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This old claim gets resubmitted to Hacker News over and over and over, and there is never anything new here. The authors of the overly cited study don't repres

This old claim gets resubmitted to Hacker News over and over and over, and there is never anything new here. The authors of the overly cited study don't represent a mainstream view in political science research. The more developed literature about Public Choice Theory[1] provides a lot more insight about how politics works--in every country in the world. Reading the BBC brief commentary kindly submitted here, which summarizes the "study" details that have been posted here many times before, I still have to ask, where is the comparison with other countries of the world? The United States continues to enjoy a high rate of net immigration with regard to essentially all other countries on the planet, and I know happy immigrants to the United States from China, India, Russia, Canada, Mexico, the U.K., the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, France, Singapore, Somalia, Argentina, Ecuador, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Ghana, South Africa, Haiti, and plenty of other countries that aren't immediately coming to mind. Are there problems in the United States, including problems caused by poor governance? Sure there are. But, on the other hand, where is there somewhere that is a better democracy than the United States to the degree that local people there have to institute restrictive immigration measures to keep the United States citizens from migrating in? AFTER EDIT: I can see the silent downvotes for disagreement as well as anybody can, but meanwhile can you respond to what I have brought up substantively? Most of the other comments here also think that the authors overstated the problem they identified in their "study," and anyway how is one country any different from another country in this regard? [1] https://www.google.com/search?q=Public+Choice+Theory&oq=Public+Choice+Theory https://www.google.com/search?q=Public+Choice+Theory&oq=Publ...

jgh 11y ago
The insanity and hypocracy in the American immigration system is infurating and will lead to fewer immigrants in the future. With the way the H1B system works it is extremely impractical to hire foreign workers who may be more qualified than domestic ones. Hardly any of the visas are dual intent. I know a Canadian who has been here for like 20 years and still doesnt have a green card. Most other countries give you permanent residency after you stay for a certain number of years. There is no startup visa. Want to come work at a company in the USA? There are a few (if bad) options. Want to start a company in the USA and employ Americans? Be prepared to bend the truth and risk getting deported. The United States has enjoyed its position of supremecy after Europe imploded from two world wars, and it is being taken for granted now.
- tokenadult 11y ago
  Thanks for the substantive comment. I mentioned in my comment that I know many first-generation immigrants to the United States, so evidently it is still possible to immigrate here with various statuses. I have lived overseas in one other country, for two three-year stays, once in the 1980s, and once spanning the turn of the last century, and then it was harder to settle there to work and MUCH harder to become a naturalized citizen there than it has ever been in the United States, although I hear that now immigration is becoming more liberalized there (Taiwan).
  - jgh 11y ago
    I think that the difficulty immigrating to the United States is a relatively recent development (post-9/11). Lines for green cards have become very long for a lot of people and for some there isn't an option to get a green card (due to non-dual-intent status which is basically "Hey we want you to come spend the best years of your life contributing to the American system and then you have to leave!") One of the bigger problems is that there isn't an entrepreneur visa in the US, which basically means that you can't be on a visa and start a company in the USA. At least in theory. With something like 50% or more of companies being started by people who weren't born in the USA, it seems a bit problematic. It's not impossible to immigrate here, it's just very difficult compared to other developed nations such as Canada, the UK and the EU. I feel like a big problem with tackling immigration in the US is it's so tightly coupled with the partisan issue of illegal immigration from latin america that it's basically impossible to have any sort of reform for legal immigration.

jgh 11y ago

The insanity and hypocracy in the American immigration system is infurating and will lead to fewer immigrants in the future. With the way the H1B system works it is extremely impractical to hire foreign workers who may be more qualified than domestic ones. Hardly any of the visas are dual intent. I know a Canadian who has been here for like 20 years and still doesnt have a green card. Most other countries give you permanent residency after you stay for a certain number of years. There is no startup visa. Want to come work at a company in the USA? There are a few (if bad) options. Want to start a company in the USA and employ Americans? Be prepared to bend the truth and risk getting deported. The United States has enjoyed its position of supremecy after Europe imploded from two world wars, and it is being taken for granted now.

tokenadult 11y ago
Thanks for the substantive comment. I mentioned in my comment that I know many first-generation immigrants to the United States, so evidently it is still possible to immigrate here with various statuses. I have lived overseas in one other country, for two three-year stays, once in the 1980s, and once spanning the turn of the last century, and then it was harder to settle there to work and MUCH harder to become a naturalized citizen there than it has ever been in the United States, although I hear that now immigration is becoming more liberalized there (Taiwan).
- jgh 11y ago
  I think that the difficulty immigrating to the United States is a relatively recent development (post-9/11). Lines for green cards have become very long for a lot of people and for some there isn't an option to get a green card (due to non-dual-intent status which is basically "Hey we want you to come spend the best years of your life contributing to the American system and then you have to leave!") One of the bigger problems is that there isn't an entrepreneur visa in the US, which basically means that you can't be on a visa and start a company in the USA. At least in theory. With something like 50% or more of companies being started by people who weren't born in the USA, it seems a bit problematic. It's not impossible to immigrate here, it's just very difficult compared to other developed nations such as Canada, the UK and the EU. I feel like a big problem with tackling immigration in the US is it's so tightly coupled with the partisan issue of illegal immigration from latin america that it's basically impossible to have any sort of reform for legal immigration.