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I just don't like to see people made into indentured servants. Here's my radical proposal: let H1B's change jobs once a year, as long as they're employed somew

I just don't like to see people made into indentured servants. Here's my radical proposal: let H1B's change jobs once a year, as long as they're employed somewhere in the industry they're here for and their visa hasn't expired, they can stay. "Sponsoring" companies should not be allowed to keep slaves. I don't think your radical proposal makes much sense. What's the benefit to a country to basically throw its borders wide open?

damnyou 9y ago
> What's the benefit to a country to basically throw its borders wide open? More people means a bigger economy. Immigrants -- at least the ones that choose to immigrate -- are by definition risk-takers. Risk-taking is core to entrepreneurship. I hope I don't have to defend the value of entrepreneurship on this site. We've known for thousands of years that free trade is a net positive for everyone involved. Why would free immigration be any different? The US had open borders for centuries. It became the most powerful country in the world because of open borders. Here's an economist far more literate than me making the case: http://johnhcochrane.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-optimal-number-of-immigrants.html http://johnhcochrane.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-optimal-number... (We should also welcome all the refugees we can get, of course.)
- EdSharkey 9y ago
  Nah. You're just making emotional arguments because not all risk-taking immigrants are entrepreneurs. We're not running a charity, why would you talk as if we are? > (We should also welcome all the refugees we can get, of course.) What trolling nonsense. We must control who comes and who gets turned away, it's the only fair and equitable option for the citizens and resident aliens who already live here. Because priorities.
dilyevsky 9y ago
Applying for existing h1b transfer is already fairly trivial (or at least it was before Trump) if your company has a lawyer firm on retainer. Most h1bs I know switched jobs at least once.
- EdSharkey 9y ago
  All of the h1b's I've known that transferred just switched from one slaver to the next. I'm talking about being part of the job market and being able to switch, perhaps within fixed time windows, but for the most part, at one's own will. You know, having freedom? Of course, that will never happen, because the point of the system is to get people here, have a sword of deportation hanging over their heads, and thus keep 'em quiet and get 'em cheap.

damnyou 9y ago

> What's the benefit to a country to basically throw its borders wide open? More people means a bigger economy. Immigrants -- at least the ones that choose to immigrate -- are by definition risk-takers. Risk-taking is core to entrepreneurship. I hope I don't have to defend the value of entrepreneurship on this site. We've known for thousands of years that free trade is a net positive for everyone involved. Why would free immigration be any different? The US had open borders for centuries. It became the most powerful country in the world because of open borders. Here's an economist far more literate than me making the case: http://johnhcochrane.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-optimal-number-of-immigrants.html http://johnhcochrane.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-optimal-number... (We should also welcome all the refugees we can get, of course.)

EdSharkey 9y ago
Nah. You're just making emotional arguments because not all risk-taking immigrants are entrepreneurs. We're not running a charity, why would you talk as if we are? > (We should also welcome all the refugees we can get, of course.) What trolling nonsense. We must control who comes and who gets turned away, it's the only fair and equitable option for the citizens and resident aliens who already live here. Because priorities.

dilyevsky 9y ago

Applying for existing h1b transfer is already fairly trivial (or at least it was before Trump) if your company has a lawyer firm on retainer. Most h1bs I know switched jobs at least once.

EdSharkey 9y ago
All of the h1b's I've known that transferred just switched from one slaver to the next. I'm talking about being part of the job market and being able to switch, perhaps within fixed time windows, but for the most part, at one's own will. You know, having freedom? Of course, that will never happen, because the point of the system is to get people here, have a sword of deportation hanging over their heads, and thus keep 'em quiet and get 'em cheap.