Hacker News Reader

Comment by ericwood | Hacker News Reader

This has been extremely disappointing news for our family. My sister's boyfriend is an Irish citizen and recently got a job at a large national lab in the same city as us, visa sponsorship and everything. They were supposed to be here in April, but covid delayed things. Now the won't be coming at all. I'm not sure what we're going to do. This was a huge opportunity for him, and it was going to reunite our family. I'm unbelievably sad right now.

It's especially bullshit, given part of the H1B criteria is proving there's no US citizens that can do the job. I have a hard time seeing any good coming from this, and it feels like Trump is just pushing his xenophobic agenda further.

View on HN

That’s absolutely brutal, really sorry to hear that.

He should apply for B2 then change status to H1B once in the US using the H1B petition. They may deny it but... Worth it.

Btw not correct that you need to show no American workers available for an H1B.

This looks like the work of white nationalist Stephen Miller.

Very sorry to hear about your family situation.

It's not at all bullshit. The H1B criteria mean nothing and are trivial to game. They've been abused continuously to bring in entry-level talent, avoid hiring Americans and lower wages across the board.

This is a great decision and one of the few good things about this presidency. H1Bs as they now exist should be banned outright and only specific VISAs handed out based purely on merit.

Whatever. The dude’s a PHD in mechanical engineering with a very specific focus needed by this lab. It screws us over and it also screws over the lab. We should be so lucky to welcome an engineer like him into our country.

The H-1B program is essentially the only way for most skilled immigrants to enter the US. Suspending the H-1B program is effectively a near-blanket ban on skilled immigration. Even if you think some companies abuse the program, the answer is not to go full North Korea and shut down the country to immigration. It's like banning food because some people eat unhealthily.

> The H-1B program is essentially the only way for most skilled immigrants to enter the US. Suspending the H-1B program is effectively a near-blanket ban on skilled immigration.

The H-1B is a nonimmigrant visa, and there has been a blanket ban on ALL (not just skilled) immigration since April 22, which the same order that added a handful of work-related nonimmigrant visas to the ban that we are discussing also extended at least to the end of the year.

So, no, it's not a “virtual” ban on “skilled” immigration, it's part of an actual ban on all immigration plus certain non-immigrant entry.

> The H-1B is a nonimmigrant visa,

Again, it’s dual intent and is functionally the only way for skilled immigrants to get green cards to become citizens outside of family unification (which the admin also wants to abolish).

> Again, it’s dual intent

“Dual intent” refers to a nonimmigrant visa which does not prohibit applicants from intending to apply for an immigrant visa without leaving the country when they apply for the nobimmigrant visa (suspicion of this “immigration intent” is grounds for denying other nonimmigrant visas.)

> and is functionally the only way for skilled immigrants to get green cards

It's not a way for anyone to get a green card, which you can only do with an immigrant visa. It is, however, a way to get into the US while trying to qualify for an immigrant visa. (Or while already qualified for one for which there is a long delay.)

You’re not contradicting me. It’s one of the few legal pathways to citizenship (and the most accessible) for an entire class of people.

> You’re not contradicting me

I wasn't aware we were playing a game of contradiction, but you were not contradicting me before I started not contradicting you, so I'm not sure why you are pointing that out.

For those who are baffled by this (I think this is right...)

An immigrant visa is one that permits (in principle, perhaps subject to removal of conditions) lawful permanent residency in the U.S.

A green card is a document that proves immigration status as a lawful permanent resident.

You don’t need actually to have received an immigrant visa to be a lawful permanent resident because you can also achieve that through adjustment of status.

A non-immigrant visa is one that does not permit permanent residency.

A non-immigrant visa that permits dual-intent is one that can be held concurrently with an application for an immigrant visa or for adjustment of status to a category of permanent resident.

You brought up the fact that the H-1B is a nonimmigrant visa when I mentioned that it was how many skilled immigrants entered the country (while waiting to become eligible for a green card). If you were not trying to contradict me, then you were raising an entirely irrelevant point and not contributing to the conversation.

I don't think you understand. Without H1B and J there is no way for US to hire any talent into US. No world-class engineer can work in any US company, no world-class researcher can be hired to any US university. This is will long lasting effects on US economy for years to come.

What about the American world-class engineers, though?

There are great universities in the US. Use them to train young American people. This could even benefit African Americans and other minorities.

What about them? Are world class American engineers harmed by proximity to their foreign colleagues? Are world class American engineers so numerous that we can't find anything else for additional world class engineers to work on?

I don't know if I'm a world-class engineer, but I'm definitely a foreign engineer. Why should we all end up in Silicon Valley?

I'd rather have good engineers around the world than all competing in California just because it's a good way for the FANG companies to keep wages lower than they should be. The same companies that tell us that we're living in an interconnected world and so on. Fine, just open offices everywhere in the world, or promote remote work, instead of trying to get everyone in the same physical talent pool.

Ultimately it only benefits the shareholders of those companies, not engineers (American or foreign), nor the population of the areas where tech cash is driving all prices up.

They are opening up offices around the world and starting to promote remote work. You can do this and not fuck people over with the H1B ban.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com