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I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American and failed

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Re: I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American and failed

#541

Post by bruceb »

ericdschmidt wrote: post #522
protomyth wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it's mostly because those commentors on HN can't code worth their salt, and can't find a job, in an industry with thousands of unfilled positions, and need a scapegoat to pile hatred on. I don't think that's true, but I don't expect we'll be giving programming tests to each commentor to get hard data Most of the points stated on those hateful comments are either factually wrong, or overstate something as being th…

"A basic security problem" So what if anyone can come and go. You live in a town or city, right? So the adjacent towns, they let you just waltz in and out of them right? They "don't control who comes through." Is that so terrible? Do you think your town should have a big wall around it and strict security cause you're worried about a potential fugitive slipping in? No, that's stupid. It's just a really inefficient/cu…

Except law enforcement in towns and cities cooperate while if a person does something in the US and leaves the victim may have very little recourse. Your comparison of open borders and and having free movement within a country is weak.

Re: I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American and failed

#542

Post by ericdschmidt »

jfoutz wrote: post #110
murbard2 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By that logic , you cannot have a welfare state without mandatory sterilization of the poor. Most will recoil in horror at this, and yet, the harm done by closed border is far greater (people are literally dying while eating dirt because they were born in the wrong country). But that's beside the point since I was specifically addressing highly skilled immigration.

The federal budget comes primarily from personal and corporate income tax. Sure, there's a little bit from other sources like excise taxes, but those are a drop in the bucket. Open borders means the US should make it trivial to get a tax id and work. Fundamentally, that's what people want to do anyway, work. Some people may get small handouts for food, or perhaps more expensive handouts for healthcare. The dominating…

You seem to have a pretty good head for economics. Let me point you to my other comment in this thread for some more info on this important topic: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9769632

Re: I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American and failed

#543

Post by ericdschmidt »

worklogin wrote: post #26
murbard2 wrote: post #12

I personally consider that opening borders is a moral imperative, but I understand why it is controversial. I understand that the arguments against "letting everyone in" have some merit, though I ultimately disagree with them. What is a real head scratcher to me is the US policy on highly-skilled immigrants. There are certainly some political constituencies in favor of those, but I can't think of anyone against, at l…

Immigration is broken. But you cannot have open borders and a welfare system. It is completely unsustainable.

Wrong wrong wrong.

Reality check: (1) Immigrants are actually NET CONTRIBUTORS to the welfare system. (2) Immigrants (at least the poor ones you're apparently worried about) are hard-working and yearn for financial stability; leisure is an utterly alien concept to them. (3) As societies become more heterogenous, welfare systems decline, because of inherent racism/xenophobia. The various elements of the population don't want to contribute to welfare cause they don't feel in communion with those "others". (4) If the welfare system becomes overburdened, I say Great! It just forces us to fix our broken system sooner than we otherwise would have. (Although again mainly because of my points 1 and 2 this would never happen.) (5) We can charge immigrants an entry fee, or a tax premium, or we can exclude them from benefits altogether. Any of those options would be vastly more humane than the status quo where we keep these foreigners trapped in their unproductive backwaters making ~$1 a day, starving.

Please see my other comment on this thread here for more info: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9769632

Re: I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American and failed

#544

Post by ericdschmidt »

mc32 wrote: post #38
murbard2 wrote: post #12

I personally consider that opening borders is a moral imperative, but I understand why it is controversial. I understand that the arguments against "letting everyone in" have some merit, though I ultimately disagree with them. What is a real head scratcher to me is the US policy on highly-skilled immigrants. There are certainly some political constituencies in favor of those, but I can't think of anyone against, at l…

While open borders is an ultimate goal, it would be a bit perilous to allow 'everyone who wanted to' to enter a given country, as things stand. First, I think we should seek bilateral treaties such that we can enter their country as much as they can enter ours and that both parties have reciprocal rights. This should allow all parties entering an agreement to slowly stabilize, or reach some kind of equilibrium. One o…

Well, i'm glad you see open borders as an ultimate goal, kudos there, but why do you think its important for "bilateral treaties". Workers are engines of production. They're valuable. We want more of them. Even if they're poor, they can still produce value. Production is the root of all prosperity. So there's no harm in letting people come here at whatever rate is best for them - if it's a sensible move for them, that implies that their productivity (reflected by their income) is increasing. More productivity = more stuff = more stuff for everyone in the economy to enjoy. Again, there's no harm in letting people come. Only increased production. So we should definitely let in anyone who wants to come. And so should every other country. But if the other countries remain economically stupid / bigoted and want to keep valuable workers at bay, fine, doesn't mean we should make the same mistake. It's still hugely beneficial to us (and everyone) to let them come here unilaterally.

