This is more about the identity of this country. Is America going to become Britain or Germany or is it going to become uniquely american. At the present we are well on our way to becoming those European countries. No assimilation is required. You may set up your own Ethiopian or Hispanic or Chinese or Iranian communities no problem. What irks trumps base, and by the way, also the white aristocracy in Britain is the mollycoddling of foreigners. Brexit is all about immigration. For trumps base it is the same. Most thinking people know the wall is a futile gesture and an odious one too. Build it and they will go to Canada then come here. It is the lack of assimilation that bothers farmers in the Midwest the ranchers in the west the good ol boys in the south. Having to choose between Spanish or English every time you make a phone call does not sit well with trumps base. Then there seems to be no end of the so called family members showing up. It’s no irony that trumps in-laws are chain migrators. Trump has been scamming the system since Fred taught him the ropes. You cannot think we can continue immigration as it has always been. The world is coming here en-masse. Due to global climate change or despotic regimes the Statue of Liberty still beckons and the torch is even brighter than before.
The title "Trump Administration Plans to Close Key Immigration Operations Abroad." Just what are those key operations? They cost 9.1 billion a year and now get a budget of 6 billion. Hard to imagine that this forces the closing of 'key' operations.
Also, the NYTimes and readers are constantly complaining about detentions and asylum cases taking too long. Since these folks will now be working on that back log, why are they complaining? Compromise seems to be absent in critical thinking.
Lastly, and I am in agreement, chain migration must be dissolved. Completely, yesterday. It is unbelievable that tax payers spend 9 billion a year on the USCIS. That is a joke! While much of it is paid for by those applying for immigration, according to this article, that is a bureaucratic boondoggle. Mr. Schwartz has a very biased sense of immigration - as president of the Refugees International advocacy organization, he will never want to cut back on anything.
Really tired of advocacy organizations running our country. They are not elected, have a biased agenda, and are never vetted. Just given voice, if the NYTimes likes the agenda.
Trump has xenophobia. Except for rich, ruthless oligarchs or investors in his businesses.
27
... and his Eastern European wives
6
"Key" Immigration Operations? No, they are not key and are not needed. The State Department can and does the same thing overseas; process visas and interview potential immigrants and non-immigrants. Refugee's will continue to be processed the same way, they file their refugee applications and it will be decided upon. USCIS has a large backlog and this process will help, why would this be a bad thing?
So many here attacking the US and it's immigration policies. Or is it just about anti-Trump. Clinton wanted to cut legal immigration and for a good reason - we're approaching the point where we cannot care for anymore that come uneducated, un-vaccinated, and unwilling to adopt respect for our language and culture.
The US takes in more immigrants than the rest of the entire world. These are refugees looking for asylum and they are immigrants that wish to move here. Maybe some of the wonderful countries that readers are promoting - Sweden, for example, can start to take up the slack. Nordic countries and others in the EU can open up their legal immigration limits and unlike the evil US, can just bring them to their countries along with their families. Great idea! Why shouldn't the better, more developed and enlightened countries refuse.
Wow. I’m not shocked, just utterly disappointed by this administration. again.
1
It is very simple, we don't need any more people, we need less. So with resources needed to process illegals, who needs to spend anything helping people to immigrate. The internet should be plenty of help.
It's all about the wall.
5
A good friend's oldest son married a lady from Brazil and he moved to Brazil for a year so they could begin their new life together. They're now living in London waiting for her Green Card application to be approved.
Ironically, they met in college (Texas A&M) and now must go through all this rigmarole to utilize their degrees to build better lives for themselves to achieve the American Dream.
5
@Coffee Bean Yes legal immigration is not easy, we don't need more people, especially those that really don't want to be supporters of the constitution, but just want economic gains.
1
It’s odd you’d attach “economic gains” to a story about a marriage.
Why should anyone married to an American have to wait for permission from the government to stay and work in the country?
