They pay taxes. They fund programs they may never benefit from. It’s time we talked about visa holders as what they are: vital workers, not temporary burdens.
There's another twist to the benefits of visa holders....there are tax-paying Americans like me who provide services to those visa holders. In my case, I provide Accent Reduction services to them. My clients care deeply about doing their best to communicate clearly with everyone around them, so they invest in my services. What will happen to my business if no one is allowed to come on these visas? Where are they going to find all the software engineers to replace the visa holders? Seems like every company I work with has loads of engineers on visas. Never mind that our culture is far richer from the experience of knowing people from other countries. It's all just idiocy on steroids with destruction as the goal.
Thank you for providing that point of view. When I did my research for this that never crossed my mind. This directly effects people on so many levels. There will be another article on this subject..
Here's another take on it....here in the San Francisco Bay Area, a wonderfully multi-cultural part of the world, where it's not uncommon for me to hear 5 different languages on my daily walk in our regional park, loads of immigrants work in the health care system.
I had a heart procedure late last year at wonderful, world class UCSF. Of the many staff I interacted with, there were 2 white males. One was my doctor and the other a nurse, though he was a Canadian immigrant. So many of the staff were immigrants, as evidenced by what they told me and their accents. There is a nursing shortage in the US, so nurses from Korea, the Philippines, Canada and other countries are regularly recruited.
What's going to happen when folks need to have heart surgery and guess what? Not enough staff to do procedures.
Never mind the excellent care provided. Though she wasn't an immigrant, my Puerto Rican anesthesiologist was hands-down the best I've ever had - and I've had 6 heart procedures. Medical centers like UCSF are able to attract the very best in the world. It is sheer idiocy to attack immigrants and cut off visas.
We all benefit greatly from the hard work of the immigrants in our country.
This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart, as I have spent decades in this world. In fact, maybe I'll write a series, too!😊
There is the entire profession of Teachers of English as a Second Language that would also be impacted by drastic cuts to immigration. The college teacher training programs, intensive English programs, community college programs, universities that attract lots of foreign students and their out-of-state tuition, all of it would be impacted, along with all of the support services in those institutions.
Frankly, if the ESL teachers were put in charge of the world, it would be a better place!
On a daily basis, all over the country, ESL teachers are creating community, facilitating learning, cultural understanding, training job skills, teaching language basics, helping immigrants get settled, and warmly welcoming them along with refugees, visitors and international students.
Often teachers are doing this in rooms full of people from all over the world. I've taught groups from 12 different languages and countries gathered together in one room. In beginner classes, no one speaks a word of English.
It's really not that hard to set a tone of safety, empathy, and kindness that allows these groups of strangers to become friends and support each other as they learn, even starting without a word of English. Time and again, I've witnessed this. We focus on our shared humanity and common goal of learning English rather than our differences.
This is why I think the ESL teachers should be in charge. :)
We see on a daily basis that it's possible for us to get along, even from very different backgrounds.
ESL teachers help survivors of war create new lives. The tales I've heard! Anyone from Afghanistan likely has a harrowing tale of walking across mountains to escape the Taliban, leaving everything behind.
These students work hard and want to succeed. They spend hours and hours learning the language so that they can try to fit in and contribute. So much goodwill is nurtured in ESL classes. Another form of soft power. I once taught USAID scholarship recipients in Morocco who would come to the US for graduate studies. I imagine that's been cut, too.
These people being disappeared could have been any one of my wonderful students. It is absolutely sickening what this regime is doing.
There's another twist to the benefits of visa holders....there are tax-paying Americans like me who provide services to those visa holders. In my case, I provide Accent Reduction services to them. My clients care deeply about doing their best to communicate clearly with everyone around them, so they invest in my services. What will happen to my business if no one is allowed to come on these visas? Where are they going to find all the software engineers to replace the visa holders? Seems like every company I work with has loads of engineers on visas. Never mind that our culture is far richer from the experience of knowing people from other countries. It's all just idiocy on steroids with destruction as the goal.
Thank you for providing that point of view. When I did my research for this that never crossed my mind. This directly effects people on so many levels. There will be another article on this subject..
Thanks 😊
Here's another take on it....here in the San Francisco Bay Area, a wonderfully multi-cultural part of the world, where it's not uncommon for me to hear 5 different languages on my daily walk in our regional park, loads of immigrants work in the health care system.
I had a heart procedure late last year at wonderful, world class UCSF. Of the many staff I interacted with, there were 2 white males. One was my doctor and the other a nurse, though he was a Canadian immigrant. So many of the staff were immigrants, as evidenced by what they told me and their accents. There is a nursing shortage in the US, so nurses from Korea, the Philippines, Canada and other countries are regularly recruited.
What's going to happen when folks need to have heart surgery and guess what? Not enough staff to do procedures.
Never mind the excellent care provided. Though she wasn't an immigrant, my Puerto Rican anesthesiologist was hands-down the best I've ever had - and I've had 6 heart procedures. Medical centers like UCSF are able to attract the very best in the world. It is sheer idiocy to attack immigrants and cut off visas.
We all benefit greatly from the hard work of the immigrants in our country.
This will require a deeper dive article, possibly a series. Thanks 😊
This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart, as I have spent decades in this world. In fact, maybe I'll write a series, too!😊
There is the entire profession of Teachers of English as a Second Language that would also be impacted by drastic cuts to immigration. The college teacher training programs, intensive English programs, community college programs, universities that attract lots of foreign students and their out-of-state tuition, all of it would be impacted, along with all of the support services in those institutions.
Frankly, if the ESL teachers were put in charge of the world, it would be a better place!
On a daily basis, all over the country, ESL teachers are creating community, facilitating learning, cultural understanding, training job skills, teaching language basics, helping immigrants get settled, and warmly welcoming them along with refugees, visitors and international students.
Often teachers are doing this in rooms full of people from all over the world. I've taught groups from 12 different languages and countries gathered together in one room. In beginner classes, no one speaks a word of English.
It's really not that hard to set a tone of safety, empathy, and kindness that allows these groups of strangers to become friends and support each other as they learn, even starting without a word of English. Time and again, I've witnessed this. We focus on our shared humanity and common goal of learning English rather than our differences.
This is why I think the ESL teachers should be in charge. :)
We see on a daily basis that it's possible for us to get along, even from very different backgrounds.
ESL teachers help survivors of war create new lives. The tales I've heard! Anyone from Afghanistan likely has a harrowing tale of walking across mountains to escape the Taliban, leaving everything behind.
These students work hard and want to succeed. They spend hours and hours learning the language so that they can try to fit in and contribute. So much goodwill is nurtured in ESL classes. Another form of soft power. I once taught USAID scholarship recipients in Morocco who would come to the US for graduate studies. I imagine that's been cut, too.
These people being disappeared could have been any one of my wonderful students. It is absolutely sickening what this regime is doing.
I would love to pick your brain 🧠 for information.