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| ▲ | bruce511 a day ago | parent | next [-] | | Thank you for posting. I'm being sincere. I think it is helpful to remind folk that these policies are not universally hated. Indeed a majority of voters voted specifically for them, and they were explicitly laid out. This is democracy in action. The majority (of those who care enough at all) get to rule over the minority (and the apathetic). Obviously not all actions will be universally loved, but no govt action can ever be universally loved. | | |
| ▲ | thaumasiotes a day ago | parent | next [-] | | > This is democracy in action. The majority (of those who care enough at all) get to rule over the minority (and the apathetic). I've always been confused about how "democracy" is good, but "tyranny of the majority" is bad. | | |
| ▲ | FeepingCreature a day ago | parent [-] | | Well, for one you're not supposed to use a majority vote to abolish democracy, or mess with unalienable rights. You can think of it as "democracy with precommitment". | | |
| ▲ | ipsod a day ago | parent [-] | | In other words, it's not democracy, it's a democratic republic. The democracy is constrained by the constitution. |
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| ▲ | ActorNightly a day ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Its also helpful to remind folk about why someone would hold this position. The largest reason US got to where it was at least in the world economy stage was because of the visa program. It was the country everyone wanted to move to, because you can apply your skills, make money, start a business, with very little restriction comparatively, buy a house, and live your dream life. The more people wanna work, the more opportunities there are for work. Any time money changes hands, like in salary for work, this grows the economy, which further creates new jobs. If someone is for this type of restricted immigration, then you should have a clear cut position on why you think things being more expensive, less available, and overall lower economic activity (which affects things like one being able to get a mortgate or other loan, and so on) is generally better for the country. Because if they don't have those reasons, or have ones that are not rooted in reality than the position comes from xenophobia and racism in 99% of the cases. | | |
| ▲ | eudamoniac a day ago | parent [-] | | Countries are not merely economic zones..! While I don't even agree with you (skilled immigrants are very different from unskilled), even if I did, anti immigration sentiment is largely about culture. I would prefer to live in my own culture than to be slightly richer in someone else's culture. | | |
| ▲ | ActorNightly 16 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Yeah thats called xenophobia. It be valid point if you cound point to a set of traditions and beliefs that defines what American culture is, but modern American culture is literally an average over contributions from different cultures due to all the historic immigration. | | |
| ▲ | eudamoniac 16 hours ago | parent [-] | | You are a fish unaware of the water. America doesn't have a culture? If I move from America to India or Japan or Brazil I will not experience a cultural difference? This is an asinine statement. Orange is an average over red and yellow, and it's certainly not green. I refuse to be abashed of liking my culture more than some other ones. | | |
| ▲ | bruce511 11 hours ago | parent [-] | | He's not saying the US doesn't have a culture. He's saying the US is large and diverse and has multiple cultures. Thus trying to define "American culture" is difficult. The point is valid, but perhaps not relevant. Broadly, yes, Americans are easy to spot abroad. Attitude, behavior etc are all part of culture. Yes, an American from NY and one from Alabama will have massive differences, but culture (anywhere) doesn't mean that people are all the same. Deep down, if you substitute "culture" for "race" in most (not all) conversations you get a much closer understanding of the real problem. For example the first lady is an immigrant, but clearly the right kind. |
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| ▲ | SmirkingRevenge a day ago | parent | prev [-] | | In the US, anti-immigrant sentiment is often the highest in regions with relatively few immigrants, far away from the border. The less that immigrants are part of peoples daily lives, the more people seem to fear for their "culture". Presuming to have any real agency over the evolution of human culture also seems misguided. Culture is like a river, in that "no man ever steps into the same one twice". It's constantly changing in unpredictable ways, from generation to generation or even within generations, with or without immigration. That goes for the cultures of immigrants also. | | |
| ▲ | eudamoniac 21 hours ago | parent [-] | | The more people stand to lose, the more they fear losing it? shocking. (I don't even think that's true. Southern border states are a lot more concerned with illegal crossings than anywhere else. People who have to live near ethnic ghettos have a bigger problem with them than the coastal elites pushing for it. Etc) Pretending that importing millions of foreigners will not affect the culture whatsoever is just a dumb or disingenuous argument, sorry. We already see a microcosm of it with Indian tech workers, having constant scandals about only hiring other Indians of their caste, and with the southern border states having dual spanish language signs everywhere. UK has issues with Islamic tension today already. It is so fundamentally obvious that mass immigration from non-western cultures will produce non-westernized cultural changes, that otherwise wouldn't happen, that I have to just assume you are intentionally pretending not to understand that. | | |
