Adrianna TanMay 16
I don’t care what political side you’re on, anyone who is weird about any immigrants including H-1B workers is not a good ally. You don’t get to only support the immigrants you like who might not ‘take your well paid job’.
Show threadAdrianna TanMay 16

I’ve seen so many BS excuses about H-1B fraud from leftists that’s just thinly veiled racism and xenophobia and nationalistic economic protectionism

Those people make frothing at the mouth republicans seem more friendly. At least they’re not pretending to be your friend

Show threadAdrianna Tan
Frankly I’m tired of many leftists and liberals pretending their anti-H1B rants are praxis instead of just anti-immigrant / Indian sentiment
May 19 at 2:40amWeb
Show threadAdrianna TanMay 19
I sometimes think you don’t get to have strong opinions on US immigration unless you know the difference between an I-129 and I-140
Show threadAdrianna TanMay 19

More importantly I feel like most criticism of the H-1B program just.. doesn’t really understand how skilled visas work.

Treating skilled legal immigrants like shit and giving them no rights is kind of the hallmark of almost all major immigration policies, not just the American one.

Proposing that we get rid of it because you think it is exploitative is as bad as the ‘I am all for open borders but I have no real suggestion for how western governments can right now stop treating brown people like shit’ problem.

Show threadAdrianna TanMay 19

You can criticize the H-1B program, but I also feel like there’s a slippery slope between that and economic protectionism.

I’ve very rarely seen actual legitimate criticism of it that also didn’t default or devolve to ‘actually Indians are bad at their jobs ha ha’

I don’t trust anyone who leads with ‘H-1B bad’. It doesn’t matter what ‘side’ you’re approaching it from. You might as well put on a red hat.

Also if your critique is ‘it can be better and I don’t want skilled immigrants to suffer’ maybe save your white saviorism for another pet topic

Or go work on actual immigration reform

Show threadAdrianna TanMay 19

The no 1 thing to fix in US immigration is the country caps.

Because of racism, people born in India and China etc face years of long waits (ranging from a couple of years to hundreds of years)

All of the applicants born in big countries have to compete for the same no of green cards as people from small countries

This is the specific mechanism that companies use to trap H-1B workers in subservience, not the H-1B program itself. There is little to no easy path to permanent residency because of the country caps.

Show threadDan SugalskiMay 19
@skinnylatte the US immigration system has always seemed like an uneasy compromise between the rabid racists and the genteel racists.
Show threadAdrianna TanMay 19
@wordshaper yeah remember the time an entire ethnic group was legally prevented from moving to the U.S. for a long time (Chinese exclusion act)
Show threadSophie SchmiegMay 19

@skinnylatte Jupp, I entered the US on an L visa, which has even worse conditions than the H1B.
But Germany is a country that has no wait time, so I converted to a Greencard within a year.

The exploitation is only possible because people do not have a path to permanent residence and citizenship, and the number one blocker for that is racist quotas.

Show threadRebecaMay 20
@sophieschmieg @skinnylatte a year! For me, just the labor certification step took longer!
Show threadAdrianna TanMay 20
@rebe_gc @sophieschmieg I didn’t need labor certification in both paths I went for, but I didn’t have my shit together until a few years later
Show threadJeremyMay 20
@skinnylatte
My position is Abolish Borders. Anything else is a compromise.
Show threadBrian TatoskyMay 19

@skinnylatte I don't know why we wouldn't want to make it as easy as possible for all the smart and talented people to come here because all of that makes our companies better which makes our economy better, etc. etc. If they are other places, they are making *those* places better.

If they are out competing native workers, we have to fix *their* skills to compete, like in education funds etc.

(I know racism is the actual answer)

Show threadTim RichardsMay 19
@skinnylatte H1B sounds like a type of pencil to me :)
Show threadDaniel CarosoneMay 19

@skinnylatte well, one of those goes east-west and one goes north-south, based on numbering conventions

(very /s)

Show threadMarco TietzMay 19
@skinnylatte the ideas that muricans that never went through the process have is quite mind-boggling ...
Show threadBridge&Tunnel JeffMay 19
@skinnylatte ⬆️This.
Show threadLuke KaniesMay 19

@skinnylatte hopefully my strong “immigration is good, should be way easier, and we should do way more of it” absolves me.

It’s amazing how many clear correlations exist in America’s history that we just refuse to see, not least of which is how beneficial immigration is, especially when it’s a free for all

Show threadImran Nazar ~ عمران نزرMay 19
@skinnylatte This should honestly be the case in every country that has these policies. If a UK denizen starts spouting to the news about immigration, the first question should be "are you familiar with the difference between leave to remain and citizenship?"
Show threadcrzwdjk ✅ May 19
@skinnylatte My strongest opinion is that processing times are way too long and they need to fix that, it's probably the most urgent thing short of like a global overhaul of the whole basis of the system. It's kind of wild that Canada has to know what an I-797 is and honor it.
Show threadcrzwdjk ✅ May 19
@skinnylatte Like, 3 years for I-751 is ridiculous enough already but apparently just a simple renewal (I-90) takes 10.5 months now according to USCIS? That's completely non-discretionary and should be completely automatic and just an update of the photo on your card.
Show threadDmitry BorodaenkoMay 19

@crzwdjk @skinnylatte The part where processing times and rejection rates dramatically change immediatly after the executive power changes hands (not just a US phenomenon either, saw that in UK too) tells you everything about the value of the entire process.

