Up Goes the Northern Wall: Windsor nurses working in Detroit denied entry to US

[Lowell]

The new normal? What will the retaliation be? Not good.

"Canadian nurses working at Michigan hospitals were shocked last week when border security officers stopped them from entering the U.S. because of changes to their working visas under new immigration policies.

Staff at Detroit's Henry Ford Hospital heard reports of nurses unable to renew their working visas. Last week, a new Canadian hire at Henry Ford tried to go to work, but was turned away at the Windsor-Detroit border.

Henry Ford Hospital alone has hundreds of Canadians on staff, with about 25 advanced practice nurses or nurse anesthetists with TN visas."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windso...cted-1.4026554

[Richard]

What I do not get is why the one way street when it comes to the borders,the US is supposed to have open borders but yet the borders we share are more restrictive towards crossing then we are.

Can one have a 40 year old insignificant felony and cross the border into Canada ?

How many over the road truck drivers with felonies are allowed to cross the border while on the job?

Is this medical field so speclized that American citizens are exempt mentally to perform it?

I realize the special relationship between Canada and Detroit in regards to working across the border and Canadians are our buds but name one other country that Americans can cross the border and legally work under any we hire them because we cannot find anybody else to work program.

[401don]

What I do not get is why the one way street when it comes to the borders,the US is supposed to have open borders but yet the borders we share are more restrictive towards crossing then we are.

Can one have a 40 year old insignificant felony and cross the border into Canada ?

How many over the road truck drivers with felonies are allowed to cross the border while on the job?

Is this medical field so speclized that Americans citizens are exempt mentally to perform it?

I realize the special relationship between Canada and Detroit in regards to working across the border and Canadians are our buds but name one other country that Americans can cross the border and legally work under any we hire them because we cannot find anybody else to work program.

I'm no expert but I believe it's easier for Americans to attain work visas in Canada than vice versa.

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j...49760088,d.amc

[Bong-Man]

I don't know what your personal experiences may have been, but I dispute your very first sentence. It's pretty much always been easier to get from here to there than vice-versa. Advanced Practice & Anesthetist Nurses is a specialty. I imagine for a local graduating H.S. student scoring 9% in Science, such fields might be a struggle. At least we can understand their Canadian English, eh ?

Last I looked it's a 4 year felony to knowingly employ an illegal alien. Instead of going after 20-30 million undocumented people, why not just go after their employers who are making the real money from utilizing them ? Le Orange never mentions that side...just killers, rapists, and pot growers.

[EastsideAl]

This is disgusting on every level. One of my father's favorite nurse-practitioners at HFH, who has helped treat him for several years for COPD, has apparently been kept out of the country under this idiotic ruling.

As someone who has family on both sides of the border, with a long history of cross-border commuting going both ways, and as a Detroiter/Windsorite who takes great pride in the special relationship between our cities and our countries, I can't even begin to tell you how furious this makes me. Shame on all of the people involved in this decision, particularly our dangerously willfully ignorant [[and even more dangerously mentally ill) xenophobe-in-chief.

[EastsideAl]

"Instead of going after 20-30 million undocumented people, why not just go after their employers who are making the real money from utilizing them ? Le Orange never mentions that side...just killers, rapists, and pot growers."

Because that wouldn't serve their purposes of scapegoating the working poor, and pandering to ignorant xenophobia, in order to let their rich buddies and benefactors off the hook.

[ABetterDetroit]

"Instead of going after 20-30 million undocumented people, why not just go after their employers who are making the real money from utilizing them ? Le Orange never mentions that side...just killers, rapists, and pot growers."

Because that wouldn't serve their purposes of scapegoating the working poor, and pandering to ignorant xenophobia, in order to let their rich buddies and benefactors off the hook.

^This is the exact truth of it.

[canuck]

I can't wait for them robots we all been hearing about just plain do everything for us.

No more need for Mexicans and Central Americans for tasks unrelated to agriculture may have something to do with it. The Japanese have a slew of robot caretakers for old folks homes already.

There is a bigger agenda behind all this anti-foreign woman and manpower business.

[Jimaz]

... Last I looked it's a 4 year felony to knowingly employ an illegal alien. Instead of going after 20-30 million undocumented people, why not just go after their employers who are making the real money from utilizing them ?...

Because of corruption? <gasp> I've heard those laws haven't been enforced since Reagan took office.

... Le Orange never mentions that side...just killers, rapists, and pot growers.

Another group never criticized are whoever decided to abandon American workers en masse. Sure, there are impoverished foreign workers and immigrants who may have benefited modestly from lost American jobs but the idea that these powerless groups would have had the wherewithal to plan, initiate and execute this massive scale of labor upheaval is absurd.

The real job-destroying parasitic saboteurs in power prefer to hide behind "job creator" masks.

[Richard]

I'm no expert but I believe it's easier for Americans to attain work visas in Canada than vice versa.

