Colombia’s president is calling on his compatriots working without legal status in the United States to leave their jobs and return home as soon as possible.

Summary

Colombian President Gustavo Petro urged undocumented Colombian workers in the U.S. to leave their jobs and return home, promising government loans for business startups.

His call follows a diplomatic clash with Donald Trump over U.S. deportation policies, including Petro’s temporary refusal to accept deportation flights.

The dispute nearly led to a trade conflict before both sides reached a truce.

Colombia has accepted 475 deportation flights since 2020, ranking fifth among Latin American nations receiving U.S. deportees.

  • corsicanguppy@lemmy.caEnglish
    2·
    2 days ago

    Um, hi.

    Former H1b here.

    The pay’s the same. We just are stuck with the one company, as H1Bs are tied to the role, so getting fired means a moving truck; right now.

    Also H1Bs need a shitload of legal work to ensure it’s all done and back on time so we don’t have a gap. They don’t tell you this, and it’s thousands of bucks. If the company pays, then they’re already paying more for immigrant labour than domestic.

    In my case, after 5.5 years (j1+first H1) I wasn’t comfy with paying like $5k for my other H1 to be processed, just so I could be financially decimated by a car crash. I begged to work remotely - more “left it up to them” - and came home. Money exchange was good and I got another 3 years out of them.