4 ms·

Living with your SO under a tourism visa isn't a crime as long as you leave before your visa expires... And is it the role of CPB to prevent under the table em

by knz 10y ago

Living with your SO under a tourism visa isn't a crime as long as you leave before your visa expires... And is it the role of CPB to prevent under the table employment? Surely there are better ways to address that issue if it's a concern. Building walls and inspecting social media seems like a political smoke screen for avoiding more effective enforcement measures - requiring farmers/factories/roofing companies to prove their labour is legally allowed to work in the US etc. Or we could acknowledge the reality of immigration (we need workers if we can't afford to pay Americans an adequate wage to pick fields etc).

jacquesm 10y ago
As if it is only illegals that are being paid under the table.
- MichaelGG 10y ago
  It's not about being _paid_ under the table, it's about entering the country with intent to violate your entry conditions (working without a visa). CBP doesn't have much to say about legal workers not, say, filing taxes.
iak8god 10y ago
> Living with your SO under a tourism visa isn't a crime as long as you leave before your visa expires... No, but it is left entirely up to the agent interviewing you for entry to decide whether he thinks you're likely to leave later when your visa is expiring.
MichaelGG 10y ago
Right, but many times, especially if you're coming from a "worse" country, the agent is not going to believe you're going to return. So people lie about it, and thus get caught out. Yes, it is the role of CBP to make sure you're coming under the right visa. It's no different than making sure you're not coming to stay while on a temporary visa. No whether or not this is important or just silly politics is a different question. Same to the question of is this ethical/right/whatever. But there's zero doubt that this will enable CBP to be more effective. So arguments against it should focus on "yeah, this makes their job easier, but at what cost?" instead of pretending there's zero upside.
- jensvdh 10y ago
  So you're saying as someone from a "good" European country (Nordic) I basically have to not worry about any of this?
  - MichaelGG 10y ago
    You have a lot less to prove to CBP than someone coming from a broken country. Your incentives to stay in the US are drastically less than someone from, say Mexico. Other countries do the same thing. A US citizen gets a warm welcome into Mexico. A Guatemalan gets hassled. There's still random bad luck - as a Canadian I've been theatened deportation for not cancelling my green card despite not using it or living in the US. I've been detained because a CBP agent decided a trade show was work and I wasn't eligible for a B1. (His first words were "you're going miss your flight, I'll make sure of it".) But most of the time they wave me right by.

by knz 10y ago

jacquesm 10y ago

As if it is only illegals that are being paid under the table.

MichaelGG 10y ago
It's not about being _paid_ under the table, it's about entering the country with intent to violate your entry conditions (working without a visa). CBP doesn't have much to say about legal workers not, say, filing taxes.

iak8god 10y ago

> Living with your SO under a tourism visa isn't a crime as long as you leave before your visa expires... No, but it is left entirely up to the agent interviewing you for entry to decide whether he thinks you're likely to leave later when your visa is expiring.

MichaelGG 10y ago

Right, but many times, especially if you're coming from a "worse" country, the agent is not going to believe you're going to return. So people lie about it, and thus get caught out. Yes, it is the role of CBP to make sure you're coming under the right visa. It's no different than making sure you're not coming to stay while on a temporary visa. No whether or not this is important or just silly politics is a different question. Same to the question of is this ethical/right/whatever. But there's zero doubt that this will enable CBP to be more effective. So arguments against it should focus on "yeah, this makes their job easier, but at what cost?" instead of pretending there's zero upside.

jensvdh 10y ago
So you're saying as someone from a "good" European country (Nordic) I basically have to not worry about any of this?
- MichaelGG 10y ago
  You have a lot less to prove to CBP than someone coming from a broken country. Your incentives to stay in the US are drastically less than someone from, say Mexico. Other countries do the same thing. A US citizen gets a warm welcome into Mexico. A Guatemalan gets hassled. There's still random bad luck - as a Canadian I've been theatened deportation for not cancelling my green card despite not using it or living in the US. I've been detained because a CBP agent decided a trade show was work and I wasn't eligible for a B1. (His first words were "you're going miss your flight, I'll make sure of it".) But most of the time they wave me right by.