Hacker News Reader

Comment by olcor | Hacker News Reader

I agree. Noped out of staying in the US last year even after finally getting an H1B in my third attempt. All the dollars in the world aren't worth it if I have to leave at any random point just because a politician wanted to pander to his base, or I get laid off for any reason, or <insert any random twist of fate here>.

The only way this nonsense will change is when more people who do have other options take them. This is mainly an image issue; in the Obama years, even though it was probably as bad as this today (just not overt), the risk-reward ratio of surviving all this was viewed as better than going somewhere else. All this changed with Trump being this transparent. There is going to be a lot of hesitation now for anyone who wants to immigrate. Anywhere except the US, and only if necessary.

View on HN

> The only way this nonsense will change is when more people who do have other options take them.

Since getting them to do that is literally the purpose of the nonsense currently being executed, and which has been executed against immigrant and nobimmigrant aliens for the last several years, I think you are mistaken. It's not like that's been at all a secret.

You're exactly right, this is what I mean when I talk about the current government being this transparent. Immigrants tend to think of the risk-reward scenario, and a lot depends on image and perspective in their heads.

This image now is a lot nearer to reality than it previously was. When this leads to people not having US-citizen children, or not buying houses, or just not jumping on the boat to reach the US come what may, or just not being too optimistic in general (essentially not tying yourself to a country when the country hasn't done the same with you in terms of citizenship), things will maybe get a bit more sane.

Sorry I disagree. The decision to make it a temporary visa has to be based on the employer's decision to continue their employment and not some politician's whim. Going by your logic, no one should be optimistic in life because the government could do some random thing and ruin your life. Tomorrow, if Trump decides that the dollar is worthless, you'll not be saying that 'Ah well, I shouldn't have been too optimistic in life'.

I never said to not be optimistic; I said to not be too optimistic. On personal level, immigration decisions and everything that comes after needs to be tied to reality and consider what could happen in the future, including all the nasty stuff. You need to consider all realistic scenarios, including all the political, financial and personal issues and shenanigans which can crop up. As the above poster said, none of this is new.

> has to be based on the employer's decision to continue their employment and not some politician's whim

While everyone here would love for this to happen, clearly nothing's working as it should be, or how we want it to be. It hasn't been, for quite a while. This is realpolitik.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com