The U.S. is losing millions of visitors due to absurd wait times for visas. Last year we saw them get 14 times longer than they were before the pandemic, in some cases nearly three years. Make make it difficult for talented people to come here for work, too, and after a short time we… kick them out.
And we don’t do a great job even figuring out who ‘we’ ‘want’ here in the first place. Here’s a thread on how the system for issuing US visas is becoming more arbitrary, and in general worse.
the US visa officer is, by virtue of the doctrine of consular nonreviewability, literally an unquestionable black box capable of irreversible decisions they don't need to explain. there are maybe six weeks of formal training and then its just up to vibes after that.
— A-100 gecs (@PinstripeBungle) June 16, 2023
The U.S. maintains a list of occupations that are in short supply, meant to expedite immigration for people who can fill these roles. That list has not been updated in 32 years. Many of the most important jobs today did not exist in 1991.
Canada is doing something smart. If you’re on an H1B visa in the U.S. you have important job skills, but the period of time you can be in the U.S. is temporary, and tech companies are laying people off putting legal presence at risk. It’s dual-intent, so you can apply with a green card but that’s challenging too. These are people already well-screened, and Canada is welcoming them in.
Canada just announced they're trying to poach 10,000 high-skilled immigrants from the United States as part of an "aggressive" new recruitment strategy
the longer we let the backlogs grow, the more attractive Canada will look to foreign talent who'd otherwise prefer to be here https://t.co/PNN4mXMiuk pic.twitter.com/ZBYhiS8iIe
— Jeremy Neufeld (@JeremyLNeufeld) June 27, 2023
Educated Chinese would come here in a heartbeat if they could, and if China allowed the exit this would cripple them. If you care about U.S. national security, and are worried about competition with China, you should want a lot more outmigration of their best and brightest.
So how long is it taking to get an employment-based visa to come to the United States?
This is the USCIS backlog — do these numbers mean 10+ years for China-born folks and 30+ for India (after you win the lottery and get the sponsorship)?
Canada is so right to take these people, although the UK with more tech and finance jobs should also be eating America’s lunch? pic.twitter.com/BJRA7EbnaX
— Yiqin Fu (@yiqinfu) June 29, 2023
varies by visa category
my best estimates are:
EB1 visas
Indians: >10 yrs
Chinese: 5-10 yrsEB2s:
Indians: >200 years
Chinese: >20 yearsEB3s:
Indians: >30 years
Chinese: ~10 years(this is all different than the lottery, which doesn't have a backlog but doesn't get you…
— Jeremy Neufeld (@JeremyLNeufeld) June 29, 2023
As a result the most talented people are simply going elsewhere.
one of the easiest policy wins i can imagine for the US is to reform high-skill immigration.
the fact that many of the most talented people in the world want to be here is a hard-won gift; embracing them is the key to keeping it that way.
hard to get this back if we lose it.
— Sam Altman (@sama) July 2, 2023
Airlines were briefly vocal last fall about the need for reforming the highly bureaucratic and punitive rules around how people enter the United States. They’ve gone silent. On the one hand it’s absurd to make people wait in-country for years for consideration as to whether or not they can come while plenty of people just show up and enter the country without permission. On the other hand it’s absurd for opponents of immigration to say people should ‘follow the rules’ when the rules themselves are absurd and against this country’s interests.
It also seems like if there’s anything we should do competently, it ought to be this first impression?
Customs agents @cbp @Dulles_Airport are saying there is *1* agent working arrivals now. This is crazy. We are an hour in and not moving. How is this possible?! @garyleff @OneMileataTime pic.twitter.com/Pegl1lXmEI
— Alex Stevens (@AlxStevens) January 3, 2023
The 4th of July celebrates the U.S. Declaration Of Independence, declaring self-government for a people who had chosen the United States over Great Britain. I leave this comment with language from that Declaration, drafted by Thomas Jeffersion in June 1776 at at 700 Market Street in Philadelphia:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness
And I’d note that “all men” [people] include those currently in the United States temporarily, and those who would like to come here.
