Think about it -- you clearly decided your home country was not as conducive for building your future as the US may be
Why does a person migrating today deserve to be treated as second class?
If your argument is that we should grant citizenship to anyone that wants it: OK, vote for it.
"Taxation without representation" doesn't apply here, because you aren't forced to live or work here. You do have representation in your own government, which is exactly what the founders of the US fought for. They did not fight for the right to go work in other places, like the UK, untaxed.
There has been a dramatic change in economic and social climate in the Americas. Our vague "ancestors" entered Canada and the US in times where it might not have been so magnificent to immigrate, and as such they were presented with incentives to immigrate and contribute to a growing economy. Never mind that some of our ancestors came in as refugees fleeing war and communism.
Today, both Canada and the US have the right to protect their national interests and prioritize the development of their own citizens above the interests of foreign nationals. All countries do this, even those perceived as the most accepting.
The social and economic climate has changed dramatically, you're right. We no longer have a climate condusive to a free-for-all exploitation of Aboriginals, Africans, and the environment.
This is to my point, there is less scrutiny for immigrants in 'dire straits'.
> The social and economic climate has changed dramatically, you're right. We no longer have a climate condusive to a free-for-all exploitation of Aboriginals, Africans, and the environment.
Unclear how this goes to show that anybody should be allowed to immigrate anywhere under any conditions.
Edit: straights -> straits
Should probably recognize that civil wars, genocide, and humanitarian disasters are occurring all around the world, right now, and no nation is doing anything about it (nor does the average person even know about these).
Nations of the world have no real obligation to do anything... which is why nothing is done majority of the time. When the interests of "the west" coincide with stopping an atrocity, then "the west" intervenes.
Further, it's fairly naive to believe freighting a few hundred thousand people thousands of miles away from anything even remotely familiar is doing anyone a service. It seems the help Syrian's are getting from "the west" has boiled down into a singular mindset of "just ship them someplace else", never-mind all of the long term issues that arise from this half-hearted solution (housing, income, food, work, cultural assimilation, transportation, etc...).
Bringing these people to the US or Canada doesn't solve any of their problems really - it only trades some problems for others. The real solution is obviously to stop the civil war... and work is being done to accomplish this.
That's the best euphemism for bombs and sponsoring what we would otherwise consider terrorist organisations I've ever heard.
I do believe you have inadvertently made my point.
"The west" (including Canada) doesn't care about any global issue unless it conflicts with their interests. In this case, the Assad regime was/is uncooperative with the US in particular, which is why the US seized the opportunity to topple his control (via many methods, including funding known terrorist organizations which just happen to also be against the Assad regime at this moment in time).
"The west" is not involved in any other civil war or genocide at the moment, although there are many active around the world.
> >and work is being done to accomplish this.
Perhaps you're not current on events, but non-military options are being taken right now, and are looking somewhat promising.
We've gone far into the weeds here and gotten even further off-topic than we already were. I, however, feel you're the type to want the last word, so feel free.
For example, Sweden is denying residency to, and sending back, almost half its current arrivals from the Syria/Iraq theater.
Getting back to substance, did you research how many of the 26K have been granted permanent residency?
The unstated premise is that the current structure of our immigration system serves any national interest.
Let's set aside the fact that immigration creates more jobs for natives than it displaces (turns out immigrants buy things just like natives do),[0] and that there's near universal consensus among economists that restrictions on the movement of goods, people, and money invariably hurt a state more than they help, and that we clearly agree with this philosophy when moving these things 3,250 miles from Anchorage to Albany, just somehow don't for the 210 miles from Ottawa.
Let's set all that aside and assume there's some coherent and humane rationale for telling people who they're allowed to do business with and where they're allowed to walk based on the random accident of what hospital they were born in.
Even then, the current administration of immigration law is nonsensical in several ways. If a citizen's brother was born in the Philippines, they would have had to apply 23 years ago for the State Department to even read their application.[1] We have a bunch of categories where we've picked quotas out of a hat that have no meaningful relationship to the country's needs. Quotas are a particularly terrible approach to rationing, especially when you have to apply in a single category, so there's no extra consideration for someone who would be valuable for multiple reasons (ie, someone who holds a unique advanced degree, is a family member of a citizen, and is fleeing persecution in another country).
The fact that all countries do something does not make it right, or even necessarily rational.[2]
[0] https://www.uschamber.com/sites/default/files/legacy/reports...
[1] http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/law-and-policy/bull...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery
N.B. - Thank you for your civil comment on a difficult topic, this is exactly why I like discussions on HN, so upvoted even though I'm adding a counterpoint.
EDIT - misplaced cite
The concept that immigration policies are usually very flawed is real, and also has been a source of frustration for me personally. I however do not expect things to change quickly at least in the US.
Worth noting that very conservative immigration policy seems to be the most "safe", the strict policy of "nobody can enter, ever" is very easy to understand, predict and monitor over time. I can imagine a situation where immigration policy is too lax, and yield unforeseen badness.
PS: thanks for being equally civil, and for a very relevant comment.
You don't go into someone else's home and then expect to be treated like family. I don't think immigration policy is really centered around morality or what people "deserve" but, like with most government policy, looking out for the interests of the country.
People in actual prison might take issue with your statement.
Firstly, do you know the individual concerned? If not, the assumption about someone's motivation for living and working in the US is problematic.
Secondly, I find a contradiction in these remarks. You "take issue with the sentiment", which is clearly one of feeling trapped by the visa rules. But the line of "it's a privilege, not a right" and the demand to "prove value in allowing you to remain" simply reinforces the systematic entrapment, by threat of withdrawal of privilege. In particular, it denies the individual any moral right to change the system.
So I suggest those remarks actually reinforce the sentiment, rather than challenging it.
Such a scenario is commonplace in many jobs, and the more toxic the boss, the more likely it is to occur.
A more creative suggestion out of that logical trap might be that a visa should be a right, not a privilege, since it permits a broader range of contribution towards both GDP and cultural wealth. But now I betray my own leaning towards high levels of international migration for all.
Maybe Americans will be well served to understand that the current visa regime is severely dysfunctional, and that it serves to boost egos of more incompetent and uneducated Trump-ians, and less the interests of US in obtaining talent and even less in giving brilliant minds all over the world an equal playing field.
The option to return to my home country was never taken away from me, and at every step I knew I retained the freedom to simply quit my job and leave; I did not do that.
No, an H1-B does not afford you the privilege of switching jobs or careers easily. There's no reason to think it should, and that is made very clear during the application process.
I know this is an exaggeration, and I'm fully aware the current visa situation in the US could be better, but I really take issue with the sentiment of your statement.
You're being afforded an enormous opportunity here, and should not compare it with being in a prison.
Think about it -- you clearly decided your home country was not as conducive for building your future as the US may be, and therefore applied for (and accepted) a visa. Now it's up to you to prove value in allowing you to remain in the country. A visa is a privilege, not a right.
Literally billions of folks around the world are never given this opportunity.