Can someone explain to me why pro athletes get to live year-round in the U.S. and play against the U.S. in international competitions like the Olympics and the Presidents Cup? Jason Day hasn’t lived in Australia for decades, yet gets to play for Australia against us in the Presidents Cup. Will he be part of the mass deportation promised by Trump? Just wondering.
@arthurpendragon Well, yeah, he has retained his Australian citizenship, and that’s my point. Why does he get to stay in this country? Do athletes get some kind of special work visa?
@johnldeboer
I've noticed this in Olympic athletes and the NHL. Jason does have an American wife, so maybe that changes things for him.
There is a special visa, though, although I'm not sure it covers these situations.
@arthurpendragon Thanks, man. Yeah, he’s married to an American, so he could have a green card in addition to any other special work visa he might have. It just bugs me, though, that he chooses to be an “American” in his daily life but chooses to be “un-American” when it comes to golf.
@johnldeboer do the Olympics or similar event matter?
@MookyTroubadour I don’t get your point. You mean, compared to war and climate change and human misery they don’t matter? Well, can’t argue with that!
@johnldeboer well, for sure in that example, but I’d suggest even more. The Olympics aren’t much of a thing (at least this is my view), so spending too many cycles trying to make sense of what they do doesn’t seem worth the effort.
@johnldeboer In many cases, those athletes are not US citizens, so they're competing in the country of their citizenship.
The US basketball team took the gold despite many NBA players playing for their original country. They missed out on gold for that, so... 🤷
@sfleetucker I know they’re not U.S. citizens, but they’re allowed to live here indefinitely, it seems. My question was why, and why they’re then allowed to compete against Americans - some of whom are their neighbors! - in international events. If they get permanent resident status here, they should have to give up their right to compete against us for the country of their birth. Jason Day can remain an ex-pat Australian, just not be allowed to compete as an
Australian when it suits him, IMO.
@johnldeboer
1) Does he retain his Australian citizenship?
2) Opportunity to play in competitions when they wouldn't make the US team