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I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA

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341–350 of 418 posts

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wong Kim Ark cites, at length, Marshall's discourse on jurisdiction in Schooner Exchange v McFaddon, which turns entirely on this question. It also notes the language change between the Civil Rights Act and the 14th Amendment, where the revision clarified precisely this issue. It's a frivolous argument. Would you like to put some money on this? I'd give you favorable odds at 7-2, assuming the court composition remain…

It’s not clear to me that “jurisdiction” is being used in the same context in the 14th amendment as in Schooner Exchange. Regardless, I wouldn’t call an argument supported by clear dicta in one Supreme Court case and a solid dissent in another “frivolous.” But I’d put the odds of the Supreme Court ruling in Trump’s favor substantially below 10%. You lose 100% of the shots you don’t take, though.

I feel we could usefully keep in mind another observation of Marshall's quoted in Wong Kim Ark, seperate from his writings in Schooner Exchange mentioned above:

"It is a maxim not to be disregarded that general expressions in every opinion are to be taken in connection with the case in which those expressions are used. If they go beyond the case, they may be respected, but ought not to control the judgment in a subsequent suit when the very point is presented for decision. The reason of this maxim is obvious. The question actually before the court* is investigated with care, and considered in its full extent. Other principles which may serve to illustrate it are considered in their relation to the case decided, but their possible bearing on all other cases is seldom completely investigated."

* The question in Slaughterhouse cases being on the topic of whether the 14th Amendment automatically subsumed the legislative authority of states in important respects, rather than the eligibility of children of foreign nationals for US citizenship.

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#344
post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why do you want to destroy market power for people on visas even further Under what auspices are they supposed to have market power in the first place? H1B folks are supposed to be here to make up for deficiencies in the labor market. When those deficiencies don’t exist, we don’t need to add more of those jobs. There is definitely a humane way to do this (e.g., don’t just yoink people out of jobs), but the current…

> Under what auspices are they supposed to have market power in the first place? Labor rights? Equality? Freedom? Does today mark the day we just give up on these ideas? > There is definitely a humane way to do this (e.g., don’t just yoink people out of jobs) But you strongly implied exactly that with "Meanwhile, H1Bs remain employed". There is no reasonable reading of this which doesn't strongly imply that visa work…

https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/immigration/h1b

You can read here exactly what the terms of this are: "The intent of the H-1B provisions is to help employers who cannot otherwise obtain needed business skills and abilities from the U.S. workforce by authorizing the temporary employment of qualified individuals who are not otherwise authorized to work in the United States."

H1Bs writ large do not have "market power" as you say: "The law establishes certain standards in order to protect similarly employed U.S. workers from being adversely affected by the employment of the nonimmigrant workers, as well as to protect the H-1B nonimmigrant workers."

https://news.crunchbase.com/startups/tech-layoffs/

If we can't find talent in the 380k people laid off in the last 3y there is a problem.

As for abusers abusing it, you don't have to go far to read about InfoSys and Tata who have been taken to court over their misbehavior re:H1Bs. The system should be overhauled, so that it lives up to its intent. If we want to brain drain other countries, we should continue doing that. However hiring a person to run a 7/11 in a flyover state for 30k a year on H1B is clearly a violation. The data is public, look for yourself.

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Under what auspices are they supposed to have market power in the first place? Labor rights? Equality? Freedom? Does today mark the day we just give up on these ideas? > There is definitely a humane way to do this (e.g., don’t just yoink people out of jobs) But you strongly implied exactly that with "Meanwhile, H1Bs remain employed". There is no reasonable reading of this which doesn't strongly imply that visa work…

https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/immigration/h1b You can read here exactly what the terms of this are: "The intent of the H-1B provisions is to help employers who cannot otherwise obtain needed business skills and abilities from the U.S. workforce by authorizing the temporary employment of qualified individuals who are not otherwise authorized to work in the United States." H1Bs writ large do not have "market power"…

I'm speaking in general principles of what's right and wrong, what's good and evil. As much as the oligarchs want you to pretend that morality is relative and that it is only down to the laws as written, it isn't.

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#346
Hey Peter!

I desperately want to leave the UK with an exceptional talent visa.

SWE engineer building an AI copilot for finance. +10 years of experience.

I plan to get a small press release for it too.

What are my odds? Are exceptional talent visas worth it?

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#347
post #248

How do you square away your relationship with Y Combinator, which has been by all means positive, with the eager collaboration of its leadership with the most anti-immigrant administration in history?

[flagged]

Downvoted into the negative...

Those who downvoted, what is your explanation, then? Unvarnished xenophobia? At least *my* explanation was just greed!

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#348
Are there opportunities for those of us in the USA to take in fiancés from other countries in the current climate? I'm currently in the dating circuit for women who have software engineering backgrounds and this situation has made me very nervous about how I'm going to actually bring a fiancé to the USA now.

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#349
Hey Peter, I appreciate what you're doing here. I made a throwaway account since I don't want this part of my personal life to be on HN and tied to me in any way.

I'm currently waiting for about 6 months to get my marriage case reviewed with USCIS (CR-1). The USCIS website at one point said it'd take a few weeks, now it's back to a few months; Reddit is unanimous: don't trust what the USCIS website says. I've looked at Visa Journey and based on that it seems to take about 15 months, if I recall correctly.

In your experience, how long does it take? When should we ring the bell when it is going too slowly? Also, does it matter that I'm from a northern/western European country or does it not matter at all?

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#350

Are there opportunities for those of us in the USA to take in fiancés from other countries in the current climate? I'm currently in the dating circuit for women who have software engineering backgrounds and this situation has made me very nervous about how I'm going to actually bring a fiancé to the USA now.

Huh? You have multiple marriage worthy relationships ongoing in other countries? Or you’re adopting fiancés from a shelter?
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