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U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

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Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#631

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Dude, just … no. It's not about signaling or positive sentiments. All human beings are equal. Being born in one place doesn't make you special or entitles you to a job. US citizen or whatever-country citizen, all that matters is what you can do. Meritocracy, you know. If someone else can do the job better than you or me, they should be hired. Being born in the US or gender or anything else you can think about shouldn…

Only raw performance should matter, because anything else is discriminatory. There go the disabled, English learners, and all others with an initial disadvantage. Go Team Darwin!

If they genuinely have a lower performance, they will sell their services at a price matching their performance and have no problem finding clients.

However, I dispute that premise. You are jumping to conclusions. The "disabled and English learners" I have met offer tremendous value, in different axes.

Someone who is blind is used to processing audio at several time the speed a non blind person can. So if I need someone to summarize and extra data from audio, I want someone who's blind. Because they will be more efficient than you or I.

I don't know about you, but I assume you are not blind. If you want to sell me your services, I'll pay you a fraction of what I'll pay a blind contractor because they will be more efficient than you.

Someone for which English is not their first language often uses a lower number of words, and makes simpler sentences. This is a godsent for technical documentation.

I fear you inner bias make you consider that as "intial disadvantage". It is extremely short sighted.

Feel free to call me prejudiced when I prefer blind and ESL hires.

Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#632

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dude, just … no. It's not about signaling or positive sentiments. All human beings are equal. Being born in one place doesn't make you special or entitles you to a job. US citizen or whatever-country citizen, all that matters is what you can do. Meritocracy, you know. If someone else can do the job better than you or me, they should be hired. Being born in the US or gender or anything else you can think about shouldn…

> Being born in one place doesn't make you special or entitles you to a job. Um, in some continues it is. But then I have to ask why have countries at all if being born in a country gains you nothing? While I see your point I can't help to have a hard time with it. Mostly because you fail to see how detrimental to the country it is when its citizens can't get jobs because they are competing with the res of the world,…

You assume I may like countries. I'm not against the concept of people freely associating around political systems they like.

However, I do not like the concept of imaginal lines drawn on a map to give advantage to some people who had a lucky birth.

It is no better than a caste system or nobility in Europe.

> Otherwise we would not even be having this discussion.

I'm sad we have this discussion.

Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#633

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By way of a thought experiment: If all human beings are equal, is this a necessary and sufficient condition to let a homeless person stay with you for a night? Assuming this is an option for a relative or friend. Why not willingly give up your job now? Surely someone can lay claim to your job on some merit basis. If you have children, do you distribute your time and affection in proportion to merit? I don't see why I…

Here the cult of HN shows its true face ... As JWZ says :- A DDOS made of finance obsessed Man-children and brogrammers https://www.jwz.org/blog/2017/02/an-annotated-digest-of-the-...

It's sad.

I try to keep to technical issues, but some of the things I read are just not acceptable.

We all have different opinion, and I respect that, but when some people think they deserve some special privileges, I disagree.

Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#634
post #574

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The startups I've worked for, co created with coworkers who had H1-B visas (and green cards) created a lot of IT consulting gigs. We might even have hired you. This is as we went from 40 to 400 employees. Those H1-B visa holders created gigs for you to work. Even the consulting gigs you are competing for and losing are creating more consulting gigs later on. You are counting those right? It's not simple, your intuiti…

Yes, I am counting those. And yes, I am looking at real data instead of media puff pieces. For example, [1]. It's important to consider 1) relative numbers (how many market rate positions are being created as a result of H1B vs. number of depressed wage positions taken away by them), and 2) The total net result on US workers. If 1,000 new jobs are created, but 10,000 others that Americans want to work now pay 15% les…

Nope, you've linked to a media piece and a law journal article.

The economists did all the math, they actually thought of your 1) and 2) and other things besides. (Both the middle and high wage H1-B immigrants helped.)

They usually (not every single time) find that immigrants benefit native workers, that's low, medium, and high skill immigrants. They both increase the number of jobs AND the average wage.

The "abuse" of the H1-B program you mention is also helping even though you are correct that it is against the intent of the program. You almost certainly owe several of your gigs to H1-B immigrants, time when you would have otherwise been on the beach or working at a lower wage.

I know this goes against almost everything you've ever heard. It's counterintuitive. Like treating cancer with radiation, using a back fire to stop a wildfire, or that adding more software devs to a late project will make it later.

You want to look for something like "this poll of economists says that more immigration is bad for the US". "This poll of economics nobel prize winners say that while high skill immigration is good, medium skill immigration is bad". "This survey article of economics immigration articles finds that 70% of papers agree: middle skill immigration lowers wages". You will not find much.

For example these polls of economists say that high skill immigration is super good, but low skill immigration is only pretty good.

http://www.igmchicago.org/surveys/high-skilled-immigrants

http://www.igmchicago.org/surveys/low-skilled-immigrants

As patriotic American who cares for their fellow citizens and also out of self interest you should say "we should really crank up the H1-B program and let a lot more skilled immigrants in".

Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#635
post #277
post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we want stuff to be made in America instead of China, we should increase the number of skilled immigrants allowed in.

Import tax on crap would solve it.

There already are import taxes on "crap" like electronic components. Browse around digi-key for "tariff pending" or "tariff applied". All its doing is making bills of material more expensive.

Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#636

Earlier quoted context omitted.

a PhD in CS is a golden ticket today

A PhD in CS is a waste of time in the vast majority of cases. If you're good you can join FAANG out of undergrad and you'll earn well over a million dollars pre-tax by the time the PhD would be finished.

I know companies that won't even look at you for a Data Science job if don't have a PhD

Re: U.S. Changes Visa Process for High-Skilled Workers

#637

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> The US tax code has gotten more progressive over time, not less. The very high tax rates from the past were quite narrow in scope, they covered few taxpayers. That's not how that works. The U.S. has become massively more disparate in income and wealth, which alone would explain why more taxpayers fall into high tax brackets: the middle class is evaporating, leaving a somewhat larger upper class (more high-income ta…

Medicaid covers the poor and preventative services. Adjust your political rant accordingly.

Medicaid only provides preventative care to children... Providing adults with preventative care is optional and varies (heavily) by state. https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/coverage-of-prevent...
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