We Can Open This

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40 | Robin Berjon 41 |

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43 | 2021-06-11 44 |

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The world of immigration is not short on illogical rules and there are many situations far worse 48 | than that of non-immigrant visa holders in the US. But this situation is getting close to no 49 | coverage and it could use some light. Yesterday, The New York Times published an 51 | opinion piece asking Canada to open its border but made no mention of the United States 52 | doing the same.

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The Biden administration has been running a We Can Do This campaign to drive 54 | vaccination, arguing that vaccines can help us "press play" on lives put on pause by the 55 | pandemic. For non-immigrant visa holders, however, life remains on pause whether vaccinated or 56 | not. We cannot leave the country because, if we do, we don't know when we will be allowed back in. 57 | U.S. Consulates the world around are operating at reduced capacity, and for the most part renewing 58 | one's visa is near impossible.

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This is not about tourism. I know couples who have been separated or people who haven't been able 60 | to meet their grandchildren for over a year. Families who found themselves stuck and had to give 61 | up their jobs, find a new home and new schools, and get their belongings shipped in a crash 62 | landing. Many have not seen their family in two years and the strain is driving some to give up on 63 | their lives here. Some couldn't make it over to see relatives about to pass, or rushed to do so 64 | and cannot return.

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As Célia 67 | Belin explains over at Brookings, the U.S.'s travel ban is often unilateral. This isn't 68 | affecting a niche group nor does it have no impact on the U.S. economy at a time when increasing 69 | capacity is crucial: the U.S. issues millions of non-immigrant visas every year, even excluding 70 | temporary visitors. I know I'm having to consider the possibility that I may need to head back to 71 | Europe and find a new job by September, which neither I nor (to the best of my knowledge) my 72 | employer is excited about. At scale, the attrition in qualified workers alone could prove 73 | disruptive to the economy, not to mention the people.

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It's hard to understand what the purpose of this ban is, at the very least for the vaccinated 75 | population. If it is indeed time to unpause our lives, it might be time, too, to walk the vax talk 76 | and unban.

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