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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

#921

Post by thrance »

profdevloper wrote: post #875
thrance wrote: post #676

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, he should just have lived as a slave and not socialize with anyone until he left. H1Bs have been used as a path to citizenship for a long time. You can't just change the rules like that without destroying so many lives in a senseless act of cruelty. But the cruelty is the point.

Is it not cruel to Americans to replace them with said slave labor through legislation? The people who built this prosperous modern nation that so many people wish to flock to for a better life are just kicked to the curb -- talk about cruel.

Your premise is flawed, so your argument is worthless.

* America was built by immigrants.

* None of the Americans currently alive "built this prosperous nation". They were born into it.

* Welcoming immigrants won't "kick Americans to the curb".

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

#922

Post by xyzelement »

ura_yukimitsu wrote: post #880
xyzelement wrote: post #733

As a relatively centrist American, I find this reasonable. I live in a very blue state (NY) and still 43% of my neighbors voted for Trump, with immigration cited as a key reason. So changes to immigration policy are to be expected. With regard to temporary visas, the article cited a few types of issues. For example the scenario where someone obtain a temporary visa (promissing to return is a part of the application)…

I don't see how any of this is reasonable. I've heard people say stuff like "I'm not against immigration but they should come through legal means," so how does preventing people from accessing those legal means help anyone? For a country that was built on immigration that seems awfully anti-American. Wouldn't it make more sense to make the legal process shorter and less unnecessarily bureaucratic so that people are l…

// Wouldn't it make more sense to make the legal process shorter and less unnecessarily bureaucratic so that people are less likely to come in the country undocumented?

Lowering the bar until the kinds of people who are happy to break the law to come here are now legal is not the goal.

Immigration policy changes all the time. H1B was not a thing until the 90s. The country has the right to evaluate what it needs at a given time.

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

#923

Post by spiralpolitik »

mportela wrote: post #752
zem wrote: post #336

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.

This matched my experience. 2002 I renewed in Canada with no issue. 4 years later I had to go back to my home country as I was told by my immigration lawyer that unless I had a connection to Canada, they would redirect me to my home country.

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

#924

Post by Razengan »

green_wheel wrote: post #450
Razengan wrote: post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and given that they took hundreds to sometimes thousands of years to form, i don't think borders are artificial in the least. "Borders" as they are treated today began barely 200 years ago, and only started being enforced so strictly since WW1 and then even worse after WW2. For the vast >95% of human history, if you could walk to somewhere and survive there, you could live there. The real ironic shit is that most o…

> For the vast >95% of human history, if you could walk to somewhere and survive there, you could live there For 95% of human history we were hunter gatherers living in extremely sparsely populated areas.

When was the last time you heard of humans going somewhere where other humans weren't already there?

How do you think they got there?

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

#928

Post by ra0x3 »

ra0x3 wrote: post #341
yodsanklai wrote: post #319

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…

> I think the situation is quite simple. Companies want the best candidates they can get, and the larger the recruitment pool, the better. Respectfully, this sounds terribly naive.

I do want to follow up to my own comment here, and just mention that I realize that capital's entire point is to get us to blame each other instead of capital (e.g., American software vs Indian|Chinese|etc software).

The moral of the story is that two things can be true at the same time: A lot of H1Bs are rightfully thrilled at the opportunity to work for decent US companies and make decent money to provide for their family. While a lot of American engineers are rightfully wary of the knock-on effects of hiring workers who can be cheaper and more 'malleable' (in a manner of speaking).

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

#929

Post by iAMkenough »

rdevsrex wrote: post #562
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…

There is no human right to have a US visa interview; everything is a privilege that can be withdrawn.

Since we’re doing straw man arguments, there’s not a single Republican in charge of the U.S. government today that cares about the inalienable rights given to you in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

We the people will be reminding them who is actually in charge.

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