2
@vulcanalex
She's embraced the culture here; her parent's flew in from Brazil to attend the wedding; continues to work on furthering her education while living abroad and working F/T. My friend's son and her want to return home so they can contribute their knowledge to America's benefit and gain.
2
This seems to be all about his base who act like they want no one in this country who is not white and Christian.
I know that any President has power to do these type of things but can’t Congress pass a law that says we have to have these offices open?
I know Mitch would resist but it seems like a worthwhile case to make and see what the Congress does and what the people think about their actions. If not this and many other things will be forgotten when we vote in 2020.
8
You know what you do when you have a backlog of something? You hire more people or work longer hours to clear the backlog. You don't close offices where the work gets done.
But since trump has only run failing businesses and his minions are white supremacists, well I guess doing things the wrong way is what comes naturally to them.
17
@Reiam When you have limited resources you focus them where the need it. We need illegals removed, we don't need more immigrants. I agree the courts should be running six days a week at least 10 hours a day and make the hearings as fast as possible.
A president who has had two foreign-born and naturalized-citizen wives further diminishing opportunities for legal immigration is the essence of irony!
15
As someone who is a volunteer English tutor with refugees from Myanmar, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Congo, Eritrea, Sudan, and elsewhere, I am disgusted and outraged by the current administration's attitude toward refugees. These are wonderful people, whose stories are horrific. People who are eager to embrace the United States, work hard, and build a productive life for themselves and their children.
We used to be a country which cared; a country which prided itself on being a beacon to the world and a safe haven for the desperate. We were often far from that ideal, but at least we, as a nation believed in it. Now we can't wait to build walls, pull in the welcome mat, build a mote, and raise the drawbridge. I used to be proud to be an American. It is harder and harder to sustain that sentiment in hate and fear-filled Trump world.
20
@Anne-Marie Hislop Our country is overpopulated, we have no need or desire for more people. I support taking in some number of actual asylum seekers where the government is abusing people. None for say poverty, gang violence or corruption in the police, we have all that here.
1
How many is the right number of people living here? How is that number calculated?
Ultimately the power of a country derives from its population. If you don’t believe me, ask Iceland and China.
@vulcanalex
What makes you think our country is overpopulated? The US is not in the top 50 countries worldwide in population density
US population density around 52 ppl/sq km vs #50 at 265 ppl/sq km. If we let in 1 million people a year that's still less than 3%.
(https://www.statista.com/statistics/264683/top-fifty-countries-with-the-highest-population-density/)
2
Resources aren't infinite. If there is a crisis at the border, staff will need to be reallocated to meet that greater and more immediate need. So I have no problem at all with the administration prioritizing its use of resources. No one has a right to enter the U.S. and the country has an obligation to secure its border.
12
Trump wants to have infinite resources to fill what he wants to do (build a wall, increase military spending again for example). I don't think the money available is a factor in this decision.
What?...We don’t have enough economic, social, and ideological divisions in this country that we have to import more chaos? Our cities aren’t overcrowded and violent enough? We don’t have enough homeless and/or struggling low wage workers? Our natural resources, schools, healthcare, and welfare providers aren’t sufficiently burdened?
Enough already! Our government’s obligation is to serve the best interests and well-being of the American Citizenry, period! We need to get our own house in order....and that doesn’t include playing host, patron, and nursemaid to millions of foreign nationals, mostly unskilled, mostly poor and uneducated.
16
@Shenoa- The problem, of course, is that the immigration system is almost completely broken. We have porous borders that need fixing. However, depending on which party is in power that is either a 'necessity' or, when the other party is in power, it's "immoral'. The cynicism, hypocrisy and dysfunction of our political parties is to largely blame.
However, the same parties do a magnificent job convincing their base that it's the 'other guys' fault. So we end up pointing fingers and refusing any possible compromise because we hold the moral high ground, and the 'other guy' is obviously an immoral racist or an anti-American socialist.
