Ask HN: Tips for a canadian getting a job down south

Hi American data scientists, after a failed startup (made it to series A) I wanted to get honest tips from my peers about applying for jobs down south. I have good experience (dwave, amazon) and education (Msc) and feel I can perform. It seems like the US only hires on referral and that submitting resumes are a waste of time. I have a good project portfolio. How do firms in the states go about hiring a data scientist? Is hiring a Canadian out of the question due to Visa concerns? How can I stand out against Stanford PhD's with my lowly MSc from UBC? Thanks my data brothers!