4 ms·

US halts all immigrant visa applications amid tightening restrictions

16 points by andsoitis 2mo ago

andsoitis 2mo ago
Immigrants have made America stronger than any other country. It has made a culture that is uniquely adaptable and universal. Let's not fuck it up.
- ColdStream 2mo ago
  I fear that the US is burning through the most valuable resource of them all, Trust.
  - jfengel 2mo ago
    We have long since burned through Trust. We are now burning the second-most valuable resource, Inertia. It takes a long time to unwind a relationship, even when Trust is gone. In fact, the lack of Trust makes it take even longer. And a lot of people still have that third-most valuable asset (Hope) that Trust can be re-built before Inertia runs out. Which also adds to the Inertia. Still, Inertia is finite. It will take a decade or more to really use it all up, but it's going fast. And probably accelerating: once you've discovered that Inertia isn't all it's cracked up to be, you can set about finding new people to Trust, in earnest.
- toomuchtodo 2mo ago
  I don’t think it’s arguably good for the United States to be strong, based on all available evidence. America attracted immigrants who want a better life, and exploits most of its immigrant labor. Is it better if immigrants remain out of country while America self immolates, loses its “exorbitant privilege” of dollar reserve status, and global living standards rise from clean tech exports from China? I argue yes, they are safer outside than in. America wants immigrants as fuel for capitalism, profits for shareholders (top 10% by wealth own 93% of equities), and taxpayers to help cover $1T in annual interest expense on $40T in sovereign debt (although only the top 40% have a federal income tax liability; the bottom 60% can barely survive on their income). We also spend trillions of dollars and countless lives on meaningless conflicts, although this primarily impacts those who have unfortunately decided to participate in some capacity in the US military and adjacent civilian casualties. I am not anti immigrant. I am anti exploitation. And the United States is an exploitation machine. Stand clear as the machine starts to seize up. This is what the country voted for, after all.
  - andsoitis 2mo ago
    > America attracted immigrants who want a better life, and exploits most of its immigrant labor. Can you tell us more? I ask because I’m and immigrant. I know many many immigrants. And I don’t know a single one who feels “exploited by the US”. The opposite. 20% of S&P 500 companies are run by immigrant CEOs. That number rises to 60% if you take just the top 10 companies.
    - toomuchtodo 2mo ago
      > 20% of S&P 500 companies are run by immigrant CEOs. That number rises to 60% if you take just the top 10 companies. These people are interchangeable cogs and not material to the discussion. If these 100 people were gone tomorrow, they'd be replaced by an executive search firm and every company would go on as is. As of this comment, there are approximately 200,000 to 206,000 people working as chief executive officers in formal registered corporations across the United States. Help yourself to an alternate cog, if needed, from the bin. Kaplan, Steven Neil and Sorensen, Morten, Are CEOs Different? (July 1, 2020). Columbia Business School Research Paper No. 16-27, Paris December 2016 Finance Meeting EUROFIDAI - AFFI, Journal of Finance, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2747691 https://ssrn.com/abstract=2747691 or https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2747691 https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2747691 Study: CEO effect on firm performance could be mostly due to chance - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10441713 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10441713 - October 2015 (67 comments)
      - andsoitis 2mo ago
        You claimed America exploits immigrants. I present evidence of high rate of immigrant CEOs, which contradicts your claim. I’m also telling you that I and all the other immigrants I know don’t feel exploited, but in fact the opposite. So I don’t know why you think America exploits immigrants.
        toomuchtodo 2mo ago
        Do you believe immigrant CEOs are the same as the millions of immigrants being paid poverty wages? I’m unsure how to have a rational discussion if you believe a few hundred or so (at best) lucky folks are the same as millions who are not. Immigrant CEOs are a rounding error, they do not matter one bit in this context.
onetokeoverthe 2mo ago
[dead]
sleepyguy 2mo ago
A really bad way to enter a country with the intention of staying is to come as a visitor/guest and then claim asylum. They are lying their way in and in my opinion not a good start to trying to stay and become a citizen in some day. Are we a land of laws or not?
- techblueberry 2mo ago
  Just in case you’re having trouble keeping up, since it moves fast, this is a different ban. The asylum seeker ban happened earlier this week per the article.
- Helloyello 2mo ago
  calling this country a land of laws is a joke at best. people calling themselves our leaders, supposedly servants of the people, have been committing heinous act here and elsewhere. this is not a land of laws. this is a failed experiment in exercise of government authority and the peoples time to wake tf up and claim autonomy over self at any price.
- Zigurd 2mo ago
  We haven't been, and whether you think it's the chicken or the egg, immigration lawyers specializing in H1-B and related visas have made a mockery of the law and of the stated intent of those visas. If you read the letter of the law it's perfectly reasonable. And when highly credentialed specialists who are truly unique talents get visas to work here, the results are beneficial to everyone. But as a result of intensive lawyering, thousands of mid engineers get mid jobs at mid pay and are exploited like indentured servants. If the letter of the visa laws was actually enforced, we would not have this problem. To which the lawyers will say we're just doing our jobs and doing it well.
thelastgallon 2mo ago
There is a big asylum visa problem. From: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8r56vr40jvo https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8r56vr40jvo US data collected by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows Indian asylum requests in the US have skyrocketed. The requests jumped tenfold in just two years, rising from about 5,000 in 2021 to over 51,000 in 2023.
- ajmurmann 2mo ago
  Is this why they stopped spousal visa applications for the first time in US history?