This slow motion train wreck has been building for the past 50 or so years, ever since that 'Lion of Liberalism' Sen. Edward Kennedy, championed the change in our immigration system to what is today referred to as 'chain migration'. That along with massive illegal immigration over the past several decades, has gotten us to this crisis point. Continuing to stick our head in the sand and denying that these's an overwhelming problem only invites further massive waves of illegal immigration and an eventual breakdown of any control whatsoever. Without taking action on this very soon we are headed toward 'open borders' in fact if not in law.
9
@Randy
"And let's remember some Democrats are advocating whole sale abolition of all immigration enforcement which includes vetting of potential immigrants."
Names, please. Maybe just one. Waiting...
4
@Shenoa Perfectly said.
4
Further proof and guarantee the image of the US around the world will continue to decline, as it has since November 2016.
This maladministration appears intent on making our nation a pariah.
14
Wait.
Everything on immigration - proposed by this administration is "sky is falling."
And let's remember some Democrats are advocating whole sale abolition of all immigration enforcement which includes vetting of potential immigrants.
As to the budget itself as if it's a done deal.
House Democrats have already declared it DOA.
Interestingly, it has been rumored that House Democrats may not even table a budget resolution because they are afraid of their own members - proposing socialism.
The State Dept - I don't know where this authority comes from - always issues visas and not the immigration agency.
Folks advocating for illegals must understand there is a price to pay - and the price is delay in lawful immigration that our POTUS strongly advocates. And the delay is caused by illegals swarming our borders and overwhelming law enforcement officers.
You can't have your cake and eat it too.
6
Let’s remember no Democrat proposes ending enforcement of the border or vetting immigrants. Not one.
You might be thinking of abolishing ICE. It should be abolished because it’s a law unto itself. Border protection is a police activity, fine. Immigration is not: it’s an administrative function. That’s why you don’t go to the police station for your drivers license.
Immigration used to be handled by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. It could be, again.
1
No one is “advocating for illegals”, and the notion that it’s a zero-sum game is wrong.
We didn’t invade Iraq by closing bases in Texas. We didn’t fund the absurd tax cut by cutting the budget by $1 trillion a year.
If the congress wanted to allocate funds for more judges and screeners on the southern border, it could. Trump doesn’t have to close those overseas offices; it’s just a convenient excuse for an anti-immigration president.
As for advocacy, immigration per se — including the current wave of asylum seekers — poses no threat to anyone. It didn’t used to be unusual to think this country should enforce its own laws, including laws that allow refugees to come asking for asylum.
The illegal immigrants already here are also, as a practical matter, an administrative issue. They represent no threat, and deporting them would be expensive, not to mention harmful to their families. Let them stay. Let them pay a penalty. Don’t make them citizens. Move on.
1
You would think the GOP would encourage an expansion of those they can endlessly exploit.
Want to change the GOP position on immigration over-night? Simply offer citizenship for a million dollars a pop, and have it administered by the Koch brothers. And Viola! Problem solved!
2
My parents were legal immigrants to this country and such an action could have impacted them if it were enacted in the past.
With every action regarding immigration by this administration I am further disgusted and dismayed by its heartless and hateful behavior. As much as I would love to say this is the work of Miller this plays directly into Trump's narrative as well, well beyond the wall and stopping immigration at the gates.
I am sure the fact that it impacts refugees as well as those who married people of other countries falls on the deaf ears of this administration. This is just another of the plethora of issues that must be addressed and corrected in the future.
12
Look north ye huddled masses, look north. We need you, we want you, we welcome you.
12
@Lewis Sternberg Please take them, I understand that your country is no more welcoming to poor that we are, in fact less.
Only White Christians who have at least a college degree need apply. That is the only group this trump and steven miller find OK to come here.
7
@Kevin
not true- current immigration discriminates against
White Christians. To end discrimination more White
Christians need to be allowed.
3
@Kevin
Jim Croce said it best in Working at the Carwash Blues.
"We got all we can use".
1
@Steven
What proof of this do you have?
Another thing to rectify in 2020 when we make America good again.
