4 ms·

I wonder how much of this is just the political winds. Under the George Bush days there were similar sentiments and attitudes, but it never went anywhere and SV

I wonder how much of this is just the political winds. Under the George Bush days there were similar sentiments and attitudes, but it never went anywhere and SV still remained dominant. Canada has long tried to capitalize on the US political situation with mixed results. Salaries are low, most of Canada has poor weather and unaffordable housing prices in the major cities. I guess if you're willing to stick it out you get citizenship, but a far less valuable citizenship compared to other western countries. I'm also curious as to if and when the immigration situation is going to hit Canadian politics as it did in the US. The facade of being pro immigration is exactly that, there are just as many racists in Canada as there are in the US.

adventured 8y ago
The US hands out one million green cards per year. There has not been a meaningful reduction in how much immigration is allowed into the US nor in how many green cards are issued. You'll notice something entirely missing from the article: there are no actual figures supporting its claims anywhere to be found, only a few individual anecdotes. What's happening is Canada is trying to become more aggressive in the pursuit of tech immigrants that are tired of waiting for US citizenship. It's a sensible plan on their part, and the US can afford the loss. The US isn't suffering from a tech employee deficit, despite the propaganda out of the big tech companies that want cheaper labor. The tech giants are all generating obscene profits, and they can all afford to pay very high salaries. Microsoft + Google + Facebook + Amazon + Intel + Apple = ~$165 billion in likely 2019 profit. Excuse me while I cry over their labor costs. The Trump Admin + Republican Congress have barely changed anything in relation to immigration. The major immigration legislation speaks for itself: there hasn't been any. And the Democrats are about to take back to the House. The biggest complaint you'll see, is that there's a long wait time, which illustrates the extreme demand for US citizenship, as the rate of green card issuance hasn't declined.
- jorblumesea 8y ago
  Right, it's an optics problem. Trump gets in office and suddenly everyone starts seeing old issues in a new light. But as you pointed out, almost nothing has changed. Ends up US citizenship is in real demand. It's also not a surprise that two of the most back logged nationalities, China and India, have the most populous countries.
- lawtguy 8y ago
  There's been no legislative change, but the the Trump administration appears to be enforcing the rules as strictly as possible. Per this article from Marketplace (https://www.marketplace.org/2018/10/05/business/recent-immigration-policy-moves-vex-us-workers-abroad https://www.marketplace.org/2018/10/05/business/recent-immig...), they've ended expedited processing of H-1Bs, they're questioning more H-1B applications and they're denying more H-1B applications. They are definitely making it as hard as possible for H-1Bs within the current rules.
- pteredactyl 8y ago
  This is a reasonable comment. I don't understand why it is greyed out.
- dmode 8y ago
  That's not quite true. US legislating branch gives the Executive branch significant power to "interpret" legislation and Trump admin has taken full advantage of that in order to screw legal immigrants. For reference look at the "Hire Ameican" executive order. Many of the requirements for legal immigration are intentionally vague and is left at the mercy of a exec branch leader to interpret, and that happens to be a MAGA guy. Even worse, most legal statutes are actually at the mercy of individual USCIS officers to interpret with wide latitudes. For example, a single USCIS officer determines if you have the qualification to do a job that you have been hired for. It's very arbitrary
overlords 8y ago
Canada does not have "a far less valuable citizenship compared to other western countries". It's standard of living is (size of house, consumer spending power) is better than any large country except the USA. And the weather is not that different to Boston, Chicago, New York (for Toronto) and Seattle (for Vancouver). Canada won't develop a racism problem because 20% of the country are already immigrants and Canada doesn't have a bible belt south (canada politics are like that of american coasts and the europeans).
- jorblumesea 8y ago
  > Canada does not have "a far less valuable citizenship compared to other western countries". I disagree, it really does. Obviously for someone from India they don't care that much, their standards are much lower for what a "good country" means. Don't get me wrong, Canada is a nice place to live. But it's not Europe or the US. > And the weather is not that different to Boston, Chicago, New York (for Toronto) and Seattle (for Vancouver). Those are the worst weather cities in the US. Your best weather (Vancouver) is some of our worst (Seattle) > Canada won't develop a racism problem because 20% of the country are already immigrants and Canada doesn't have a bible belt south I've heard Canadians express pro trump sympathies, so it's pretty arrogant to think that you won't experience any blowback from immigration policies.
  - overlords 8y ago
    I'm sorry, but that doesn't compute for me. Canada is USA lite, can hardly notice a difference. I've lived in both europe (UK) and canada, and hands down Canada beats any european country in standard of living. It has less social welfare benefits than europe, but higher standard of living. Canadians prefer Toronto weather to Vancouver, and as I said, Toronto is no different to Chicago or Boston in weather at all. There are pockets of racists everywhere, but Canada is literally the least racist country on earth. It's like saying California or New York will turn racist and become pro-trump.
- clubm8 8y ago
  >Canada won't develop a racism problem because 20% of the country are already immigrants and Canada doesn't have a bible belt south You do have the prairies though and they can be as conservative as the Dakotas. (With a similar accent to boot) For example, Calgary police officers won't be able to do marijuana off duty, despite it being explicitly legal at the federal level for all of Canada. If you browse /r/publicfreakout you will see plenty of racist prairie meltdowns.

