"Must have 5 years experience in blah" kind of thing? But then you look for 4, 3, 2, 1 years of experience positions and its... now what? so you look for other roles so you can jump from one to another. Thats the candidate side to hiring. chicken an egg deal.
Been on both sides of hiring.
On the hiring side, I no longer believe in skills shortages unless there's obvious particulars. Especially when I don't see those complaining doing any human development around the issue so I rapidly roll my eyes. I've hired people with 1 year experience and gotten better applicants than 3 years. Its becoming clear we can vet people within a month. Much cheaper to bulk hire then let them go as they wash out. Oddly enough they can wash out and still often be transferred elsewhere internally with good results. Hiring for human skills like work attitude and the person's ability to execute has its benefits.
I've seen so many ads for senior this or that but nothing for juniors. So when I see "we can't find skilled people" complaints I'm no longer as forgiving as I otherwise would be.
Of course this opinion is based on my direct experience so others will likely not agree.
That’s a fair caution, and I agree with the broader point. For what it’s worth, this is a human-written account that I edited for clarity and length before posting. Tools like GPTZero tend to flag any structured, carefully written text—especially summaries of emotional events—regardless of authorship.
I think the more important question isn’t whether the prose sounds polished, but whether the situation described is plausible and whether the discussion that follows is useful. People are free to be skeptical; I’m mainly here to hear from those with relevant experience or practical advice.
Being careful about narratives cuts both ways, including being careful not to dismiss difficult stories solely because they’re uncomfortable or well-articulated.
1. You’re right that readers can’t independently verify this, and I don’t expect blind trust. I’m sharing what my friend and his family experienced as accurately as I can. They’re consulting attorneys, which limits what can be publicly documented right now. If people choose to discount the story on that basis, that’s understandable, I’m mainly hoping to hear from those who’ve dealt with similar situations or know what practical steps exist.
2. I’m not trying to generalize from a single incident or claim this is universal behavior. The point isn’t “this always happens,” but that it can happen, and when it does, the consequences for a family are severe. I’m asking how others would respond after a specific, extreme experience, not making a statistical argument.
3. I don’t see this as pushing a political agenda. This is about personal safety, legal recourse, and career decisions for a highly skilled person deciding whether to continue building a life in the US. Those are questions many people in tech—especially immigrants—face, regardless of political views.
I appreciate people engaging critically, and I’m genuinely looking for thoughtful, experience-based input rather than agreement.