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j...49760088,d.amc

Not really according to this one,which also lists the high skills work visa costs upwards of $6000 CAD

http://globalnews.ca/news/2562300/he...ate-to-canada/


That is the immigration as in moving there aspect.

It is points based system,high skilled equals more points,the skills they are talking about in the op
pay $160 k two weeks on two weeks off and up to $450 k a year full time with OT
would one move to CA and work under their health care system and make the same money?

My point was every country in the world has immigration policies and it does not matter unless you are
highly skilled or spend upwards $500k an American would be hard pressed to immigrate there
and it would also be under the guise that unless you are a legal citizen of that country you
will always be subject to changing political climates.

Under their points system if you are 50 years old and unskilled then you would have a tough time.

So they are kinda like us and every other country in the world,highly skilled,youngish,are welcome provided you
follow the flavor of the month immigration policies.

Silicone valley is up in arms over this to and it kinda makes one wonder why all of this student loan debt
but yet we have to import brains.Maybe the foreigners are correct when they say Americans are stupid.

[Richard]

Last I looked it's a 4 year felony to knowingly employ an illegal alien. Instead of going after 20-30 million undocumented people, why not just go after their employers who are making the real money from utilizing them ? Le Orange never mentions that side...just killers, rapists, and pot growers.

They do occasionally to make it look good but states like Fla,Cali,Texas etc there is a whole economic sub culture going on,it is kinda like the drug trade,they will never stop it because of the billions of dollars involved so like anything else there are ways around it.

Nothing to do with le orange or le black before him it is just the way it works.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

Well, since the Apricot Mussolini is hell-bent on denying health care to Americans, maybe this is just a part of that.

I certainly feel MUCH safer knowing that Canadian nurses cannot get into the U.S. Doesn't everyone?

I currently live in Palm Springs. I already know Canadian snowbirds who are becoming reluctant to travel here. I am rapidly becoming ashamed of this country.

[Richard]

Well, since the Apricot Mussolini is hell-bent on denying health care to Americans, maybe this is just a part of that.

I certainly feel MUCH safer knowing that Canadian nurses cannot get into the U.S. Doesn't everyone?

I currently live in Palm Springs. I already know Canadian snowbirds who are becoming reluctant to travel here. I am rapidly becoming ashamed of this country.

Denying health care to Americans is Trumps fault?

Not sure about you but myself in 57 years and being a self employed veteran the only health care I have received is what I paid for and by payments if necessary so nobody recently has denied me anything that had not been done in the past.Kinda hard to be denied something that you never had to begin with.

Maybe it is just Palm Springs which would be understandable but lots of Canadians in Fla and I have not heard of any reluctance,but maybe the sunshine overrides their political condemnations.

[ABetterDetroit]

There is a bigger agenda behind all this anti-foreign woman and manpower business.

How about pushing hate, scapegoating and nationalism heavily in order to seize political power to further their own personal agenda?

Just a suggestion on account that has happened repeatedly before in politics and human history.

Big conspiracies are far more rare.

[Jimaz]

... I certainly feel MUCH safer knowing that Canadian nurses cannot get into the U.S. Doesn't everyone?...

Canadian Nurses of Mass Destruction. Sounds like a Monty Python skit. LOL!

[canuck]

How about pushing hate, scapegoating and nationalism heavily in order to seize political power to further their own personal agenda?

Just a suggestion on account that has happened repeatedly before in politics and human history.

Big conspiracies are far more rare.

Sure, but I remember traveling to San Diego's border with Mexico late one night with a friend in 1990 and witnessing the hundreds of young men waiting for foremen to choose day laborers in the morning. It was about one O'clock in the morning and all these guys stood waiting, which means that the influx was tolerated.

What if, in the very near future we are anticipating, fewer people need to be let into the US because of increasing mechanization in all sectors of the economy?

Is there not a sense of anticipation by industry leaders? I heard an article on the radio the other day about the advent of robots in households in the US. The reporters claimed 10% of homes will have robots in 2020.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

Denying health care to Americans is Trumps fault?

Not sure about you but myself in 57 years and being a self employed veteran the only health care I have received is what I paid for and by payments if necessary so nobody recently has denied me anything that had not been done in the past.Kinda hard to be denied something that you never had to begin with.

Maybe it is just Palm Springs which would be understandable but lots of Canadians in Fla and I have not heard of any reluctance,but maybe the sunshine overrides their political condemnations.

I guess you have not been following the "Trumpcare" proposals that are projected to result in 24,000,000 Americans losing insurance coverage. I'd call that denying health care.

[Richard]

I guess you have not been following the "Trumpcare" proposals that are projected to result in 24,000,000 Americans losing insurance coverage. I'd call that denying health care.

So is that in addition to the 25 million that lost insurance when Obama care kicked in?

http://nypost.com/2014/01/14/another...acare-victims/

Back to the original topic and not that it really matters but a few questions before passing more judgment.

Are the Canadian nurses paid the same wage as an American seeking the same work?

Canada has healthcare so employing Canadians the hospital would not be required to provide healthcare for a US worker?

