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I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA

194 points proberts | 7 comments | 16 May 25 15:05 UTC | HN request time: 1.482s | source | bottom

I'll be here for the next 5-6 hours. As usual, there are countless topics given the rapidly changing immigration landscape and I'll be guided by whatever you're concerned with. Please remember that I can't provide legal advice on specific cases because I won't have access to all the facts. Please stick to a factual discussion in your questions and I'll try to do the same in my answers.

Edit: I am taking a break now and will return later this afternoon/evening to respond to any comments and answer any questions. Thank you everyone for a great and engaged AMA so far.

1. 999900000999 ◴[16 May 25 17:22 UTC] No.44007875[source]▶
Are you seeing a downturn in people trying to come here for work. It's a shame, but I don't think any rational person should try to come here to study or work right now.

Gone are the days of attending a community college and dating girls from Korea and Japan.

And I can't blame anyone for not wasting to be destined indefinitely for trivial reasons.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/05/i-was-a-brit...

replies(1): >>44008008 #
2. happyopossum ◴[16 May 25 17:38 UTC] No.44008008[source]▶
Your comment is about coming for work or study, yet you linked to a story of someone who clearly abused/misused a tourist visa and got caught. It was an egregious enough offense that the Canadian immigration officials wouldn't even let her enter Canada under the same pretense, which is what eventually led to her arrest.
replies(1): >>44008244 #
3. 999900000999 ◴[16 May 25 18:03 UTC] No.44008244[source]▶
She literally came to coach surf and house sit.

The woman is effectively a British nanny who did chores for friends. She doesn't look like a threat to anyone.

Maybe your afraid of British nannies baking pies and changing litter boxes, I'm not.

Anyway, the proper solution at most is a life time ban and the first flight home.Not indefinite detention.

To be burnt, this is a white woman who natively speaks English. If she's having a hard time, it doesn't bold well for anyone else.

Numerous other examples exist, in most of these cases people either didn't do anything wrong or it's something that could have been rectified with a quick flight home.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/world/europe/german-touri...

Come to America, spend your money. And if you watch a friend's pets for a few days expect some good ole indefinite detention!

replies(1): >>44008601 #
4. returningfory2 ◴[16 May 25 18:41 UTC] No.44008601{3}[source]▶
The German person you link to was attempting to enter the US to work as a tattoo artist which is not allowed under tourist visa programs. I actually think the law should be more flexible and this kind of casual work should be allowed. However the law as it currently stands doesn't allow it and they were "correctly" denied entry.

The reason this person wasn't put on a "quick flight home" is because they (along with the British person) were detained at a land port of entry so there's no option to send them straight back.

In general, I think two things are simultaneously true. One is that Trump is cracking down on immigration. The second is that the media are suddenly reporting on a lot of cases -- like the German and British women -- that aren't actually new but were happening under Biden. It's just now the media has an angle and narrative such that these cases are deemed report worthy.

replies(1): >>44008968 #
5. 999900000999 ◴[16 May 25 19:24 UTC] No.44008968{4}[source]▶
These are at most trivial civil matters.

The net effect is your talking about putting non criminals in detention facilities rife with human rights violations.

As a hypothetical, if you can visit two countries and one offers the risk of indefinite detainment , which is roughly dependent on how behind the customs officials are on their quotas. Or another country that at most will just send you home, I think most will pick the country that just sends people home.

replies(1): >>44009401 #
6. returningfory2 ◴[16 May 25 20:13 UTC] No.44009401{5}[source]▶
What process would you design for handling people who are denied entry at a land port of entry?
replies(1): >>44010003 #
7. 999900000999 ◴[16 May 25 21:39 UTC] No.44010003{6}[source]▶
They can figure out a way to get people to Venezuela faster than due process, they can figure out a way to get a British nanny back to London without detaining her indefinitely.

They could of had her home within 48 hours.