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Comment by fundad | Hacker News Reader

I think it’s a reference to US leaders with European heritage use Swedish immigrants as exemplary prospects versus people from non-white nations.

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The US doesn't have explicitly racist immigration laws. Being white might give you some kind of an advantage (even though it obviously shouldn't), but you'll still have to go through the same process as anyone else.

Not explicitly; I agree. I meant that while it is a myth, it is a myth perpetuated by elected officials in the US and what they say when they hold power and especially the campaign promises they make to win power.

Not directly racist, but there's a huge difference in effective waiting times for employment based green cards by country, mainly due to the per-country cap.

Roughly speaking, for similarly qualified folks applying in the EB2 category in 2021, Indian immigrants (worst case), approval can take 15+ years, while immigrants from Sweden will take 2-3 years at most (was less than a year pre-COVID).

That's true. However, even getting to the point where you can apply for a green card is not a straightforward process. And if you are on an H1B it is still the case that your spouse cannot work in the US until you are (at least) in the process of getting your green card. So I would say that few people in Sweden would have a "fairly easy" time of immigrating to the US (though it is certainly possible).

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