Please see my other comment in this thread for more info: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9769632

Re: I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American and failed

#545

Post by mercer »

thiagoperes wrote: post #349
diego_moita wrote: post #272

Disclaimer: I am a Canadian permanent resident. > I like it here. This is the real problem, you have a severe case of non-reciprocal love. In that case the answer is obvious: move over, find another love, come to Canada or go to Northern Europe. U.S. immigration is an American problem,since they are the ones loosing talent and entrepreneurial people. It is not an immigrant's problem, since they don't have the powers…

That's exactly what I did. I spent a lot of time and money on immigration lawyers trying to find a way to immigrate to the U.S. only because I don't have a degree. After years of trying without any success I started looking into other options, only to find that it's significantly easier to immigrate into other countries (like Canada). Two months ago I got an offer from a Dutch company (even with them knowing about my…

Hit me up for a coffee, beer, or other beverage once you're settled, if you feel so inclined. I like meeting new people, and I've lived here for much of my post-high school life.

Re: I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American and failed

#546

Post by klipt »

cletus wrote: post #462
madars wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you overestimate the straight-forwardness of this. Option #2 means including economic incentives in your relationship ("I better rush towards marrying someone, lest I get kicked out!"). Option #3 is very restricted -- if you are on a non-immigrant visa (e.g. student visa), then the simple fact of applying for the lottery (and thus signalling immigration intent) will likely make you ineligible for a renewal.

You are mistaken. Applying for the green card lottery does nothing to hurt any current or future visa applications you make. Visas with a nonimmigrant intent will ask questions like: "Do you have a current I-485 application in process?" "Have you previously applied for an I-485?" "Have you been rejected for an I-485?" For those that don't know, an I-485 is an AoS (adjustment of status) application. You can truthfully…

None of the forms I filled in asked about I-485, they asked "Has anyone ever filed an immigration petition on your behalf?", which I had to answer yes to because my aunt at one point started sponsoring my mom for a sibling green card - even though that application was filed before I was born, and was abandoned decades ago.

Re: I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American and failed

#547

Post by klipt »

fsloth wrote: post #8
pierotofy wrote: post #6

Yes the immigration system is broken; it's difficult to obtain sponsorship from an employer. But I feel like the author gave up after asking the few places where he worked. Sometimes you need to try harder.

"Sometimes you need to try harder." You mean search for an employer whom would sponsor citizenship? The article explained it is quite expensive - do employer sponsored citizenships happen?

Citizenship is trivial once you have a green card, you just have to wait 5 years and pass a civics test.

Getting the green card is the hard part.

Re: I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American and failed

#548

Post by contergan »

jotm wrote: post #311
kuschku wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The debate the politicians in my state (Schleswig-Holstein, a state in Germany) had about this was really interesting, sadly it’s in German. Essentially, it boils down to two issues: Morally, we all are descendants of immigrants, or at least most. Economically, most immigrants are willing to work hard. Combined with the fact that our society has a birth rate below replacement rate (1.3 vs. 2.1) we need immigrants jus…

You do need immigrants, but you need them to be low level workers. Which explains the amount of unskilled people working in both Germany and the US legally , while high skilled immigrants can't get their foot through the door.

Japan is doing quite well without the insane immigration policies most of Western Europe has. It boggles my mind, how people came up with the idea of slowly replacing the native population with low-skilled immigrants for economic reasons and how that is still considered a good idea (despite all the obvious problems multiculturalism has shown to bring along in Europe).

All this current immigration system leads to is more Islam and more 3rd world in Europe.

Re: I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American and failed

#549

Post by qqg3 »

blinkingled wrote: post #435
Domenic_S wrote: post #426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> my degree issue This is interesting. Must you have a degree to immigrate if you have a strong work history?

The H1-B=>GC route to immigration does require a degree - 4 yr one is preferred but in some cases 3yr + ton of experience gets you buy. It's not guaranteed though.

Where I'm from pretty much all degrees are 3 years? Does that mean you need some form of post-grad (Masters?) on top?

Re: I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American and failed

#550

Post by epsylon »

seunosewa wrote: post #356
nicolas_t wrote: post #52

I work for customers in the US as a software consultant (paid at New York rates) but because of the hassle and difficulties to get a visa there, I do not live there. This means that I get money from the US but I do not reinject it in the economy, I also do not pay taxes in the US. I'm a net loss for this country all because of the visa policies.

The services you provide to US customers are more valuable than the money you are paid for those services, so it's still a net gain for the US.

There's still an opportunity loss.
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