To be clear, I’m not saying push the button on unlimited immigration here but I would put my John Hancock on allowing far more people than we do today. It’s important for our economy, with its historically low unemployment. It’s important for our future growth to bring innovators. And it’s the right thing to do morally, because coming here and working is the single best anti-poverty program in the world, both for the individuals who come here and because their remittances are far better than foreign aid.
@ Gary — Yeah, just what we need, more airline passengers in the US.
We have a wide open Southern border. Just proceed to Tijuana, cross over and you can stay forever. The Biden administration will even provide a check, a cell phone and onward transportation (free) wherever you want to go. What dummy applies for a visa?
What a country!!
I don’t get it. We have a labor shortage in the US, yet we’re doing nothing to upgrade the labor pool with skilled, LEGAL immigrants in a timely manner. I know British citizens, living in the UK, who are medical professionals (ie, doctors, nurses, pharmacists) who would love to come to US to practice, yet the incredible amount of red tape involved in any kind of timely immigration is too strong a deterrent to make the process worthwhile. Meanwhile, the US healthcare system continues to decline, and decline, and decline.
Go to hell Leff. We’re full. Get rid of all the illegals and fake refugees and maybe we can talk.
@Fred – we’ll never get rid of illegals. Precisely because of the problems described above. You can behave like an ostrich and stick your head in the sand; but as long as our LEGAL immigration is broken, illegal one will continue.
To add to Gennady’s comment you’ll also never get rid of Illegal immigration as it powers our economyconstruction, restaurant and farm economies rely on underpaying illegal immigrants to stay in business and make profits
Th. Stop whining. We’re flooded with criminals. So you dk T get to expand the other options.
We’re full.
Since this is not an important issue for the current corrupt and incompetent administration there’s only one way it can be fixed: If all those countries that currently allow visa waiver entry for US citizens revoked that policy and implemented the same absurd visa requirements tit for tat, the US Airline lobby would have this visa logjam unjammed in no time.
As an American who has immigrated to Canada through the skilled-worker immigration stream, I can tell you that Canada has a lot of its own disfunction with immigration. Canada’s weak economic case for extremely high immigration numbers focus on total GDP increase, while I believe the focus should be on GDP per-capita. Recently, it has seemed that the focus of the federal immigration department IRCC has been to increase the size of the Canadian population at any cost. In addition to attracting high-skilled workers, when low-paid industry employers had trouble filling positions, Ottawa created low-skilled immigration streams, rather than incentivize employers to innovate or raise wages that would be attractive to the Canadian labor force.
Also, IRCC does not coordinate with the provinces, who have jurisdiction over job accreditation, housing, and health care, and other tasks. So while the feds may have an immigration stream for, say health care workers, those arrivals won’t have their foreign credentials recognized. The USA does a better job at recognizing foreign education credentials than Canada. And while accepting lots of immigrants is laudable, Canada is accepting so many that the housing and health care crises are much worse than in the U.S. No point in having a free health care system if you can’t get a family doctor (I’ve been trying to get one for 3 years in Ontario). The federal government is inviting lots of people to immigrate but does not have any plan to fix the housing crisis, which is worse than in the USA. Canada should lower immigration numbers in the short term to allow the infrastructure to catch up.
I believe the United States does a better job of getting skilled immigrants into rural communities and secondary cities than Canada. In Canada, once a person gets permanent residency, they can live anywhere in the country. Several people have used the regional programs like the Prince Edward Island Provincial Nominee Program to get into Canada, when they otherwise have a weaker immigration candidate score, and then move to Toronto. I think the rural and regional immigration programs should mandate applicants stay in their communities for three years after arrival before they can move to another part of Canada.
I agree that the U.S. system needs to be overhauled and is outdated. For U.S. visitor visas, it’s just laughable that it takes over a year to get a tourist visa. For permanent immigrations, so many immigrants in Canada are only there because of the century-long wait times for green cards for certain nationalities in the United States. In the USA, non-permanent residents on work permits often live precarious lives, as their status in the USA is often tied to their employer, which has the potential to be abusive, since non-permanent residents risk deportation if they are laid off, regardless of how long they have been in the country.
