt and be allowed to make their own way in the US. I do see people rightly upset that when given the benefit of the doubt a Somali fraud ring setup to extract money from the welfare programs we’ve set up to provide children with education and generally people with healthcare runs rampant. Stopping that indeed involves more “public-charge” scrutiny during the visa process.

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

#969

Post by cute_boi » Thu, Aug 27, 2026, 2:57 PM UTC

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #837

donohoe wrote: post #822

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"feels intentionally cruel" They are intentionally cruel. Its the point. They aren't even trying to hide it. The posts on official Whitehouse X account are borderline gleeful on topics of deportation and immigration. I'm in dis-belief at times.

The intentional cruelty must be visible because they're doing it to gain support from those who want to see immigrants mistreated. They're not trying to change the rate of immigration, they're just looking to score political points.

This is the issue with low trust society. Consulting companies and H1B have abused things so much, people don't show any empathy even for genuine candidate.

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

#970

Post by anthonypasq » Thu, Aug 27, 2026, 2:58 PM UTC

jpadkins wrote: post #934

mcmcmc wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first responsibility is to protect the rights of all people in the country. Citizenship is not required for protected rights

If citizenship is not required for protected rights, what is? If myself and 10,000 of my friends migrate to Greenland illegally, does the Greenland government have a duty to protect our rights?

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