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My journey through the American immigration system as a computer engineer

software.rajivprab.com

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Re: My journey through the American immigration system as a computer engineer

#321

Post by rayiner »

random314 wrote: post #267
rayiner wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s the lack of perspective that annoys me. It’s because America is so accommodating of immigrants compared to the rest of the world that you can talk like your ancestors built the country the minute you take the citizenship oath.

It should be made clear to the new citizens that some citizens are more equal than the others. /s

My wife’s family fought in the American Revolution. Mine came here when Seinfeld had just come on the air. I think that makes a difference—the analogous facts would certainly matter in most other places in the world.

Re: My journey through the American immigration system as a computer engineer

#322

Post by la6472 »

passivate wrote: post #305
car_analogy wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is assuming that more immigration equals better. And even if one does think so, then the USA is doing "better" - by orders of magnitude. The Chinese and Indians are not set to become minorities in their own countries, are they? But thanks to immigration, white Americans practically already are [1], yet it is they that are called xenophobic. Double-standards doesn't begin to describe it. [1] https://www.brookings…

>But thanks to immigration, white Americans practically already are [1], yet it is they that are called xenophobic Why does it matter if a particular race is the majority or minority of citizens? What concerns do you have about it?

No post body was provided.

Re: My journey through the American immigration system as a computer engineer

#323

Post by la6472 »

polygamous_bat wrote: post #197
car_analogy wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is assuming that more immigration equals better. And even if one does think so, then the USA is doing "better" - by orders of magnitude. The Chinese and Indians are not set to become minorities in their own countries, are they? But thanks to immigration, white Americans practically already are [1], yet it is they that are called xenophobic. Double-standards doesn't begin to describe it. [1] https://www.brookings…

In what part of the US Constitution are the white Americans identified as the essential majority for the country? This is a country that was founded through immigration, unlike China or India, so turning around and crying about becoming a minority just as you are enjoying the benefits of your ancestors migrating seems hypocritical.

And this +1

Re: My journey through the American immigration system as a computer engineer

#324

Post by culi »

notch656a wrote: post #115
itissid wrote: post #88

One of the constant dichotomies that i(and maybe other immigrants) live with are these: The privilege of being a model minority [1] [2] yet being on the edge of having to lose it all if the immigration system shits itself. One might be a senior software engineer paying 100K + in taxes and probably drive EVs and own a home, your largest infraction are parking tickets, yet the risks are asymmetric; the whims of bureauc…

>a border guard who is having a bad day. This is not to be understated. I was born a US citizen. Last time I entered the country, officers faked that a dog had alerted "on my anus", forcibly strip searched me, and fabricated a story that plastic baggies that they suspected 'could be drugs' were coming out of my ass. I was shackled and cuffed and dragged around the state of Arizona for 16 hours while publicly paraded…

ProPublica did a story on this type of stuff. There have been many instances of ICE agents doing "mass deports" where they round up groups of people and deport them all. It's hard to keep track of this sort of thing but likely hundreds of people with full citizenship and mental disabilities have ended up deported to a country they know nobody at. Not that the fact that they're us citizens makes this any more fucked up, but it highlights how much power they really have

The ICE director has repeatedly made statements under the Trump presidency that they believe the organization is above federal law (like the army) and only beholden to the president's orders

Re: My journey through the American immigration system as a computer engineer

#326

Post by random314 »

rayiner wrote: post #321
random314 wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It should be made clear to the new citizens that some citizens are more equal than the others. /s

My wife’s family fought in the American Revolution. Mine came here when Seinfeld had just come on the air. I think that makes a difference—the analogous facts would certainly matter in most other places in the world.

Glad too see that you are in agreement with George Orwell. Some citizens indeed are more equal than the others!

Also, you are talking about your wife's family?!!! You mean her great great grandparents or even earlier ancestors?

I am very intrigued by this inheritance based credit system that you are proposing that goes beyond wealth inheritance?