12
And this puts America first how? How is it making America great again? We keep our culture vibrant and growing with people who come in from the outside. Trump is here because, in the not too distant past, a relative of his emigrated here from Germany. Where would we be if the Roosevelt family hadn't emigrated here? Does he want to keep out people like Congresswoman Ilhan Omar or Henry Kissinger? What about the people who come here and raise children who invent things, or who lead perfectly ordinary lives?
And what about those Americans who are accused of spying when they are abroad? Is Trump going to conduct diplomacy by video or Skype? There are legitimate reasons for not closing down immigration. It seems as if Trump is taking lessons from Kim Jong Un on how to isolate a country.
11
@hen3ry
This is strictly about making and keeping America white again. Trump and his band of white supremacists are spending billions, some of it by shuffling money from disaster, disability and health funding, in order to pay for their Jim Crow operation at the camps.
It's a well known fact that Europeans don't come in as refugees. They just get on a plane and visit.
Then, there's the H1B people. Corporations arrange for them to come through middlemen.
It's all good and racist.
---
Things Trump Did While You Weren’t Looking [2019]
https://wp.me/p2KJ3H-3h2
9
@hen3ry
The Roosevelts came here in the early 1600s as workers for the Dutch West India Company. Not as Immigrants.
2
@NYHUGUENOT comparing immigration prior to Kennedy's chain migration and current migration issues is comparing apples to oranges...historic immigration had much stricter standards. As you mentioned, very old families arrived prior to the founding of the US.
1
I am retiring as are millions of my fellow Boomers. It would be nice to know we will have plenty of younger, motivated, and qualified workers to take our places.
Another benefit, besides continuity, is that the younger generations will contribute to US social safety nets so that social security and Medicare, remain solvent.
Trump and Miller’s draconian and racist immigration policies are bad for the health and well being of our country.
They are also against the very principles on which our country was founded. Most of us are children of immigrants. These policies are anti-American.
20
@Judy Evers With automation we don't need to replace, we have too few educated people and way too many uneducated.
Current inscription on the Statue of Liberty:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
New improved Trump inscription:
"Give us your richest, smartest, and well-connected and leave the rest behind"
10
i see Stephen Miller’s fingerprints all over this and EVERY single other policy that disenfranchises the helpless and stokes fear into the vulnerable among us. This is just another despicable move to close our borders to all.
19
Another "brick" in Trump's wall.
2
It doesn’t matter how many people are in the country already: as another person mentioned, applying for asylum is legal. And all of us had someone in their family history who came here from another country. So we tell others, too bad, they can’t come?
9
@Peter ERIKSON
We tell them to come here legally the way my parents
did; they waited their turn.
6
@Steven then I imagine they made use of the very services the president is now proposing to cut. Thus, the problem. An administration that really wants legal immigrants doesn’t cut the program that makes them possible, especially those who have supported our military.
4
@Jane Back then such services did not even exist.
Our current President is keenly aware of the value of branding. Our current President is systematically destroying the USA brand.
Who does this help?
11
Applying for asylum is not illegal.
39
We have well over 325 million in this country and many are living in poverty and are homeless. It is not wise to take on many more people who want to come here.
19
No more people should arrive here, you say?
How about the ones who have skills and start businesses?
Or are you waiting for our home-grown types to, say, open marijuana farms? Those will really do our society a lot of good.
4
So ... no immigration until homelessness and poverty are eliminated?
Perhaps you’re unaware poverty is relative. Every society has poverty by definition. The only way to eliminate it is to eliminate the population.
We all knew from the very beginning that this Administration's stance on immigration was not about legal vs illegal, it was just about immigrants period.
16
Why would anyone want to emigrate to the United States? It's a serious question. With internet and international television news programs America's attitude toward aliens should be common knowledge. Why come to a country where you are not wanted? The US would be the last option for me if I were in their shoes. There is no health care, restricted medical options, poor education opportunities and above all the fact that Donald Trump is the leader of the country. Canada is a far better choice.
