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I hear a lot of solutions, but they're all downstream of a core problem. Any "immigration" visa that denies immigrants the right to choose where they live, wha
by geebee 10y ago
I hear a lot of solutions, but they're all downstream of a core problem. Any "immigration" visa that denies immigrants the right to choose where they live, what profession or trade they enter, and what employers (if any) they work for, has already failed.
I understand it is tempting for silicon valley employers to lobby for control over workers lives, under the guise of a shortage of software engineers. But citizens are allowed to choose their path in life, and if becoming a developer in the vally isn't appealing to them, thats the market's answer.
Don't try to fix this by creating a large scale tier of noncitizen worker with limited mobility right. Whatever system we have, it must not coerce immigrants into working as a developer as a condition of living in the us.
As long as this deep flaw remains, all "fixes" will just be window dressing.
- closeparen 10y agoYou're stating an extremist fringe position, sadly. There is no political will for a broadly available "because I want to be an American" visa program. To the extent that we give work authorization to foreigners en masse, it is to fulfill specific needs for labor that can't be met by domestic workers, or because they are exceptionally skilled. Workers are locked down to specific fields because otherwise they might start competing with Americans for jobs, and the electorate doesn't want that.
- geebee 10y agoI'm not sure I agree. The United States takes well over a million immigrants a year into the country as free participants in the labor market, with the right to choose a career path not dictated to them by the terms of their visa or a corporation that "sponsors" their limited residency rights. It turns out that these immigrants don't go into software development in the numbers silicon valley leaders feel they should, either. That's why they tech employers have lobbied for an parallel "immigration" system run by corporations. Basic human freedom isn't convenient for them.