Is this the same program that allowed “highly skilled” model
Melania Trump to enter the U.S.?
No thanks…..
We have 10.1M job openings in the US as of last month, and ~4-6M workers to fill them. Over 51% of the over 55 labor force is retired. (10-15% more than anyone predicted 7-10 years ago). We are losing way more Boomers from the workforce than we can replace.
Anyone who might be complaining about inflation in the service industries and who is also anti-immigration is being disingenuous at best. Absolutely clueless at worst.
Demographics are destiny. Being xenophobic is a recipe economic malaise/disaster. Japan is a prime example.
Hey David Stone
Re: corruption:
Citation needed…..
It’s incredible to see some of the comments like Fred’s. He and others just don’t get it and they are so uninformed that it is useless to try to hold a conversation. What Gary is talking about is not letting in the illegals, unskilled, desperate, political refugees, etc. He is talking about highly skilled people like engineers, entrepreneurs, scientists etc. WE HAVE A SHORTAGE in this country and we are quickly falling behind as a country.
Elon Musk founder of TESLA is one of those people that Gary is talking about. So is Tony Xu who founded Door Dash. The CEO of Google is an Indian immigrant. The CEO of Microsoft is an Indian immigrant. FRED-according to Forbes, more than half (55%) of all start up’s worth over $1B were started by immigrants. There are so many immigrants running USA companies because we are no longer turning out the talent we used to turn out.
BTW you probably didn’t know that Alexander Graham Bell was an immigrant. So think before you spew.
I always thought US was really generous and ahead of everyone in the world in accepting LEGAL immigrants. Until I read this article from Cato Institute:
https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/why-legal-immigration-nearly-impossible?
It really shines a light on a number of famous misconceptions:
“One common claim, for instance, is that “we allow more people into America legally than all other countries on the planet combined.”
In reality, immigration to the United States accounted for just 7.5% of the growth of the worldwide immigrant population from 2015 to 2020, meaning that the vast majority of immigrants are not going to the United States.”
“…a similar assertion is, “We are by far the most generous nation in the world for legal immigration.”
Although the United States has accepted the most immigrants in absolute terms compared with other individual countries, fewer immigrants reside in the United States as a share of its population than in 55 other countries.
Тhe United States ranks in the bottom third among wealthy countries for the foreign‐born share of its population ”
“If all 32 million immigrants who attempted the U.S. process in 2018 were added to the U.S. population, it would only bring the immigrant share of the U.S. population to 22 percent—in line with Canada (21 percent). [nowhere near] countries like New Zealand (28 percent), Switzerland (29 percent), and Australia (30 percent)”
Labor shortage my a$$. H1B is just an acronym for indentured servitude for a fixed period of time. There are plenty of folks in the US qualified to do the jobs that H1Bs take. What – you thought the big tech layoffs represented a “labor shortage”??!!
If a foreigner wants a job, have them stand in line like everyone else.. unless you’re a future liber@l – then Uncle Joe and his ilk are waiting for you with open arms, regardless if you are allowed to stay here or not.
Our government has been incompetent for decades, turning a blind eye to unlawful entries mostly over our southern border while keeping eyes open for the slightest reasons to deny visa applications by skilled workers. We are phucked!
Very interesting article, for those unfamiliar with issues, like those who mistakenly think that “standing in line” actually works (clue: US accepts just 3% of those “standing in line”).
https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/why-legal-immigration-nearly-impossible?
“One common claim, for instance, is that “we allow more people into America legally than all other countries on the planet combined.”
In reality, immigration to the US accounted for just 7.5% of the growth of the worldwide immigrant population from 2015 to 2020, meaning that the vast majority of immigrants are not going to the US.”
“…a similar assertion is, “We are by far the most generous nation in the world for legal immigration.”
