4 ms·

U.S. is still the best country for immigrants

6 points by rm2904 10y ago

Broken_Hippo 10y ago
This is dated January 18th. Considering everything that has happened, I wholeheartedly disagree. Even though some immigrants will fare better (especially white immigrants from Canada or Eastern Europe), I'd not recommend it because entire populations - anyone that could pass as latino or arab - could easily have a difficult time.
- InclinedPlane 10y ago
  Just as the stock price of a publicly traded company doesn't represent the past entirely but rather the expected future value of the company, the same applies to immigration destination countries. Right now the risk of disastrous changes to how immigrants are treated or even the stability of the country itself are so high in America that it does raise the question of whether it's a good idea to come here if other options are available.
  - Broken_Hippo 10y ago
    I'm American and I won't go back to visit unless things get stable, honestly. I'm in Norway, and rather like the peace and quiet. My spouse, who is Norwegian, refuses to go back.
- PopsiclePete 10y ago
  Eastern European immigrant here. Lots of people are telling me "not to worry" since I'm not brown and/or Muslim, but it's hard not to worry about the future direction of this country. I'm seeing some really familiar, troubling signs - a way of thinking in people - that I was hoping I'd never see here. The amount of irreparable damage to America's soft power - it's reputation and image - that Trump has done is hard to quantify, but it's pretty "yuge". At this point, I can't honestly recommend this country to any other potential immigrants/friends - I'd say Canada, Australia, or even Germany if you can swing it, are better bets at this point - more urban overall, more cosmopolitan, and more likely to have seen others like you and not be scared of you. I can't believe how quickly the fly-over (hate that term) states became frightened and closed-off - it's really a different country compared to what it was in the late 90's when I first came here.
  - Broken_Hippo 10y ago
    You are absolutely correct, and it is my fault. I seriously got my directions mixed up: I truly meant western Europe. Serious fault of mine - I mix up right and left as well - it doesn't help that I'm an immigrant myself, American living in Norway, and I automatically assume all of Europe is East. I'd edit the post, but it is far past the time. You are absolutely correct on your assessment. The further towards Russia or the middle east you go, the harder it is to make it. Heck, I don't want to go back at this point, especially if I happen to have a tan... because I defnitely look arab then, and I'm a citizen.
- Broken_Hippo 10y ago
  Edit that is long past overdue: I meant folks will fare better from Western Europe. I get directions mixed up, unfortunatly.
tornadoboy55 10y ago
> They use and adopt new products much faster than people in other countries, new trends start here, they are not shy of moving on to something better. Nope. Just nope. Doubtfully on a personal level (Music streaming spread in Europe first with Spotify, for example), but infrastructure-wise the USA is so far behind it isn't even funny. The internet lines suck. The traffic light systems suck. The sewage and water system suck. In-house tech is decades behind Europe (most house furnaces are still the unmodulated on-off type ffs!). > U.S. has people from almost every country in the world. Most big cities are filled with immigrants. New York City is a prime example of that. It has people from 180 countries and people speak more than 800 languages in the 5 boroughs. This is unprecedented compare to any other country in the world. The most important part is that with such a high concentration of immigrants, people are more accepting of new cultures. Again, no. Amsterdam has people of a 180 nationalities, for example. Also, because Europe is such a blanket of different countries (= different cultures) we've had to deal with 'new cultures' since before the USA existed. Furthermore, Europe has been (and is) socially more progressive for a very long time. We've had gay marriage much earlier. Drug use has been decriminalized for decades. Prison is rehabilitative instead of punitive. All this article is basically an immigrant who feels like an American saying 'America, fuck yeah!', whilst not doing a modicum of research (the Amsterdam fact is easily Googleable).
- leovonl 10y ago
  He's comparing Reading/UK and Bochum/DE with those areas in the USA. "Oh wow USA is so cosmopolitan" /facepalm Also, he's essentially mistaking immigration and work visas. Just the fact that he got surprised by the UK tier visa system already tells a lot. 15 minutes of reading the gov.uk website and anyone can find out if qualifications are met and what needs to be done.
leovonl 10y ago
Sorry if I offend anyone, but this text is utter crap. There's a bunch of anecdotal evidence (experience which varies a lot depending on your particular conditions), over-generalization (please, England? it's the worst visa system, of course you had trouble with them) and the text leaves me with the feeling that he didn't planned any of this. "Now that I'm on the UK let's see how the visa goes..". In fact, if you look at this guy's Linkedin profile, that impression really seems to match reality. Last, but not least, USA may not that restrictive to enter in a non-immigrant high skilled visa - the same way as Canada and a lot of European countries. Immigration, OTOH, is a whole different thing.