22
@Tom
Canada chooses most of its immigrants according to their education/special skills that would contribute to the country’s economy, and on their ability to assimilate. English and/or French fluency matters. Having a relative who already lives in Canada is of minor importance.
The U.S. accepts most immigrants based only on kinship - does the potential immigrant have a relative living here. This is pejoratively referred to as "chain migration”. It does not matter if the applicant is educated, skilled, has any knowledge of English, or any ability to assimilate beyond that of already having a relative here.
Canada’s merit-based system brings in immigrants who have good paying jobs waiting for them or who can find them right away. Thus, they immediately start paying high taxes that help support the socialized medical system and other government programs. The U.S. system awards green cards to poorly educated migrants who are likely to contribute little in taxes, but are likely to need many government services and subsidies for the rest of their lives.
11
@Tom
Tom, read your own statutes on immigration and see Ann’s comments below for any further clarification on who Canada welcomes over its borders. If we did things your way, we’d be in better shape.
3
This administration is purposefully breaking the process to get people to give up. I sponsored my wife for her green card back in October 2017. At the time of application we were told the process would take 9 months total. 18 months later, we're still in USCIS purgatory and the preliminary work permit my wife was given is set to expire soon. Fortunately we applied domestically, I can't imagine how hard it would already be to apply abroad.
38
Another stupid move by a stupid administration led by an ignoramus, and supported by a great mass of uneducated Americans who don't know what is good for their country, let alone what would be good for their own self interests.
54
@RLWAnother step in "dumbing down" the U.S.
7
If anything, encouraging even longer delays is a bigger blow to our immigration system. The backlog is already staggering. Why so much effort is made to keep the door open when there's nowhere to go is hard to understand.
6
What's next, melting down the Statue of Liberty for his stupid wall? If this racist bigot had been in charge 30 some odd years ago I probably would not be married or have a family!
24
We may need to relocate the Statue of Liberty to a more hospitable nation.
158
I believe Canada has shown itself worthy of Lady Liberty, it will just be a short trip north.
21
@James McIntosh
Is there anyone who believes the Statue of Liberty is actually a substitute for real immigration policy?
20
@James McIntosh Tow it outside the harbor and sink it in the Atlantic. We're an embarrassment to our ancestors.
20
This is utterly shameful and should generate enough pushback to sink the relevant parts of the Trump budget.
16
Trump's policies exacerbate his stated goals. If we processed asylum applications outside of our boarders, we could eliminate the incentive to enter the country illegally. But he doesn't think through the consequences of his actions.
9
The International Operations Division has about 240 employees working at 24 field offices in 21 countries.
What is Trump going to do next? Close our consulates and embassies in foreign nations?
The wall on the southern border is not enough to keep out the invaders. How will he stop them at airports? Or maybe he will prevent them from boarding airplanes at foreign airports?
What is Trump turning America into?
21
His casual cruelty is what gets me.
12
Don't worry about it. Merkel can take them all.
8
This is a non-issue. Immigrants will just have to wait a little longer. All the paper work will eventually be processed. The people complaining about this are the same people encouraging the illegal entrants thru the southern border. Once the illegal immigration is slowed down then maybe the intl. work can be re-started, but not until then.
13
@Donald
Your comment illustrates ignorance about the many people who have already played by the rules and are still waiting for a Green Card. Some have waited as long as 10 years. I can't wait till someone writes the book of all the egregious treatment of immigrants by the Trump administration. These officials have no empathy for humanity.
14
@Donald
You are uninformed. Who are the people encouraging illegal entrants thru the southern border? And did you know most illiegal entrants arrive at airports and overstay their visa?
4
@M., Cochran If by "green card" you mean an I-551 which is an ARC (alien reg. card). The wait for the ARC depends on their relationship with the petitioner. This process was created in the 60's when Trump was a HS then college student. People have complained about the process since it was established. Before you accuse somebody of ignorance you should check your facts. By the way it is kind of hard to have empathy for an individual when you are dealing with thousands on a daily basis.
