Having been through the US immigration process (I got my first work visa more than 25 years ago and became a citizen in 2022), it's obvious to me that Americans have *no idea* how weird and tortuous their immigration system is:
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@Thumper1964 @pluralistic @NicksWorld Most racists donβt know that they are racists.
Most fish donβt know what water is.
@ChemicalEyeGuy @Thumper1964 @pluralistic There are things that you would have to know if you're racist, for example, if you said the N-word in front of a Black person, you['d find out how bad taht really is so then you'd know you're racist, especially if you said it in a sentence where its malicious.
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@pluralistic Why would anyone - especially a canadian - even want to be s US citizen, is beyond me!
@pa27 @pluralistic
This essay might help explain itWhenever I despair about my country (which is often) I reread this
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Having been through the US immigration process (I got my first work visa more than 25 years ago and became a citizen in 2022), it's obvious to me that Americans have *no idea* how weird and tortuous their immigration system is:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/52177745821/
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2026/02/06/doge-ball/#n-600
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I'm surprised about your experience. As a European, I thougt, that #USο»Ώ/ο»Ώ#Gilead (and other American) #immigration works as easy as:
"You go there, kill the existing population, and settle. Optionally, BYOS (bring your own slaves) from elsewhere."
It used to be like that. Good ol' times.
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@ChemicalEyeGuy @Thumper1964 @pluralistic There are things that you would have to know if you're racist, for example, if you said the N-word in front of a Black person, you['d find out how bad taht really is so then you'd know you're racist, especially if you said it in a sentence where its malicious.
@NicksWorld @Thumper1964 @pluralistic Lotta racists have used the n-word in malicious ways and directed at Black people, and yet they continue to believe that they are not #racist. https://youtu.be/9uvJzr0zZvk?si=0yFL6rDo5pSh0BL2
Long term #CognitiveDissonance causes #mentalhealth problems.
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@ChemicalEyeGuy @Thumper1964 @pluralistic There are things that you would have to know if you're racist, for example, if you said the N-word in front of a Black person, you['d find out how bad taht really is so then you'd know you're racist, especially if you said it in a sentence where its malicious.
@NicksWorld @Thumper1964 @pluralistic Lotta racists have used the n-word in malicious ways and directed at Black people, and yet they continue to believe that they are not #racist. https://youtu.be/9uvJzr0zZvk?si=0yFL6rDo5pSh0BL2
Long term #CognitiveDissonance causes #mentalhealth problems.
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But the US citizenship test is the *easy* part. That test sits at the center of a bureaucratic maze that no American could find their way through.
eof/
That the system is impossible to navigate without error is a feature, not a bug.
The inevitable errors go unnoticed, so long as no one in power has reason to notice them.
They get the immigrants they want, and an easy way to get rid of people they don't want.The aim of a police state is to make it necessary to commit crimes to survive. The police choose which crimes to enforce, and which not, and that gives them power over people.
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@pluralistic yeah, I'm sorry but I'm tired of
"'by international standards"
as a stand in for Britain, Canada, Europe & America
We may or may not have a shit process, but I doubt you researched the rest of the world to determine what is "normal"
I live in Japan, and good luck becoming a full-time resident here
No one claims to believe that Japan welcomes immigrants.
That said, someone I know has just managed to get Japanese citizenship, and it was tough, but not as bad as what was described above.
Tough but fair, perhaps.
@codebyjeff @pluralistic -
@jcsteh @pluralistic I have lived in the United States for nearly 30 years. The only thing left was the interview, but I withdrew my citizenship application in 2017. You can probably guess why.
Comedian Ronny Cheng said that applying for citizenship under Obama and getting Donald Trump was like going to see Beyonce and getting Donald Trump.
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Having been through the US immigration process (I got my first work visa more than 25 years ago and became a citizen in 2022), it's obvious to me that Americans have *no idea* how weird and tortuous their immigration system is:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/52177745821/
--
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2026/02/06/doge-ball/#n-600
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@pluralistic the cruelty is of course the point.
It's similar here in the UK. "If only they came here legally", the Reformers cry about refugees arriving on small boats. As if A) this isn't actually legal and B) this doesn't only happen because all practical routes have been shut down by the government.
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Having been through the US immigration process (I got my first work visa more than 25 years ago and became a citizen in 2022), it's obvious to me that Americans have *no idea* how weird and tortuous their immigration system is:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/52177745821/
--
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2026/02/06/doge-ball/#n-600
1/
@pluralistic
Whenever anyone says they're "proud to be an American" I congratulate them on getting through the US naturalization process, which is difficult. If they respond they were just born there, I have to say "dude, your parents did that, not you!" -
not to waste your time in things I can look up, but what could people do efficiently in other countries that they couldn't do in the US?
Full disclosure: My wife is Japanese and had a green card in the US before we moved to Japan
We didn't follow through to her becoming a citizen, but what we did to deal with her green card involved a total of 1 meeting and a couple of forms
I have seen how others around us who weren't coming from a first world country to marry an American were being treated - I'm not trying to defend that
I'm challenging the statement that it is worse than applying in other countries
Honestly, I skimmed the main article and found it full of emotions and low on facts and nothing at all like what my wife went through
But I WILL admit that US govt processes are a mare's nest. Often times, ironically, in an effort to be fair.