Although the United States has accepted the most immigrants in absolute terms compared with other individual countries, fewer immigrants reside in the United States as a share of its population than in 55 other countries. Тhe United States ranks in the bottom third among wealthy countries for the foreign‐born share of its population ”
“If all 32 million immigrants who attempted the U.S. process in 2018 were added to the U.S. population, it would only bring the immigrant share of the U.S. population to 22 percent—in line with Canada (21 percent). [nowhere near] countries like New Zealand (28 percent), Switzerland (29 percent), and Australia (30 percent)”
@john L If I don’t fill those jobs with H1B’s I just send them to Pune, Trivandrum, Manila, or Wroclaw I can hire an Oracle DBA with 4 years of experience in Trivandrum for ~$12-14/hour all-in as an employee. We just stood up an offshore development center in Kochi and have onboarded 1100 new FTE’s in 16 months. This is what the stockholders want, lower costs and better margin. Friedman said that the only goal of management it to maximize shareholder value.
The main issue is that newly minted IT grads here somehow think they are worth $125-150K/year. Nope. I can employ 5-7 people in India or 3-4 people Poland for the same amount of $$.
The days of very mediocre people being able to have a bourgeoisie lifestyle (unless you inherit it) in the US are in the past. There is a global labor pool to compete against and people need to step up their game and or lower expectations.
John L- Talk about being uninformed. The company that I work for has been looking for engineers for the past 4 years with very little luck. Twice we hired young, just out of college grads and each lasted 2 months due to their entitlement mentality. We have been told that these 2 “engineers” have gone through 3 employers in the past 4 years. I have friends who have had the same experience in their companies.
We also have a shortage of doctors so it has hit the healthcare profession as well. Here in Florida, if you want to see a lung doctor, the wait time is 6 months or more. There are certain specialties that are so short staffed that people are starting to die due to the long waiting periods. There are doctors in England that would love to come and practice here but cannot.
So please, do your homework and don’t let your personal feelings dictate your actions as that is a very dangerous outcome.
There should be free movement of people from the most industrialized countries, like Canada. Those people should be able to live and work just as people from NYC move to Chicago or Miami. Those foreigners who come under such scheme should be banned from public benefits.
There should be long term visa for certain developing countries, like the Philippines. Have them come and care for the elderly in the U.S. If they come, they should be banned from public benefits. They should pay into social security then be banned from getting retirement benefits. The man or woman of the house should come but not bring their families.
The unskilled migrant from Guatemala should come only in very limited numbers and be banned from getting public benefits. Guatemala might get slightly more quotas because they recognize Taiwan.
Shouldn’t this immigration backlog make the mainstream of the neo-Republican Party happy, especially since they are uncomfortable with America’s increased diversity and imagine that a “Leave it to Beaver” era type of America would “make America great again”?
@GUWonder this backlog can’t make anyone happy. It’s one of the reason for millions of ILLEGALS coming over. What do you think the backlog does, stops people from coming?
You sound uninformed or illogical.
@Eds183
You are confusing readers with facts. As you readily can see, political propaganda and prejudices of all sorts are more common reactions from readers to this post, which also is filled with facts by Gary. The economic future of America is based on youth.
According to Forbes, June 1, 2023: “The U.S.’ fertility rate for 2022 sits well below the level needed for the current generation to replace itself. Birth rates have consistently fallen beneath that threshold, termed the replacement rate, since 2007, the CDC said, and have generally been below it since 1971.”
A good start would be to stop requiring a C1 transit visa just to change planes in the international sections of our airports. That requires an embassy interview which is just not realistic for many travelers. In some countries it can take over a year, assuming that it is available at all. Otherwise I agree Gary, but the system is so broken it is hard to see how our dysfunctional government (regardless of who is in the White House) can change it.
And America is the loser, like a friend who married a Dominican woman. She has MBAs from universities in both Spain and the U.S. and is a member of an upper class family. After 3 years of the State Department “investigating” whether she married him to get into the States (that is, dragging their heels and then lying about losing the paperwork) he gave up, moved there, and opened a very successful business. So our country lost two excellent professionals through bureaucratic incompetence.