3
If the role of the USCIS is to make legal immigration easier, and that agency is in effect to be closed down, what other interpretation can one devise except that the Administration wishes to make legal immigration harder?
19
I don't see anything wrong with this. The US has an obligation to its own citizens first. I'm sick of the government going out of its way to help illegal aliens, immigrants, and refugees at the expense of Americans.
The US is full. We don't need more people coming in to drive up real estate prices, drive down wages, overwhelm our infrastructure, overcrowd our schools, overburden our hospitals, enroll in welfare (more than half of legal immigrants receive some form of welfare) and contribute towards the deterioration of our ecosystems.
21
The US is not full. In fact, the last data I saw indicated that there are 7 million job openings and only 5 million people seeking employment; many of those job seekers are not qualified for the positions available. Our economy and culture will benefit from continued immigration as it always has, and with the challenges facing many from worn torn countries, it’s the right thing to do, even if it weren’t in our own selfish interests.
19
@David Moore
We did extremely well when we had 50 million
citizens. Where do we draw the line. Our culture
is doing just fine. Thank you.
1
When you have 22 million illegal immigrants to subsidize, according to a recent Yale study, you've so completely lost control of who is in your country that you can't afford to contemplate legal immigration.
Shut it down until the cynics who back unrestrained illegal immigration as a path to electoral college dominance can be defeated or suppressed.
22
It does make it difficult but we will just re-establish this department once Trump gets voted out in 2020
12
Turning down refugees is anti-Christian and un-American. Trump is the most immoral President in history, elected with a criminal campaign staff. Now he ignores Congress and the Constitution and for what? To ruin our good standing and throw away friendships.
20
Migration policy is not a moral issue that is un-Christian, in is inherently neutral. Terminating a human life in utero, however, is a an inherently moral and anti-Christian act. Trump is a hero and a patriot.
2
The pain this president continues to inflict on those who are seeking or desperate for a better life is astonishing and shameful. And for what? To fulfill a racist, demagogic campaign appeal to his rabid followers?
What reasonably together set of parents would allow their family to be ruled by the tantrums and bullying of a two-year-old? Yet that is the situation one of the most advanced nations in the world now finds itself in. President-non-grata doesn't need to be impeached. Instead he should be sent to his upstairs bedroom without dinner, and deprived of telephone and tv access until he grows up.
Hopefully that will happen in a federal or New York state penitentiary once all his crimes as a business fraud are exposed.
11
Say it aint so. Remnants of the old gunpowder empires who traveled the world over in quest of things that looked good, tasted good and felt good and experienced exotic people wherever they traveled. The same people who slaughtered and enslaved their way to wealth, now want to pull up the draw bridge.
13
" ...support for members of the military and their families applying for citizenship." What? Are you saying that we have members of our military who are not citizens?
2
@Oakwood
Yes. Green card holders were allowed to serve, but now they are shutting that down. In the past, many translators were not citizens. Serving in military has helped people in the past to become citizens. Also remember most of us are descendants of immigrants.
5
Yes, there are active military who are not US citizens. It's SUPPOSED to help them gain citizenship. However, I believe the article refers to their non-citizen spouses.
Members of France's Foreign Legion AUTOMATICALLY get French citizenship when they've served the required time
Editor’s note: This comment has been anonymized in accordance with applicable law(s).
6
@Oakwood - yes, people in the military do fall in love with a person while overseas. That person who becomes a spouse then has to apply for citizenship. So it's the troops that are hurt by things like this. Also diplomats often fall in love when they are posted overseas. Things happen.
1
Thank goodness the French can't take the Statue of Liberty back...we certainly do not deserve it any more.
10
Trump says he favors legal immigration and yet is cutting back on the support staff and overseas offices needed to help those trying to immigrate via legal channels.
This is yet another perfect example of how Trump has no coherent policy or strategy and shoots from the hip with no discussion whatsoever. We already know that he does not read his security briefing that is usually provided every morning.
He sold himself as the master negotiator and got nothing in the high profile drama with Rocket Man from North Korea who played him like a violin virtuoso. And yet he has the support of nearly 40% of the country.
