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by beedogs 3115 days ago
America's government is as cruel as it can possibly be lately. This is just punitive and disgusting.
3 comments

For me as a European this is really simple: foreigners are not welcome in the US so I won't bother the US with my presence.

If I'm going to be selfish: the US establishing itself as a politically unstable and inconsistent country means more opportunities closer to where I live. More talent staying in Europe, more talent attracted to Europe.

If I were American I would worry about important talent pools now finding more opportunities in Asia.

Definitely, but there is something about western life that attracts people, too.
I assure you that Europe and Australia are quite western.
Even these are tightening down on immigration.
Sure, but let me change it a bit: american way of life has its appeals.
It has its appeals for people from some parts of the world. I'm from Scandinavia. The US isn't terribly appealing when you live in a part of the world where stuff works and people tend to be rational.
It is both punitive and disgusting, and it benefits no one.
I think it is meant to benefit US mid-tier tech workers, who are expected to experience less competition and downward wage pressure as the attractiveness (and even feasibility) of work in the US is substantially decreased for couples not consisting of at least one 'superstar' (persons earning well over $100k as an individual, or couples in which both members are earners at the top end of the ability distribution). I guess we'll see if that expectation bears out, of if companies respond by offshoring.
Except for the US citizens who now might have a job or even a bit of wage growth after 30 years of non-stop immigration from mostly low wage countries, with the ensuing wage arbitrage used by US businesses.
You are completely wrong if you think no US citizen has gotten a job or not experienced wage growth in the last 30 years.
Individuals may do better than average, but the trend in the US has been a widening gap between the upper class and everyone else combined with stagnant wages[1]. This has been due to many reasons like outsourcing, (illegal) immigration, automation, dissolution of anti-trust legislation, and the trend away from unionization in most industries.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle-class_squeeze

For a long time h1b spouses werent even eligible for work, i think this brings it back. Cruel? Yes, but situation wasnt different just 2 yrs ago