There are some topics of debate that require more nuance and intellect exceeding the ability of the median American voter. Immigration is one such topic.
The median American voter is upset about TikTok exposing data to a foreign country when the overwhelming majority of technical staff at domestic competitors are foreign nationals.
It would be ironic, but I would not be surprised, if TikTok’s US offices employ more US citizens in tech roles than Snap, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
“Illegals” from Guatemala are the nicest, hardiest working, honest bunch of the “new immigrant” mindset that’s been arriving legally or otherwise since the 80’s, refusing to assimilate and demand benefits and that we do something to fix their home country. USA should annex Guatemala.
Anyone under 65 collecting a government or disability check should be made to work for it. I don’t care if your back hurts, you can sit or stand while doing data entry or serving burgers. The sheer number of these people is enough to solve any labor shortage.
Then people in these menial jobs with an actual work ethic could advance and/or be trained for “skilled” jobs. It largely about controlling computers anyway…
Well said.
This story is political nonsense about a national catastrophe.
For the last several years I have had to deal with Kobuki Theatre at the hands of the TSA and checkin clerks at IAD and DCA and foreign airports, involving medical, foreign visa, Department of State, and other documents. Meanwhile, how many millions of people just waltz on through the U.S. southern “border” with nothing but a loan debt for their coyote smuggler? Cry me a river.
Congress refuses to address the immigration issue and people keep voting for the incumbents.
Take a look in the mirror. YOU are the problem.
Vote for anyone other than the incumbent. They are all scum and need to go.
Gennady,
Given it’s the mainstream of the neo-Republican Party which is uncomfortable with America’s increased diversity and imagine that a “Leave it to Beaver” era type of America would “make America great again”, I don’t know how it’s logical for anyone to jump from this statement to the conclusion that I am uninformed or being illogical.
By the way, an increase in legal immigration volumes doesn’t necessarily correlate with a decrease in irregular immigration volumes thereafter.
I see some of the comments and I am glad, and proud, not to be there. Let me explain:
I have a Masters and PhD in aerospace engineering. I was a successful (i.e. tenured) academic for a number of years. I have over 40 high-impact academic publications. I have lived in Silicon Valley and worked in IBM Alamden lab in San Jose. I served in Navy. I have close relatives all over the US and Canada. I had investment properties in SoCal. And the list goes on. BUT:
Circa 2016 there was this Saudi green-card holder in San Diego who got radicalised in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and then turned up to his work and shot a few of his colleagues. So what did the administration do? Even though here was zero connection between the guy and any Iranian national or ex-pat, they banned Iranians! So, now as someone who was born in Iran but have not had any connection and have not even travelled there for over 25 years, I am no longer eligible for the Visa Waiver program. I have to apply apply for visa, wait more than a year, and then attend an interview. So, I have de-tangled my assets from the US and have not travelled there since 2016.
I am longing to go, at least for a visit, but I refuse to apply for a visa when I should be (and I was) able to travel at will.
I am sure people like Fred, above, would say good riddance as they put me in the same category as refugees (not that there is anything inherently wrong with being a refugee). I do not stoop to their level and say ‘likewise’, but I am an example of a person who should be ‘invited’ (as I was on many occasions), rather than being stopped to travel to the US.
Illegal immigration over our southern border has kept wages for poor people low by design. If it was cut off, the wages for unskilled labor would go up and more people would work their way out of poverty. Legal immigration, such as a friend trying to get his qualified wife here for over a year, is a disgrace since it takes so long and does not cause economic problems. Most people are in the USA due to legal immigration of their families over the last three centuries and should not be jealous of others legally immigrating.