The value is zero. The entire and only point is to legitimize arbitrary delays and rejections.

Show threadAdrianna TanMay 19
It doesn’t matter if you hate billionaires. If your fix for hating billionaires will harm immigrants, I don’t think you have good politics. You’re no different from maga
Show threadAlda VigdísMay 19
@skinnylatte I don't think those who use that specific employment visa as way to rationalise their hate would even qualify for H-1B.
Show threadDeanFarrellMay 19
@skinnylatte What's their problem with H1B visas?
Show threadAdrianna TanMay 19

@DeanFarrell they think we should reduce international immigration because H1Bs empower billionaires to fuck over Americans.

Which is true, but their solution also involves fucking over immigrants.

Show threadDeanFarrellMay 19
@skinnylatte If workers from India are more qualified to do the job than Americans are, it's the result of the GOP's 50-year war on education.
Show threadandrew773May 19
@skinnylatte Say what you will about liberals but that doesn't sound like a left position. The left is concerned with employers abusing the H1B program to drive wages down and create precarity for their employees in general. Our system has created a terrible situation for workers on behalf of oligarchs through years of corruption where many people are very close to desperation. Sorry if this is offensive but if you didn't know I hope you can consider this perspective.
Show threadcrzwdjk ✅ May 19
@andrew773 She was on an H-1B1 visa for a few years, supporting her wife because the H-4 you get with an H-1B1 (which is the special Singapore H-1B) doesn't allow employment. And because Singapore doesn't recognize same sex marriages. So for you it's about employers, for her it's about getting to live in the same country as her wife.
Show threadandrew773May 19
@crzwdjk I understand her situation and I'm glad it worked out for her. I have no problem with foreign workers. My point is it is not anti immigrant to be unhappy with employers in the United States because they have been very aggressive in disenfranchising their employees and US residents in general. I think her post triggers me because everyone loves punching down on the left. Sabotaging the left really hasn't worked well for us here in the US.
Show threadAdrianna TanMay 19

@andrew773 @crzwdjk but I’m calling out a specific leftist problem. Leftists aren’t good on immigration either. It’s not news.

The immigration fixes proposed by leftists still harm immigrants.

I’m not punching down, I’m calling out a specific gap I am seeing in American leftism: that economic protectionism (protect Americans) is a common theme that harms immigrants as well. Unions are great but they’ve also been awful to people of color.

Show threadandrew773May 20
@skinnylatte @crzwdjk I know that UAW has endorsed economic protectionism but that is not because the members are leftists it is because they are economically self interested. Teachers unions tend to have a more diverse workforce including left perspectives. Peak union density was when the US was over 90% white and the unions that remain are mostly allowed to exist for legacy reasons, they are extremely limited and unfairly regulated. What you're saying like sounds like Democrats not leftists.
Show threadAdrianna TanMay 20

@andrew773 @crzwdjk well, look at what Bernie and others are now saying about H-1Bs.

I don’t trust anyone who says those things.

I don’t see a coherent left position on immigration reform.

The European left is pretty fash on immigration (including and especially in the Nordics). I believe that white supremacy is more dominant than any political position. Just in different ways.

Show threadAdrianna TanMay 20

@andrew773 @crzwdjk I’m saying that anti-immigrant sentiment comes from *all* sides and the left doesn’t get a special carve out. If you don’t believe that, you should probably ask more immigrants.

No one feels that anyone is on our side. Anywhere.

The farm worker-aligned immigrant reform movement is a left position, but they are not dominant in national discourse nor outside of several states.

Show threadDmitry BorodaenkoMay 19
@andrew773 @crzwdjk If you seriously consider an immigrant in the US criticizing the left in the US "punching down," check your privilege.
Show threadDave AlvaradoMay 19

@skinnylatte a whole lot of folks on the left have never deconstructed their white savior complex and it shows.

Hint for those folks: if you feel like people with darker skin than you need "saving", you're racist.

Show threadChris LMay 19
@skinnylatte the thing to do if you think your job is endangered is to travel to India and make friends with people there. Talk about a land of opportunity where hard work is rewarded! (And with great food!) make friends and help your friends negotiate for higher pay. Level the income differentials across the world, without war. Meet brilliant people from all over. 1/2
Show threadChris LMay 19
@skinnylatte Movements for the dignity of work and the power of hard work over money can be international. Stick to one country and the money will arbitrage you to fight your power as hard workers. 2/2
Show threadAdrianna TanMay 19
@jayalane fundamentally I’m not ok with people from the west restricting the movement of others, even in this genteel and nice version
Show threadChris LMay 19
@skinnylatte I am not for restricting movement. Money flows around, workers should also have that power. I was addressing computer folks in the US that are afraid of loosing their jobs. They should visit India. People from India who want to come to the US to work are good too but I would not position myself to advise them. Except about software and US corporations. But the US folks are overly fearful compared to the facts.
Show threadChris LMay 20
@skinnylatte the principal of mobility is important to defend, as it is a pretty big looming fight, even more so than currently: even optimistic solutions to ending the carbon burn involve peacefully finding new places for a billion or so people to move to as their homes become flooded or excessively hot.