I do not know but are US healthcare workers unionized ? Or be required to belong to a certified association and pay the yearly dues?

I guess the question would be if you took away the country difference are the positions treated the same?

Disney world replaced local workers with temporary out of country workers under the guise of being unable to fill the positions,many Americans working for a broad range of companies were forced to train their foreign replacements that were put in place under the guise of being unable to fill the positions.

This route is used to cut costs,lower salaries,de-unionize,eliminate health care obligations,and reduce pension obligations.

It is not an immigration issue that is in question,it is an issue where it is easier and cheaper to hire foreign labor to cut costs and take advantage of a system that needed to be fixed long ago.

But yes lets direct our anger against the currant president because it is his fault that this has been going on for decades and it is his fault that hundreds of thousands of kids are coming out of college saddled with debt competing for jobs that requires little or no skills.

We do not have a brain drain in this country,we have a bunch of corporations beholding to the shareholders,that requires them to throw this country and their fellow citizens under the bus and embrace the service industry so they can get 50 million dollar retirement packages.

Maybe it is time to change that.

[Jason]

Obamacare cut the number of uninsured people almost by half. All sources that are keeping track of it find the same thing.

Your article, from 3 years ago [[from the New York Post which is a tabloid...), speculates that more people lost their insurance than will gain it. That didn't actually happen. The article mentions the arguments of obamacare's "defenders", that those people are losing their current insurance but getting different insurance instead, is in fact what actually happened.



The graph itself was made by that dastardly FiveThirtyEight, but the numbers from the graph are from the CBO. You can ignore the projections side if you want to although it's not a surprise that undoing obamacare would undo the effects of obamacare. If the republican plan has a goal at all besides politics, then it's goal is not to increase coverage or reduce costs, but to cut healthcare spending out of the government's budget. They're not going to win a coverage comparison because coverage isn't the point.


As far as canadian nurses, they get hired for the same reason as american ones. They apply for the job and get interviewed and they're hired. The difference is that the HR department has a few more papers to file. There's not really anything more to it than that.

[Bigb23]

Can one have a 40 year old insignificant felony and cross the border into Canada ?

I have a 27 year old Impaired driving which is my only driving infraction since 1973. Yet that prevents me from entering Canada, and probably held at the border. Friendly open borders are a farce up here. Canadians are over the edge.

But money well spent in Michigan.

[Richard]

Here are the differences between the work visas.

Currantaly NAFTA TN as mentioned in the OP link
which clearly reads.

Permanent residents of Canada and Mexico are not able to apply for TN visas to work as NAFTA professionals.


https://travel.state.gov/content/vis...ent/nafta.html

Now go to the H-1B work visa requirements.

• A bachelor’s degree or higher degree or its equivalent is normally the minimum requirement for the particular position;
• The degree requirement is common for this position in the industry, or the job is so complex or unique that it can only be performed by someone with at least a bachelor's degree in a field related to the position;
• The employer normally requires a degree or its equivalent for the position; or
• The nature of the specific duties is so specialized and complex that the knowledge required to perform the duties is usually associated with the attainment of a bachelor's or higher degree.

https://www.uscis.gov/eir/visa-guide...b-requirements

The positions the hospital are filling require a masters degree.

The fees and time frame to apply are the same as Canada requires of a US citizen.

In short under the NAFTA TN visa I could hire a babysitter from Canada ,the H-1B visa requirement matches Canada's same work requirements for Americans and puts a stop to the abuses that others have used with free rein,so if you want to be mad at somebody be mad at where the blame should be,without the agenda.

Mr. Trump made it clear throughout his whole campaign that he was going to level the playing field and anybody that has been around for awhile should know that that is half the battle.It should really be no surprise.

[Richard]

I have a 27 year old Impaired driving which is my only driving infraction since 1973. Yet that prevents me from entering Canada, and probably held at the border. Friendly open borders are a farce up here. Canadians are over the edge.

But money well spent in Michigan.

Thats what I find ironic,it was okay to stand beside them to die in war games but because I got caught with a little bit more weed then I should have back in the day,I am not worthy of stepping on their soil.

Not that I dislike Canadians,probably because I realize that the ones that claim to be liberal are usually only that way when it is to their advantage or because it gives them a false feel good moment.

[Bigb23]

I had a Canadian salesman who was allowed to cross the border 2-4 times a day. Windsor/Detroit. Yet I was restricted by a decades old driving infraction.

[DetBill]

I had a Canadian salesman who was allowed to cross the border 2-4 times a day. Windsor/Detroit. Yet I was restricted by a decades old driving infraction.

Yes, unfortunately it works both ways.. Im Canadian, now a permanent US resident for about 5 years. One of my good friends [[ [[canadian ), has a 12 year old DUI, and he is not allowed to enter the US due to this. He now, can hire a lawyer, yearly, pay a 800.00 waiver fee and US Immigration will consider his request. Pretty crazy, great revenue generator.

[Canadian Visitor]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windso...visa-1.4030179

New Wall, torn down.