| ▲ | SmirkingRevenge 18 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | > The more people stand to lose, the more they fear losing it? shocking. No - the less real exposure a person has to immigrants and their communities, the more dehumanizing anti-immigrant rhetoric has a chance to substitute for real experience. > Southern border states are a lot more concerned with illegal crossings than anywhere else Southern border states are also generally filled with a lot of people who actually know, from experience, that illegal border crossings and immigration are not the same thing. > the southern border states having dual spanish language signs everywhere The humanity! There will always be cultural diffusion along borders, no immigration policy is ever going to change that reality. The lives of people on either side are integrated in real tangible ways despite the lines on maps. And the reverse is also true, of course. Mexico is filled with English speakers and it's quite easy to get around there without speaking a lick of Spanish. It's a great place to visit. > Pretending that importing millions of foreigners will not affect the culture whatsoever is just a dumb or disingenuous argument The argument is more that any predictions about the future of culture or efforts to steer it one way or another are mostly futile, and likely more inspired by ones prejudices and irrational fears. Whatever it is that you are afraid of losing - you probably won't - or if you do, the immigrants probably weren't the ones who took it from you. (It's actually way more likely that some piece of technology, maybe built by some people on this very site, will be the thing that kills your culture) | |
| ▲ | menuthrowaway 19 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | [flagged] | | |
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| ▲ | a day ago | parent | prev [-] | | [deleted] |
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| ▲ | testbjjl a day ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | But will remain anonymous and are okay with the collateral damage. My suspicion is that competition makes you feel insecure. I was born and raised in SF, and I see this not only with immigrants but also from people who feel violated by migrants. There is a spectrum. It’s ugly, short sighted and unhelpful. It’s what it takes to make the valley, but people love pulling up ladders. At least, behind an alias, you’re will to acknowledge your shortcomings. | | |
| ▲ | cheonc720 a day ago | parent [-] | | > But will remain anonymous and are okay with the collateral damage. Have you worked at a tech company in 2026? Plenty of engineers, born in India/China and working in Silicon Valley, are openly anti-immigration. And I also support them since I agree with them. Pull up the ladder once you’ve made it. Nothing new. | | |
| ▲ | bubblethink a day ago | parent [-] | | This is not X or blind. You created a new account just to post drivel? | | |
| ▲ | cheonc720 a day ago | parent [-] | | > > Plenty of engineers, born in India/China and working in Silicon Valley, are openly anti-immigration > This is not X or blind. You created a new account just to post drivel? Tell me you don’t work at a tech company, without telling me you don’t work at a tech company | | |
| ▲ | testbjjl a day ago | parent [-] | | Tell me how bitter you are without telling me how bitter you are, anonymously. You’ve let your bitterness infect your happiness and think no one can see you regurgitating your lack of self worth all over your shirt. Can we agree these are actions of a coward, you’re attempting to label as democracy and that it accomplishes nothing because no one reading this has authority? |
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| ▲ | hvb2 a day ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | I would genuinely like to understand how you square this with the current president being known to leverage a lot of low/unskilled temporary workers visas. If these weren't issued he would need to hire Americans? Sources:
https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2026-01-30/the-trump... https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacheverson/2025/06/12/trump-or... | |
| ▲ | jandrese a day ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | This feels like one of those times where it is easy to vote for a policy when the effects are on a vaguer or populational level, but when you actually meet or make friends with someone affected it takes on an entirely new light. I mean this is how gay marriage flipped, enough people got to know their homosexual friends, neighbors, or even family members and realized that the policy was hateful against someone they cared about and the stated harms were clearly rediculous when put in the context of that real person you know. | | |
| ▲ | franktankbank a day ago | parent [-] | | Personally I found Indians to be cloistered, two-faced and loose with the truth in my work. |
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| ▲ | tenuousemphasis a day ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Hey, if all it takes to get the government to hurt those immigrants is electing a narcissistic pedophile to the highest office of the land, then so be it. | |
| ▲ | ActorNightly a day ago | parent | prev [-] | | Its kinda crazy to me that someone on HN can get upvoted for prioritizing xenophobia and racism enough to vote for convicted felon pedophile for president, but I guess thats the world we live in. Im REALLY hoping that Trump manages to actually successfully coup the government this time around, cause the only way forward is for American populace to start experiencing actual hardship without the Democrats coming in and fixing everything then getting blamed for "bad economy". | | |
| ▲ | swat535 a day ago | parent [-] | | I'm a Canadian but I don't understand this sentiment towards Americans. I think that citizens of a country should have a say in their policies without it being called "xenophobia". Could some vote for these policies because of "xenophobia" ? possibly but not all. From what I've gathered, the primary reason Republicans won the election was because a portion of Americans felt unheard and the party gave them a voice. I'm not obliged to like it but I feel like pushing people like the parent away is precisely why United States is caught in a quagmire right now. Obviously, Canadians have a very different view than Americans regarding immigration but nonetheless, the will of people should be respected. | | |
| ▲ | ActorNightly 16 hours ago | parent [-] | | Trump won because of apathy.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Infographics/comments/1gms8gb/the_2... The critisism isnt about the policy on immigration. The critisim is about analogously giving a convicted felon a flamethrower to use on your house to get rid of unwanted bugs and thinking that its the right solution. All while also crying about small government all the time. That kind of thinking is pretty much on par for modern conservatives though. The truth is llegal immigration in the sense of criminals coming here was never a problem. Most of the "illegal" immigrants were coming here by abusing the generous asylum system. And furthermore, they were coming here for work opportunity, not to leech from the system. The border bill that Biden had in plan would have fixed that. Trump told Republicans to veto it because it would hurt his chances. |
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