16 points by andsoitis 2mo ago

Immigrants have made America stronger than any other country. It has made a culture that is uniquely adaptable and universal. Let's not fuck it up.

ColdStream 2mo ago
I fear that the US is burning through the most valuable resource of them all, Trust.
- jfengel 2mo ago
  We have long since burned through Trust. We are now burning the second-most valuable resource, Inertia. It takes a long time to unwind a relationship, even when Trust is gone. In fact, the lack of Trust makes it take even longer. And a lot of people still have that third-most valuable asset (Hope) that Trust can be re-built before Inertia runs out. Which also adds to the Inertia. Still, Inertia is finite. It will take a decade or more to really use it all up, but it's going fast. And probably accelerating: once you've discovered that Inertia isn't all it's cracked up to be, you can set about finding new people to Trust, in earnest.
toomuchtodo 2mo ago
I don’t think it’s arguably good for the United States to be strong, based on all available evidence. America attracted immigrants who want a better life, and exploits most of its immigrant labor. Is it better if immigrants remain out of country while America self immolates, loses its “exorbitant privilege” of dollar reserve status, and global living standards rise from clean tech exports from China? I argue yes, they are safer outside than in. America wants immigrants as fuel for capitalism, profits for shareholders (top 10% by wealth own 93% of equities), and taxpayers to help cover $1T in annual interest expense on $40T in sovereign debt (although only the top 40% have a federal income tax liability; the bottom 60% can barely survive on their income). We also spend trillions of dollars and countless lives on meaningless conflicts, although this primarily impacts those who have unfortunately decided to participate in some capacity in the US military and adjacent civilian casualties. I am not anti immigrant. I am anti exploitation. And the United States is an exploitation machine. Stand clear as the machine starts to seize up. This is what the country voted for, after all.
- andsoitis 2mo ago
  > America attracted immigrants who want a better life, and exploits most of its immigrant labor. Can you tell us more? I ask because I’m and immigrant. I know many many immigrants. And I don’t know a single one who feels “exploited by the US”. The opposite. 20% of S&P 500 companies are run by immigrant CEOs. That number rises to 60% if you take just the top 10 companies.
  - toomuchtodo 2mo ago
    > 20% of S&P 500 companies are run by immigrant CEOs. That number rises to 60% if you take just the top 10 companies. These people are interchangeable cogs and not material to the discussion. If these 100 people were gone tomorrow, they'd be replaced by an executive search firm and every company would go on as is. As of this comment, there are approximately 200,000 to 206,000 people working as chief executive officers in formal registered corporations across the United States. Help yourself to an alternate cog, if needed, from the bin. Kaplan, Steven Neil and Sorensen, Morten, Are CEOs Different? (July 1, 2020). Columbia Business School Research Paper No. 16-27, Paris December 2016 Finance Meeting EUROFIDAI - AFFI, Journal of Finance, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2747691 https://ssrn.com/abstract=2747691 or https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2747691 https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2747691 Study: CEO effect on firm performance could be mostly due to chance - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10441713 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10441713 - October 2015 (67 comments)
    - andsoitis 2mo ago
      You claimed America exploits immigrants. I present evidence of high rate of immigrant CEOs, which contradicts your claim. I’m also telling you that I and all the other immigrants I know don’t feel exploited, but in fact the opposite. So I don’t know why you think America exploits immigrants.
      - toomuchtodo 2mo ago
        Do you believe immigrant CEOs are the same as the millions of immigrants being paid poverty wages? I’m unsure how to have a rational discussion if you believe a few hundred or so (at best) lucky folks are the same as millions who are not. Immigrant CEOs are a rounding error, they do not matter one bit in this context.

onetokeoverthe 2mo ago

[dead]

sleepyguy 2mo ago

A really bad way to enter a country with the intention of staying is to come as a visitor/guest and then claim asylum. They are lying their way in and in my opinion not a good start to trying to stay and become a citizen in some day. Are we a land of laws or not?

techblueberry 2mo ago
Just in case you’re having trouble keeping up, since it moves fast, this is a different ban. The asylum seeker ban happened earlier this week per the article.
Helloyello 2mo ago
calling this country a land of laws is a joke at best. people calling themselves our leaders, supposedly servants of the people, have been committing heinous act here and elsewhere. this is not a land of laws. this is a failed experiment in exercise of government authority and the peoples time to wake tf up and claim autonomy over self at any price.
Zigurd 2mo ago
We haven't been, and whether you think it's the chicken or the egg, immigration lawyers specializing in H1-B and related visas have made a mockery of the law and of the stated intent of those visas. If you read the letter of the law it's perfectly reasonable. And when highly credentialed specialists who are truly unique talents get visas to work here, the results are beneficial to everyone. But as a result of intensive lawyering, thousands of mid engineers get mid jobs at mid pay and are exploited like indentured servants. If the letter of the visa laws was actually enforced, we would not have this problem. To which the lawyers will say we're just doing our jobs and doing it well.

thelastgallon 2mo ago

There is a big asylum visa problem. From: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8r56vr40jvo https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8r56vr40jvo US data collected by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows Indian asylum requests in the US have skyrocketed. The requests jumped tenfold in just two years, rising from about 5,000 in 2021 to over 51,000 in 2023.

ajmurmann 2mo ago
Is this why they stopped spousal visa applications for the first time in US history?