Well, I guess guilt by association, which is a shame given your qualifications…..but are not chants of “Death to America” still shouted in Iran? The American flag still burned on occasion? Does not the Iranian regime still dream of and prepare for the destruction of Israel (the only true ally of the US in the Middle East) or do the regime’s spokespersons proclaim that just for consumption by the virulently anti-Semitic portion of your fellow citizens? I’d love to visit Iran but I’d hesitate to do so given the hatred of the US by perhaps a healthy majority of your people due to America’s past treatment of Iran. That the Biden administration is attempting to revive the JCPOA is a joke….I’m amazed that most Americans do not understand that all it would have done would be to delay Iran reaching the threshold for delivery of nuclear weapons against Israel (yes, I know that is crazy but do you truly believe Iran is not committed to creating deliverable lethal nuclear weapons against its enemies be they Jews or Sunnis?).
Reverting more closely to the topic of immigration, our system is a mess. Anyone crossing our borders unlawfully should be immediately deported and anyone claiming political asylum must apply for it at a US consulate or embassy before reaching the US border. We should have a guest worker program structured to meet the demands for labor and talent in the US. We should have, and with the efficiency of modern technology, we should be able to craft a speedy tourist visa program. Anyone overstaying a work or tourist visa should be subject to immediate deportation to their home country.
Most of the readers of this post will call be a racist, heartless, compassionless SOB…tough! I’m tired of millions crossing unlawfully into the US who have to be cared for at our expense. I’d bet a strong majority of them have no passable fluency in English, are poorly educated, and are poorly skilled. Unless our current laws permit prompt deportation, the rest are processed and released into the US with an unknown date to appear before an administrative law judge who will adjudicate their entitlement to remain in the US. I read most of them do not appear and most of the adjudications are adverse to the immigrant. Nothing will change for better or worse until one of our political parties has a veto-proof strong majority in Congress.
All the ‘hard-edged’ America-first commenters here have forgotten that they or someone in their ancestral chain immigrated to the USA from somewhere else. Perhaps these ancestors should have been refused entry (as most would be today). Frankly, it is surprising that contemporary skilled immigrants would want to come to a violent, racist, dollar-worshipping, ruthless, divided, and collapsing country like the US at all. Well, immigration trends show that they are clueing in on what to expect in ‘the Land of the Free’ (ha ha!). They are starting to take their skills elsewhere. Good luck to them!
Happy Fourth of July to you as well in the land of the once free and the brave! 🙁 But I do think the fact that all of us are not the offspring of indigenous people in America round about 1600 is irrelevant to our situation today. It’s not the fact that millions want to be here and they should be allowed to travel wherever they want (I guess America is not collapsing fast enough to deter them) but how they get here. Let’s enforce the existing GD laws in place now and try to find a compromise fix for this mess of an immigration system.
Open the borders, it will allow businesses to find cheap labor when needed. I would enjoy having my monthly landscape and property upkeep bills cut by half.
A lot of the young we currently have in America seem too busy being doped up, playing xbox, and couch surfing. The rest are attending college to be baristas at Starbucks.
The purpose of a system is what it does.
Indopithecus,
With regard to this:
“Frankly, it is surprising that contemporary skilled immigrants would want to come to a violent, racist, dollar-worshipping, ruthless, divided, and collapsing country like the US at all. Well, immigration trends show that they are clueing in on what to expect in ‘the Land of the Free’ (ha ha!). They are starting to take their skills elsewhere. Good luck to them!”.
Where do you suggest they go, particularly if they are perceived to be of non-European ethnic appearance and will be perceived as an ethnic/religious minority in the destination country? Canada? New Zealand? Australia?
Continental Europe is more racist now than it was 30-50 years ago. Continental Asia is also more racist and intolerant now than 30-50 years ago. UK? Come on, surely we haven’t missed Brexit and the bigoted dog whistles being played by at least two of the last three British PMs (including the current one with a charming desi mother-in law). Japan? Not known for being an open society to integrating immigrants for the long term. South America and Africa aren’t known for being huge lands of long term opportunity and long term safety for highly skilled foreign immigrants. So to where then?
Nowadays the G20 countries and Europe in general are plagued with a lot of reactionary, pseudo-nationalist right-wing elements hostile to immigrants.