6 points by rm2904 10y ago

This is dated January 18th. Considering everything that has happened, I wholeheartedly disagree. Even though some immigrants will fare better (especially white immigrants from Canada or Eastern Europe), I'd not recommend it because entire populations - anyone that could pass as latino or arab - could easily have a difficult time.

InclinedPlane 10y ago
Just as the stock price of a publicly traded company doesn't represent the past entirely but rather the expected future value of the company, the same applies to immigration destination countries. Right now the risk of disastrous changes to how immigrants are treated or even the stability of the country itself are so high in America that it does raise the question of whether it's a good idea to come here if other options are available.
- Broken_Hippo 10y ago
  I'm American and I won't go back to visit unless things get stable, honestly. I'm in Norway, and rather like the peace and quiet. My spouse, who is Norwegian, refuses to go back.
PopsiclePete 10y ago
Eastern European immigrant here. Lots of people are telling me "not to worry" since I'm not brown and/or Muslim, but it's hard not to worry about the future direction of this country. I'm seeing some really familiar, troubling signs - a way of thinking in people - that I was hoping I'd never see here. The amount of irreparable damage to America's soft power - it's reputation and image - that Trump has done is hard to quantify, but it's pretty "yuge". At this point, I can't honestly recommend this country to any other potential immigrants/friends - I'd say Canada, Australia, or even Germany if you can swing it, are better bets at this point - more urban overall, more cosmopolitan, and more likely to have seen others like you and not be scared of you. I can't believe how quickly the fly-over (hate that term) states became frightened and closed-off - it's really a different country compared to what it was in the late 90's when I first came here.
- Broken_Hippo 10y ago
  You are absolutely correct, and it is my fault. I seriously got my directions mixed up: I truly meant western Europe. Serious fault of mine - I mix up right and left as well - it doesn't help that I'm an immigrant myself, American living in Norway, and I automatically assume all of Europe is East. I'd edit the post, but it is far past the time. You are absolutely correct on your assessment. The further towards Russia or the middle east you go, the harder it is to make it. Heck, I don't want to go back at this point, especially if I happen to have a tan... because I defnitely look arab then, and I'm a citizen.
Broken_Hippo 10y ago
Edit that is long past overdue: I meant folks will fare better from Western Europe. I get directions mixed up, unfortunatly.

tornadoboy55 10y ago

> They use and adopt new products much faster than people in other countries, new trends start here, they are not shy of moving on to something better. Nope. Just nope. Doubtfully on a personal level (Music streaming spread in Europe first with Spotify, for example), but infrastructure-wise the USA is so far behind it isn't even funny. The internet lines suck. The traffic light systems suck. The sewage and water system suck. In-house tech is decades behind Europe (most house furnaces are still the unmodulated on-off type ffs!). > U.S. has people from almost every country in the world. Most big cities are filled with immigrants. New York City is a prime example of that. It has people from 180 countries and people speak more than 800 languages in the 5 boroughs. This is unprecedented compare to any other country in the world. The most important part is that with such a high concentration of immigrants, people are more accepting of new cultures. Again, no. Amsterdam has people of a 180 nationalities, for example. Also, because Europe is such a blanket of different countries (= different cultures) we've had to deal with 'new cultures' since before the USA existed. Furthermore, Europe has been (and is) socially more progressive for a very long time. We've had gay marriage much earlier. Drug use has been decriminalized for decades. Prison is rehabilitative instead of punitive. All this article is basically an immigrant who feels like an American saying 'America, fuck yeah!', whilst not doing a modicum of research (the Amsterdam fact is easily Googleable).

leovonl 10y ago
He's comparing Reading/UK and Bochum/DE with those areas in the USA. "Oh wow USA is so cosmopolitan" /facepalm Also, he's essentially mistaking immigration and work visas. Just the fact that he got surprised by the UK tier visa system already tells a lot. 15 minutes of reading the gov.uk website and anyone can find out if qualifications are met and what needs to be done.

leovonl 10y ago

Sorry if I offend anyone, but this text is utter crap. There's a bunch of anecdotal evidence (experience which varies a lot depending on your particular conditions), over-generalization (please, England? it's the worst visa system, of course you had trouble with them) and the text leaves me with the feeling that he didn't planned any of this. "Now that I'm on the UK let's see how the visa goes..". In fact, if you look at this guy's Linkedin profile, that impression really seems to match reality. Last, but not least, USA may not that restrictive to enter in a non-immigrant high skilled visa - the same way as Canada and a lot of European countries. Immigration, OTOH, is a whole different thing.