Also, ironically - this complaint against American bureaucracy is one of MAGA's biggest compliants
@mavnn @pluralistic @codebyjeff
You're not wrong. Every country tries to make it hard for poorer people to immigrate. I'm married to a very organized white woman who drowned the application in documents. It went smoothly since it is the most straightforward and easiest way to become a citizen. And we had it easy. Even then the vagueness of questions that put you at risk of defrauding is immense. We didn't have chatbots 4 years ago when I was in the process but the time we spent on the phone was huge. And there are mistakes that happen (by their agents) and there's no way you can iron out those with a chatbot. The system is built so it is complicated, frustrating and in a way, in the end if they choose to, they can blame you for false information and escalate it to defrauding and cancel all out. So you can feel it's not an honest system. -
@pluralistic
Whenever anyone says they're "proud to be an American" I congratulate them on getting through the US naturalization process, which is difficult. If they respond they were just born there, I have to say "dude, your parents did that, not you!"Well, in my case I had some great-great-great ancestors who fought to make this a country in the first place. But, yeah. Being 'born in the USA' is like being 'born rich'. You didn't do anything to earn it, you just got lucky in terms of which womb you popped out of.
Oh, and as for being proud of my ancestors? Not so much. Others did terrible things to indigenous peoples or were on the wrong side of the Civil War.
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Having been through the US immigration process (I got my first work visa more than 25 years ago and became a citizen in 2022), it's obvious to me that Americans have *no idea* how weird and tortuous their immigration system is:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/52177745821/
--
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2026/02/06/doge-ball/#n-600
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@pluralistic Horrendous. I'm a privileged white guy who emigrated to the U.S. on a green card in 1977. No lawyers. I made one visit to the U.S. Embassy in London, and after a short outsourced medical exam, the Ambassador shook my hand and said, "We're glad you're coming to the United States."
Didn't even think of becoming a citizen until 1994. No lawyers. The paper application was easy to fill out. After an interview, I was "naturalized" at a surreal ceremony in Derby Line, VT.
No more.
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Having been through the US immigration process (I got my first work visa more than 25 years ago and became a citizen in 2022), it's obvious to me that Americans have *no idea* how weird and tortuous their immigration system is:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/52177745821/
--
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2026/02/06/doge-ball/#n-600
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@pluralistic Another another Canadian who had to deal with it (in my case through marriage which is supposedly the easiest path) it still took close to 8 years and more lawyers fees and application fees than I care to think about.
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Having been through the US immigration process (I got my first work visa more than 25 years ago and became a citizen in 2022), it's obvious to me that Americans have *no idea* how weird and tortuous their immigration system is:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/52177745821/
--
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2026/02/06/doge-ball/#n-600
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@pluralistic That sounds awful!
And I'm German. Used to well-crafted bureaucratic mazes of considerable size. And very aware that our bureaucracy is also much harder for immigrants and other less privileged groups.
But I think it's not *that* cruel. And does not have *such* open ties to capitalist profit-seeking by immigration lawyers et al.
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@pluralistic Fair point, but I'd rather not live there at all!
@pa27
This was my logic too - you get more rights, in theory. And it used to be a better place to live. Great? Maybe not. But better. -
@pluralistic Horrendous. I'm a privileged white guy who emigrated to the U.S. on a green card in 1977. No lawyers. I made one visit to the U.S. Embassy in London, and after a short outsourced medical exam, the Ambassador shook my hand and said, "We're glad you're coming to the United States."
Didn't even think of becoming a citizen until 1994. No lawyers. The paper application was easy to fill out. After an interview, I was "naturalized" at a surreal ceremony in Derby Line, VT.
No more.
@pluralistic @ASegar I got a US visa in 1973 at the Embassy in London. Filled in a small form, went to collect passport with visa "valid indefinitely for multiple applications". Never went in the end.
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Having been through the US immigration process (I got my first work visa more than 25 years ago and became a citizen in 2022), it's obvious to me that Americans have *no idea* how weird and tortuous their immigration system is:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/52177745821/
--
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2026/02/06/doge-ball/#n-600
1/
@pluralistic I've always wondered why I hear so much more about "undocumented immigrants" in the USA than anywhere else
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@pluralistic Horrendous. I'm a privileged white guy who emigrated to the U.S. on a green card in 1977. No lawyers. I made one visit to the U.S. Embassy in London, and after a short outsourced medical exam, the Ambassador shook my hand and said, "We're glad you're coming to the United States."
Didn't even think of becoming a citizen until 1994. No lawyers. The paper application was easy to fill out. After an interview, I was "naturalized" at a surreal ceremony in Derby Line, VT.
No more.
@ASegar @pluralistic Mine was in a federal court, where we handed in green cards and had this whole ceremony with a video (and signed letter) from Obama, reciting the pledge of allegiance, a lecture on how important voting is, etc. Is that what it was like back then?
I always wondered how it evolved over time, presumably becoming increasingly patriotic.
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@ASegar @pluralistic Mine was in a federal court, where we handed in green cards and had this whole ceremony with a video (and signed letter) from Obama, reciting the pledge of allegiance, a lecture on how important voting is, etc. Is that what it was like back then?
I always wondered how it evolved over time, presumably becoming increasingly patriotic.
@tehstu @pluralistic My naturalization ceremony was surreal because it was organized by the INS and included a) a bunch of VFW folks marching down the aisle, and b) a "comedian" who told jokes, supposedly about Vermont, that weren't funny.
When our kids were naturalized (such a weird term), they had a lovely ceremony in Federal court, where the judge, in a moving speech, said this was the best part of his job.
