This may not be for you, but ...

Post #150,176 by drewk 4/5/04 7:34:30 PM Reply	This may not be for you, but ... How many times has someone bitched about the laxity of the H1B visa program? Here is someone who was clearly entering under conditions that would seem to require one, and now people are upset at it being enforced. Granted, there is a difference between a "typical" H1B, which supposes a lack of qualified local talent; and this case, where it was the specific individual that was required. But is there an exception in the law for that? Given that I prefer enforcement of existing law to passing ever more draconian laws (which will then also be selectively enfoced), if the law as written says that someone coming here to earn money needs an H1B visa then this author should have had one. === Implicitly condoning stupidity since 2001.
Post #150,182 by rcareaga 4/5/04 8:25:39 PM Reply	I hadn't looked at it that way drewk: if the law as written says that someone coming here to earn money needs an H1B visa then this author should have had one. I confess that I never gave a thought to the scores of American novelists this pommy bastard is displacing on the so-called "lecture circuit." That hall could have been filled instead with fans of, ah, John Grisham, or...uh, Danielle Steele, or maybe some dude who does serious littrachur, like, you know, whatsisname, the DaVinci Code guy. Instead, this McEwan character snags the swag, further worsening our already dire trade deficit. Come to that, maybe we need to put some limits on the number of foreign-authored novels we allow to be published here—at the very least, any non-citizen author with books in print stateside should be required to have an H1B before entry, in case any of his work earns royalties for him during his stay. We can't be too careful. cordially, Die Welt ist alles, was der Fall ist.
Post #150,184 by drewk 4/5/04 8:52:28 PM Reply	[sigh] I knew the disclaimer wouldn't matter You know, the part where I said: Granted, there is a difference between a "typical" H1B, which supposes a lack of qualified local talent; and this case, where it was the specific individual that was required. And did you also read my explanation for why I still think it's a good idea to enforce the laws as written? That was the next paragraph: Given that I prefer enforcement of existing law to passing ever more draconian laws (which will then also be selectively enfoced) ... I'll spell it out, since you either didn't get it or chose to miss it: We already have laws which, if enforced, may have prevented some of the 9/11 hijackers from being herre. Instead of promising to enforce the laws already on the books, our government has decided to pass a whole new raft of invasive laws that would not have had any effect even had they been in place and enforced. If we're going to start enforcing existing laws, we have to enforce them as written, otherwise they're meaningless. If the visa laws say that anyone coming here to work is supposed to have an H1B, and there is no exception in the law for individual authors/journalists, then this should be standard practice for anyone coming to lecture here. If the law had not been enforced in the past, and now is being enforced, then the behavior of the border guards was exactly appropriate. And after contacting people with the pull to get the visa through quickly, he was let in. And the next time he comes he'll apply for the visa sooner. What's the problem? === Implicitly condoning stupidity since 2001.
Post #150,185 by boxley 4/5/04 9:23:37 PM Reply	your as bad as me I wont drink california wines either but for books there is a few authors out there. literature Try American Gods [link\|http://www.neilgaiman.com/about/bio.asp\|http://www.neilgaiman.com/about/bio.asp] Tietam Brown excerpt at [link\|http://www.wnyc.org/books/17964\|http://www.wnyc.org/books/17964] Craftsmen James Lee Burke White Doves at Morning Peter Bowen Thunder Horse Andrew Vache Blossom have you tried any of the above? thanx, bill "You're just like me streak. You never left the free-fire zone.You think aspirins and meetings and cold showers are going to clean out your head. What you want is God's permission to paint the trees with the bad guys. That wont happen big mon." Clete questions, help? [link\|mailto:pappas@catholic.org\|email pappas at catholic.org]
Post #150,277 by scoenye 4/6/04 1:20:35 PM Reply	This does NOT involve H1-B visas, but the B-1 A different beast entirely. It is a short-term visa for those coming to do business in the US. B-1 holders are either self-employed abroad (as in this case), or work for foreign companies doing business in the US.
Post #150,278 by drewk 4/6/04 1:28:08 PM Reply	Thanks, missed that. Does it change my point though? === Implicitly condoning stupidity since 2001.
Post #150,287 by scoenye 4/6/04 3:17:52 PM Reply	No contest to the law enforcement bit The visa waiver program very cleary prohibits what he intended to do, so this was entirely his own fault and immigration was entirely correct. But given the flammable nature of any post that mentions H1-B around here I thought it important to point out those were not involved. Plus, as we're usually fairly quick to lambaste others (as in "the world beyond Iwethey) for factual errors...
Post #150,377 by jake123 4/6/04 11:37:21 PM Reply	There are many more work type visas than H1B For example, if I were to end up working in the US, it probably wouldn't be under H1B. --\n-------------------------------------------------------------------\n* Jack Troughton jake at consultron.ca \n [link\|http://consultron.ca\|http://consultron.ca] [link\|irc://irc.ecomstation.ca\|irc://irc.ecomstation.ca] \n Kingston Ontario Canada [link\|news://news.consultron.ca\|news://news.consultron.ca] *\n-------------------------------------------------------------------

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