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Comment by raz32dust | Hacker News Reader

It would have been a positive change if they did not have the restriction that the Masters must be from a US university. What's wrong with non-US universities? I don't see why degree even matters. Like someone suggested in a previous similar thread, just sorting by pay and giving higher wages more priority (perhaps with some sort of normalization to compensate for cost of living and the field of work) is much better.

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It's a step toward the "staple a green card" immigration policy supported by both republicans and democrats. It's essentially a reversal from the historical "tired, poor, huddled masses" policy of immigration in America to something that is more in line with the rest of the neoliberal world.

It's a gamble to come to America to get educated (cost, cultural adjustment, visa issues), and I think that we should show preference to those students who have made that extra effort to live and study in America over other people.

Like over other people fleeing dangerous situations (that the US may or may not be exacerbating?), war? genocide? famine?

Seems like the US had the moral high ground prioritizing the down and out, now just another country only accessible if you have $$.

I just answered this elsewhere as well. This reasoning would make sense if that's what they said. But the explicit reason for the changes is to get more "skilled" workers in. Then, it should not matter if the degree was from US or Europe or China. I would have accepted this reason if they had separate weightage for "How long the person spent time in the US". This particular formulation puts a graduate from Europe at a disadvantage, for example.

A handout to university tuitions and desperate researchers.

The cynic in me believes this is the real reason. Use foreign students to fund US universities in the name of immigration.

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