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

151–160 of 988 posts

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

#151

Post by rayiner »

tootie wrote: post #125
rayiner wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the current admin are working hard to destroy the U.S as if they're foreign agents The U.S. had a draconian restrictive immigration policy from 1921-1965. That worked fine. How can you say with a straight face that someone must be a “foreign agent” to think doing the same thing again will have the same result? Surely the burden is on you to prove the opposite, right?

"Worked fine" is a pretty vague description for the year we had a Great Depression, world war, Jim Crow, Japanese internment to name a few.

The U.S. was at the apex of its power during those years. Those years are also why we remember earlier immigration waves as “working.” The foreign born population dropped from 15% to under 5% during that period. The Italian and Irish enclaves disappeared and so did the separate ethnic identity of those groups (to a large degree).

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

#152

Post by rayiner »

retvrn wrote: post #102
profdevloper wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Before Hart-Cellar we had national origin quotas, it wasn't a free-for-all.

For those outside the Americas, yes. Western hemisphere immigration had no meaningful restrictions until 1965.

We had little meaningful immigration pressure from the america at the time. The foreign born population dropped from 15% in 1921 to under 5% by 1970.

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

#153

Post by Gud »

rayiner wrote: post #151
tootie wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Worked fine" is a pretty vague description for the year we had a Great Depression, world war, Jim Crow, Japanese internment to name a few.

The U.S. was at the apex of its power during those years. Those years are also why we remember earlier immigration waves as “working.” The foreign born population dropped from 15% to under 5% during that period. The Italian and Irish enclaves disappeared and so did the separate ethnic identity of those groups (to a large degree).

The rest of the world was bombed to pieces while the USA had an untouched industrial output.

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

#154

Post by rayiner »

Gud wrote: post #153
rayiner wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The U.S. was at the apex of its power during those years. Those years are also why we remember earlier immigration waves as “working.” The foreign born population dropped from 15% to under 5% during that period. The Italian and Irish enclaves disappeared and so did the separate ethnic identity of those groups (to a large degree).

The rest of the world was bombed to pieces while the USA had an untouched industrial output.

That’s a common misconception. The U.S. actually became the world’s largest industrial power before World War I. Germany had 60% of the US’s GDP per capita in 1910. It dipped during the war itself, but by 1960 it was closer to 70%. https://unchartedterritories.tomaspueyo.com/p/us-gdp-per-cap....

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

#156

Post by preg_match »

goodluckchuck wrote: post #51
yibg wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Were they able to come back when they did this?

I think the whole point of making someone leave is the possibility that they may not be allowed back in. If staying was a foregone conclusion then there’d be no point in leaving.

Maybe stimulating the airline economy? Is Big Plane at it again?

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

#157

Post by preg_match »

profdevloper wrote: post #149
mcmcmc wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Most countries have MUCH higher standards for immigration and their citizens much better off for it. I think your math is off. The US is in the top 10 for GDP per capita, 99% literacy rate when the global average is 87%, the poverty rate is below average, the list goes on. Most countries in the world aren’t even considered developed nations. Immigration has been America’s core growth engine for two and a half centu…

I'm relieved that the magic soil in the United States can improve these peoples' lives.

It’s a symbiotic relationship. The reason the US is so prosperous is due to immigration, mostly during the 20th century. The US cannot run off of just the existing citizens. Well, it can, for a while, but not indefinitely.

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

#158

Post by 9x39 »

mcmcmc wrote: post #132
9x39 wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why be a citizen at all if non-citizens have all the benefits and none of the responsibilities?

Rights and benefits are two different things, surely you aren’t that dumb. Do you think non-citizens can get Social Security or a US Passport?

If they have almost all of the rights and almost all of the benefits but none of the responsibilities, which you ignored, then the point stands.

They benefit from the entire bill of rights (arguably rightly so).

They have better job prospects.

They can purchase homes with federal loans.

They can attend college.

They can invest and own companies.

They can even draw from Social Security.

For now, non-citizens cannot vote openly in congressional elections, but can in minor elections like school boards and municipal votes.

They cannot be drafted to defend a nation. They have to remain employed, but enforcement is questionable and creative solutions exist.

It's a pretty good deal. Oh, and of course dual citizens always have an escape hatch to leave one country and their debts behind should they choose.

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

#159

Post by 9x39 »

klardotsh wrote: post #119
9x39 wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why be a citizen at all if non-citizens have all the benefits and none of the responsibilities?

They can’t vote in most elections (except a few local elections in some places) and aren’t guaranteed entry at the border. They also can’t work a litany of jobs requiring citizenship. They get a plenty bad enough shake. Let’s grant them the absolute basics of humane treatment and a fair shake at getting citizenship, sheesh. Other countries get by just fine not having such a huge delta between haves and have nots on c…

A litany of jobs? Do you mean a minority of jobs - civil service, some clearance jobs, holding some offices?

The Immigration and Nationality Act makes citizenship discrimination illegal.

>Other countries get by just fine

Which ones are your model for the US?

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

#160

Post by orthecreedence »

DataDive wrote: post #11
OutOfHere wrote: post #9

As noted clearly in the article, this is a temporary pause while personnel are brought up to speed on the protocols. The real question is how just or unjust the refusals will be once it is unpaused. It's bad enough that the process is excruciatingly slow. Users keep downvoting my comment even though it is the only literal interpretation supported by the evidence, without any evidence to the contrary. I would rethink…

Or as the saying goes: nothing is more permanent than a temporary solution.

Also, lol @ "the courts will fix it!" Fat fucking chance. I'm looking into my crystal ball: I see a 6-3 supreme court ruling supporting the administration's executive order to liquidate congressional power and fold it into the executive branch (as the founding fathers intended...)
Post reply on HN