Russia is repelling foreign workers and scaring their own away, as well as watching a birth crisis cripple their work force. I wondered when Putin would order a new wall to stop the brain (and wealth) drain.
America has reacted reasonably well to Russia's order to slash embassy workers in Russia under these circumstances:
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow says that "all nonimmigrant visa operations" at U.S. missions across Russia will be suspended as of August 23 due to a Kremlin-imposed cap on staff at U.S. diplomatic facilities.
In an August 21 statement, the embassy said that visa operations will resume "on a greatly reduced scale" on September 1, with nonimmigrant visa interviews conducted "only in Moscow."
So visas for Russian visitors to America will be greatly reduced. Courtesy of Putin's order.
I'd be happier if we pushed immigration of screened Russian applicants to even higher levels to promote the brain drain while drastically reducing opportunities for Russians loyal to Putin to visit America for espionage, business, or vacation purposes.