This is one more wake up call to all sane, rational, fact believing citizens to get out and help get out the vote in 2020. The alternative is very very scary.
10
I am a 15 year old girl and my dad is an undocumented immigrant. At the moment, he is closer than ever to getting his papers. My dad has been struggling for the past 18 years to get to where he is now. This system in our country is pure saddening. Yes, I am so young and do not know much, but what I know is starting from a little girl having to see my hardworking father, who has done nothing but good to this country, work jobs that pay minimum wage that literally kill him. How can someone be so blind to what they are doing? He is tearing apart families for no reason!! I am not speaking for myself, I am speaking for the thousands, or even millions, of kids going through what I have been forced to put up with my whole life. This is probably really dumb posting this in the comment section of a news article, but it needs to be heard. Thank you for taking the time to read this...it means a lot.
106
@lia
It is not dumb at all and is a great story. However, we don't make policy at any level on anecdotes and images and stories. Perhaps change will come, change you will favor or change you will not, but it will be driven by an understanding of statistics, tradeoffs, and the complicated matrix of policy dynamics (need for a living wage, environmental impacts, job automation, etc.).
9
@liaYou are a very bright and wise 15 year old!
You know more than you think you do!
Thanks for taking the time to write your comments.
16
@JJackson
If he goes back to his country , tell me one single American that will go to work as a dishwasher or in factories for $10/hour or even less and no benefits included. I can tell you right now there is none. They are just here for a better life, and don't forget the Statue of Liberty which is the symbol of immigration. That is what makes America be what it has always been, the nation of immigrants.
7
In 2016 the Chinese government required new immigrants into China to have a university degree and to speak Mandarin. Immigrants in the country on a renewable visa are graded by their ability to contribute gainfully to the Chinese nation. Some visas are not renewed and the people who have been there for years and settled in a job, in a community, etc have to leave.
Many European countries say quite plainly, and require that new immigrants demonstrate that they will not need government benefits, that they won't be a drain on the nation's resources, that they have a prearranged job offer or enough money to live in the country unsupported for the time of their stay. These restrictions have been in effect for decades.
33
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus you forgot to tell us how these rules in other countries apply to family members of citizens, or family members of legal immigrants, like spouses and kids.
13
Do they recognize and process political refugees the same way??
5
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus
So what? This is the United States.
12
It is not surprising that the current president acts in opposition to his own stated intents. This is simply another example. You can almost hear Stephen Miller pulling the strings behind the scenes to ensure as little immigration - especially non-white immigration - as possible occurs going forward.
Racist is a tough label to ascribe to a person and I am reluctant to hang it on Trump. But if the shoe fits....
44
@Plumberb Do not be afraid to say it trump has been a racist for a long time his father also.
3
@Plumberb
I've read in this newspaper that Stephen Miller has said he wants Zero immigration, legal or illegal.
3
No this can't be right.
Trump loves immigrants. He adores them. He would marry them if he could. Or more of them.
Its just the illegal ones he wants the base to hate.
They say it all the time: "We love immigrants, just not the bad ones. Its not fair to take cuts in line. And they're felons...they took cuts in line. And, no, we don't care that that its not breaking the law, because we know they're dragging their cantaloupe legs over here to do stuff."
But now you're telling us they don't want the legal ones either?
And they're reviewing decades old decisions to get rid of the legal ones that are here?
Except the ones from Sweden?
Now he's making it so they can't be legal if they want to?
That can't be right.
64
@oogada except the Swedes don't want to stay here because our standard of living is so low! I've met quite a few people from Scandinavian countries and they almost never decide to stay in the U.S. A short visit for work or study and then they leave (the same applies to a lot of Europeans). They have affordable medical care, long paid family leave, free or affordable daycare and university education, better schools, safer food, public transportation, exponentially lower levels of gun violence, and an impromptu long weekend in Paris is much less expensive. Why would they come to a less developed country?
