When we were in college, my blockmates and I loved to doodle “(Insert name of occupational therapy student here), OTR, OTRP” at the back of an old Padre Faura auditorium during mind-numbing medical & rehab lectures. OTRP stands for “Occupational Therapist (OT) Registered in the Philippines”. On the other hand, OTR is the suffix that OTs use when they are licensed to practice in the United States (US). Many of us enrolled in the BS Occupational Therapy program because becoming an OT was a ticket to a better life in the West while doing the noble task of helping persons with disabilities. A lot of internationally-educated OTs are still dreaming of getting their H-1B or employment-based visas even if the US now requires all foreign occupational therapy graduates to have advanced degrees. I heard that many physical therapists and speech-language pathologists from different countries also want the same.
Open Borders
Is the US still worth it though? It seems like the political polarization in the US is pushing the country to the brink of chaos, perhaps even balkanization. For example, the US government (USG) is rightfully strict in issuing visas to foreigners. Unfortunately, it seems to be biased
against unmarried applicants whose relatives migrated to the states, especially if their parents became American citizens. Or in my case, my parents have American and Canadian passports. When I applied for a tourist visa, I immediately got slapped with a 214(b) refusal. It was clear based on how the consular officer interviewed me that she was unconvinced of my intent to return to my home country because I lack family ties in the Philippines.
As for therapists applying for work visas, many will have to be selected through an H-1B visa lottery and be assessed further for their eligibility to secure a job in the US. But if the USG is supposed to be that strict, how come their southern border is open to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants with questionable backgrounds? Americans decry this all the time. Yet I don’t see enough discussion about how they will penalize employers for recruiting those illegals in the first place!
More National Security Threats
The broken immigration system is not the only confusing American policy there is. The US keeps on sending millions of aid to Ukraine, Israel, and its allies. But it also gave $6 billion worth of Iranian funds to Qatar, a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood that rules Gaza through Hamas, which is supported by the anti-West Iran. Qatar just might use those billions of dollars as some kind of an insurance while it lends its own money to Iran. Meanwhile, the USG is waging a social justice war against its own military and police forces!
US politicians claim that they want to defeat China. If that’s true, why are they deliberately contracting America’s economy with highly restrictive climate change policies while China and other countries with common sense are building up their capacities to use more fossil fuel? Not even the Philippines is stupid enough to do what the US is doing! Because green energy is insufficient and costly to produce, utilizing renewables will make it more expensive to manufacture goods, which will lead to the skyrocketing of expenses in the US. American exports will come with high prices as well, making their cheaper counterparts in China and elsewhere more affordable for the international community.
What if Trump Wins?
Donald Trump will most likely win a second term if there will be no massive cheating in the 2024 elections. The chances are that he will strive to solve the aforementioned catastrophes. Should he select a physician like Ben Carson to be his vice president, health workers might even gain a stronger voice in the Trump administration.
The problem though is that globalists are not going to let him win that easily. We’ve seen how groups like Black Lives Matter and pro-Hamas protesters have wreaked havoc in the US. Moreover, illegal male Chinese immigrants of fighting age have penetrated the US border. It’s not farfetched to think that these undesirables will launch terror attacks on US soil to prevent a Trump re-election or to block his reforms, with the help of brainwashed Americans. Remember too that the World Economic Forum (WEF) has warned of major cyber attacks that will destabilize nations.
How Allied Health Professionals Might Get Affected
If you will work as a therapist in the US, there’s a great chance that you will face grave security threats that previous generations of health workers did not experience in that country. Even the relatives whom you will sponsor to migrate with you might find themselves in dangerous situations. Moreover, they will likely struggle to find jobs while much of your income might be spent on rent or mortgage because of the housing crisis.
Am I saying that therapists no longer have a bright future in the US? Not at all! It’s just that one’s decision about whether to migrate to the US or not is now more complicated. Besides, I do think that Trump will be a force of positive change in the country if he gets elected even though he won’t be able to completely reverse America’s decline.
I hope though that the chaos that’s resulting from failed US policies will not push Trump to be the dictator that his enemies are touting him to be. Some cringey Republicans are already floating the idea of legislating laws that will enforce their twisted definition of accepted Christian behavior in the US in the name of preserving unity among the states. This deadly combination of fake Christianity and ultra-nationalism will only confirm the unfair preconceived notion that Christians are Nazis — which will bring about even more restrictions on economic freedom. How that will affect a therapist living in the US will be covered in Part 2.