@ KimmieA — The US Healthcare system is not in decline. Have you not noticed the massive amount of new healthcare infrastructure built in the US since the passage of ACA?
The US healthcare system is sort of on the rise. At least with prices and getting less value for the money. But without Obamacare, the situation would be even worse.
About the idea of the US rolling out the welcome mat and an open door policy for migration of healthcare workers coming from the UK, not sure how that would make things better for the British with the NHS having major problems of its own with staffing or even in the US where the bulk of the healthcare problems are not driven by employees but my “professional” business managers and the “invisible hand” of the marketplaces of relevance — a hand that spanks those who don’t deliver to the expectations of the financial market participants.
Does KimmieA really think of “socialist” healthcare in the UK and elsewhere in Europe and its willful workers as a model for America? Oh, how times have changed. 😉
Agree 100%, Gary. All developed countries are in trouble, with aging population. The US still has the global appeal to compensate. The right immigration policy could ensure American success for the next century. Wait- that’s a little wordy- make America great again? OK, guess that’s tainted, but I do agree that what we do to attract young smart immigrants is probably the most important factor in whether America thrives in the next 50 years…
@George you’re right. US is now below replacement rate. We also need new young workers contributing to Soc Security.
And we need to continue attracting the best and the brightest. The best way to do it is to give every new Masters or PhD graduate (from US college or university) a green card.
Thanks for highlighting this Gary. It took me 19 years and a lot of money to become a US citizen. I have a STEM master’s degree and a professional degree from top 10 US universities. There were a lot of professional and financial setbacks along the way as I was on a visa (all legal). And immigrants I speak to nowadays say I was lucky. Crazy!!!
Of the foreigners who are masters and PhD graduate of major US universities whom I know, most have been able to end up eventually as US residents if they were really interested and had a STEM background. And for the rest, if they’ve been living as an adult student for 1-11 years, they have probably run into a lot of potential American mates to marry and somehow thereafter become a US resident.
If Social Security is so desperately in need of foreign-sourced labor to keep solvent, there is an unsustainable Ponzi scheme aspect to it that needs addressing independent of an adjustment to immigration policy and practice.
Not sure why this topic is on a travel and points blog but my two cents is that the US immigration system is a joke. We let illegal unskilled immigrants come over our borders unhindered yet we turn away qualified immigrants by the bucketload.
“We let illegal unskilled immigrants come over our borders unhindered” — not really, which is why so many irregular immigrants to the US are plagued by problems related to cross-border family separation.
Every single person on here who thinks they know the immigrant experience, who think that people just “waltz” across the southern border should have to walk the path from Central America. They should have try to find a job in the US an an undocumented immigrant. Then they should have to endure the open hostility coming from the people who employ them to wipe their kid’s a@@es, mow their lawns, scrub their toilets, pick their produce in the fields and do everything else the average American is too good to do.
It’s easy for a group of people sitting on a travel website bemoaning first-world problems to think they know what the immigrant experience is like. You would all fall apart if you had to live the life of an undocumented immigrant for an extended period of time. One day in a field in CA’s central valley with 100+ degree heat would be all it would take.
Do we throw the gates open and let everyone in? Of course not. We find a reasonable way to reimagine our immigration polices and laws. And for those of you who think we don’t need these people and that America is “full,” I hope you like your $10 glass of orange juice because that’s what it’s going to cost if we lose too many unskilled laborers.
A big part of the bad inflation picture in the US is a direct result of the years and years of American hostility toward unskilled migrant labor and the tightening of the screws on irregular migrants who helped keep prices in check for consumers with their lower cost labor and greater flexibility and willingness to diligently do jobs that most born Americans aren’t eager to do and would demand a massive premium to even try to do the work. The public only started to more obviously see the massive impact on prices of this hostility after the pandemic created a window to experience it. In some ways, so-called unskilled labor is what built America and what America needs way more of now than perhaps ever before.
My bet is that most European-Americans are a product of irregular, unskilled immigration. Aren’t we all?