36
@oogada He is born of one. One that over stayed a visa and was illegally identified on a census as part of the household and married off to the son. He is hate personified.
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@Peonies
"They have affordable medical care, long paid family leave, free or affordable daycare and university education, better schools, safer food, public transportation, exponentially lower levels of gun violence, and an impromptu long weekend in Paris is much less expensive."
Well, yeah. And don't forget that Oresund thingy where your car flies out over the ocean, takes a deep breath and dives under the water and comes up in Denmark. And they have figured out how to build sky-scrapers with, um, wood.
No offense to Swedish people, I just thought if we made them feel welcome they might stay a while. Teach us a few things.
As I read this, I can't help but think the reason for closing international operations abroad by DHS is a rationalization for efforts by the White House to slow immigration in general and a stick-in-the-eye for the parts of our divided government that are unwilling to illegally curtail our refugee program (to which we are bound by international treaty and law as well as morality).
The unanticipated consequence of this will be to remove an important part of the national security safety net. DHS officials abroad provide vital, culturally-aware investigatory, security, and oversight function in countries very different from ours. Community ties to people from all countries are vital to us as a global power, a welcoming nation of immigrants, and the safety of our citizens at home and abroad.
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Now that they're newly arrived in the United States, just what are Trump's in-laws' opinions on "chain migration".
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@Jbugko
If it were me I would say, 'better them than me". It's like being among the last few to get some of those coveted Bruce Springsteen tickets.
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@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus - more like the kids that got into college because their parents bribed the school.
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Or Trump's grandfather (dodging the draft in Germany) who was admitted more than 100 years ago because he had a sister in NYC. Or Trump's grandmother (German) or his mother (Scottish).
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Cannot even call him a Republican anymore. He's an isolationist.
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@Mike No. He's a Republican. Tell it like it is.
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@Mikethats not the word that
comes to mind
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Whose idea was this? Steven Miller, Alex Jones...
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service is an agency I'm fairly certain Trump had no knowledge of.
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We spend a lot more on Trump's regular golfing and socializing weekends in Mar A Lago.
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I think that Homeland Security needs to check on Mr. Trumps immigration status. I understand that (1) there are questions as to whether his parents were in the U.S. lawfully, and (2) his actual place of birth.
Of course, if it turns out that he is not a naturally born citzien, then he may not lawfully be President and all actions that he has taken as President are null and void.
Homeland [In]Security must undertake this investigation forthwith.
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@Eugene So essentially, you are a 'birther'. The only evolution is that you have substituted Trump for Obama.
@Eugene I think everyone who is against immigration to the U.S. should voluntarily move back to the country of their ancestors. Problem solved.
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USCIS has already directed their regional offices to say "no" when Americans employed by multinationals abroad want to move back and bring their spouses with them, and use the regional office to get it done quickly. Now they are removing the regional offices so the option won't exist even on paper. I guess that at least we won't go through the motions and waste of time of asking and being refused. In that sense we'll move more quickly to starting the more-than-one-year process of applying stateside. Now if a U.S. executive wants to move back home, they know from the start that they'll have to be here alone, for a long while, before his family gets here and they won't hold out any hope that this time, the regional CIS office might just say "yes" to their request. It is clear that this government just does not care about U.S. citizens and their families.
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@Marko very sad -- and for me, brings to mind ugly policies of nationalist population engineering, where (white) citizens should marry other citizens and then produce children for the sake of the nation.
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The phrase"at the expense of legal immigration" is biased reporting. Those seeking asylum at our border are seeking legal immigration. It is the continual classification of refugees at our borders as illegal that is the problem with finding a solution to immigration in our country. I guess you only consider legal immigrants as ones who come to someone else's border. In this instance your rhetoric is no better than the President's.
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Wow- now that Trump's in-laws benefited from chain migration, no need to assist anyone else. So much winning....
"The elimination of the international division would have the most potential impact on family reunification, the cornerstone of the country’s immigration system for five decades, which Mr. Trump derisively refers to as “chain migration.”
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