adventured 8y ago

The US hands out one million green cards per year. There has not been a meaningful reduction in how much immigration is allowed into the US nor in how many green cards are issued. You'll notice something entirely missing from the article: there are no actual figures supporting its claims anywhere to be found, only a few individual anecdotes. What's happening is Canada is trying to become more aggressive in the pursuit of tech immigrants that are tired of waiting for US citizenship. It's a sensible plan on their part, and the US can afford the loss. The US isn't suffering from a tech employee deficit, despite the propaganda out of the big tech companies that want cheaper labor. The tech giants are all generating obscene profits, and they can all afford to pay very high salaries. Microsoft + Google + Facebook + Amazon + Intel + Apple = ~$165 billion in likely 2019 profit. Excuse me while I cry over their labor costs. The Trump Admin + Republican Congress have barely changed anything in relation to immigration. The major immigration legislation speaks for itself: there hasn't been any. And the Democrats are about to take back to the House. The biggest complaint you'll see, is that there's a long wait time, which illustrates the extreme demand for US citizenship, as the rate of green card issuance hasn't declined.

jorblumesea 8y ago
Right, it's an optics problem. Trump gets in office and suddenly everyone starts seeing old issues in a new light. But as you pointed out, almost nothing has changed. Ends up US citizenship is in real demand. It's also not a surprise that two of the most back logged nationalities, China and India, have the most populous countries.
lawtguy 8y ago
There's been no legislative change, but the the Trump administration appears to be enforcing the rules as strictly as possible. Per this article from Marketplace (https://www.marketplace.org/2018/10/05/business/recent-immigration-policy-moves-vex-us-workers-abroad https://www.marketplace.org/2018/10/05/business/recent-immig...), they've ended expedited processing of H-1Bs, they're questioning more H-1B applications and they're denying more H-1B applications. They are definitely making it as hard as possible for H-1Bs within the current rules.
pteredactyl 8y ago
This is a reasonable comment. I don't understand why it is greyed out.
dmode 8y ago
That's not quite true. US legislating branch gives the Executive branch significant power to "interpret" legislation and Trump admin has taken full advantage of that in order to screw legal immigrants. For reference look at the "Hire Ameican" executive order. Many of the requirements for legal immigration are intentionally vague and is left at the mercy of a exec branch leader to interpret, and that happens to be a MAGA guy. Even worse, most legal statutes are actually at the mercy of individual USCIS officers to interpret with wide latitudes. For example, a single USCIS officer determines if you have the qualification to do a job that you have been hired for. It's very arbitrary

overlords 8y ago

Canada does not have "a far less valuable citizenship compared to other western countries". It's standard of living is (size of house, consumer spending power) is better than any large country except the USA. And the weather is not that different to Boston, Chicago, New York (for Toronto) and Seattle (for Vancouver). Canada won't develop a racism problem because 20% of the country are already immigrants and Canada doesn't have a bible belt south (canada politics are like that of american coasts and the europeans).

jorblumesea 8y ago
> Canada does not have "a far less valuable citizenship compared to other western countries". I disagree, it really does. Obviously for someone from India they don't care that much, their standards are much lower for what a "good country" means. Don't get me wrong, Canada is a nice place to live. But it's not Europe or the US. > And the weather is not that different to Boston, Chicago, New York (for Toronto) and Seattle (for Vancouver). Those are the worst weather cities in the US. Your best weather (Vancouver) is some of our worst (Seattle) > Canada won't develop a racism problem because 20% of the country are already immigrants and Canada doesn't have a bible belt south I've heard Canadians express pro trump sympathies, so it's pretty arrogant to think that you won't experience any blowback from immigration policies.
- overlords 8y ago
  I'm sorry, but that doesn't compute for me. Canada is USA lite, can hardly notice a difference. I've lived in both europe (UK) and canada, and hands down Canada beats any european country in standard of living. It has less social welfare benefits than europe, but higher standard of living. Canadians prefer Toronto weather to Vancouver, and as I said, Toronto is no different to Chicago or Boston in weather at all. There are pockets of racists everywhere, but Canada is literally the least racist country on earth. It's like saying California or New York will turn racist and become pro-trump.
clubm8 8y ago
>Canada won't develop a racism problem because 20% of the country are already immigrants and Canada doesn't have a bible belt south You do have the prairies though and they can be as conservative as the Dakotas. (With a similar accent to boot) For example, Calgary police officers won't be able to do marijuana off duty, despite it being explicitly legal at the federal level for all of Canada. If you browse /r/publicfreakout you will see plenty of racist prairie meltdowns.