Do you still get points if your ancestors participated in the revolt but were highly incompetent? How many points do you lose if some of the ancestors fought on the British side? Do you gain or lose points for capturing native American territory and massacring them? Do you also get to keep the points earned by the slaves the ancestors owned or do they go to the descendants of the slaves? Do you gain/lose points for dropping napalm in Vietnam or searching for WMDs in Iraq?

I find this line of argument intriguing. I have soooooo many questions!

Re: My journey through the American immigration system as a computer engineer

#327

Post by refurb »

itissid wrote: post #88

One of the constant dichotomies that i(and maybe other immigrants) live with are these: The privilege of being a model minority [1] [2] yet being on the edge of having to lose it all if the immigration system shits itself. One might be a senior software engineer paying 100K + in taxes and probably drive EVs and own a home, your largest infraction are parking tickets, yet the risks are asymmetric; the whims of bureauc…

I'm not sure how being a "model minority" is relevant beyond you just internalizing one potential viewpoint that floats around certain US political discussions.

I'm not a minority in the US, have worked in other countries, and I'm still at the same whim of a country's immigration system as you are.

In fact, a white colleague I work with will be returning home from Asia because the government has decided "we don't need so many foreigners" and has declined to renew their work permit. This is someone making a top 5% salary, with a special skill set that the company needs, that can't be filled with locals. The government could care less that she has kids in school, that they just signed a lease on a place or that their spouse still has a job they want to keep.

It has zero to do with being am minority, it's just the consequence of not being a citizen. If you decided to move to another country as a temporary worker, that's the risk you take - that the rules change, often unfairly so.

You might think driving an EV or making a lot of means you should get some special pass, but I'd argue that's not a reasonable assumption at all.

Re: My journey through the American immigration system as a computer engineer

#328

Post by refurb »

lmarcos wrote: post #142
notch656a wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>a border guard who is having a bad day. This is not to be understated. I was born a US citizen. Last time I entered the country, officers faked that a dog had alerted "on my anus", forcibly strip searched me, and fabricated a story that plastic baggies that they suspected 'could be drugs' were coming out of my ass. I was shackled and cuffed and dragged around the state of Arizona for 16 hours while publicly paraded…

And that's another reason I will never visit the USA.

Exactly. I'll only visit safe countries like China.

Re: My journey through the American immigration system as a computer engineer

#329

Post by dkjaudyeqooe »

gorbachev wrote: post #71
asdf_snar wrote: post #31

I can only say this sounds extremely accurate based on my own experience of F-1, OPT, H1B. The anxiety resonates as well. I remember getting my work authorization card and noticing that my first name and last name were switched. I remember sitting down at a train station and nearly breaking down into tears, because I was certain this mistake wouldn't be tolerated, that I'd lose my job, and have to leave the country.

Agreed. When I was getting my green card, USCIS actually lost the one they had already printed. A very kafkaesque situation for which there didn't appear to be a clear process to resolve. I knew I didn't have to leave the country over it like you, but I had no idea if I'd be able to start in my new job, which came with a very significant, almost life changing, pay raise. The USCIS officer I went to see about the situ…

Reminds me of the time the authorities forgot to sign my passport application at my citizenship ceremony. They sent me an email (!) saying I had to refill the form and pay the fee again and send it to some random office address. I went to the local govt office where this had to be notarised and forwarded and they told me perhaps 10 times that this was not normal procedure and that they took no responsibility for the outcome. I replied the same number of times that I had received these instructions (which I showed them) and if I didn't follow them I wouldn't get a passport.

It was stupid and aggravating. You could see on their faces that they thought if they told me just one more time that I'd come to my senses and do it the "approved" way. They never did accept that I had no choice in the matter but eventually accepted my application and I got my passport a while later.

Re: My journey through the American immigration system as a computer engineer

#330

Post by analyst74 »

Longlius wrote: post #171
Bhilai wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless you are a native Indian I am going to assume if your grand parents immigrated to this country and become citizens here, yes?

Not necessarily. My forebears came to this continent before there was a country, roughly 400 years ago.

And they massacred the people who lived here before them and started a new country. You must be proud.
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