Supreme Court and Immigration

In a 5-3 majority decision yesterday (Justice Kagan recused herself) the US Supreme Court held in Chamber of Commerce v. Whitting, that Arizona should keep the controversial bill to prohibit illegal immigrants from working. They will have mandatory E-Verify requirement for every employer in Arizona. As expected the 5 Justices who voted for this are conservative Republican justices.

However look at who brought the lawsuit. Chamber of Commerce. Why? The Chamber of Commerce does not cry out for illegal immigrants from South America. They care about businesses, and businesses in Arizona are hurting. There are some industries that simply willl not find Americans to do the job, and will be forced to relocate to other States. And Arizona will hurt economically.

Yet it is the Republican Justices who advocate for businesses. They bill themselves as the financial gurus, ruling harshly against individuals and pro business. However when the question boils down to Xenophobia vs. financial interest, Xenophobia wins in the Republican and Conservative minds.

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

Caught between State and Federal Systems

More and more States are trying to take immigration matters in their own hands and enacting punitive immigration laws for the illegal immigrants. This blog is not about illegal immigrants. This blog deals with how unnecessarily hard life is for legal immigrants, just because State agencies don't understand Immigration Law.

You need a social security number for everything. And a valid Immigration Approval notice. So lets take the case of Client C. He has an H-1B which expired on April 01, 2011. He filed for an extension on January 01, 2011. He got the receipt notice which just says its a receipt notice. But according to immigration laws his status is valid. He can work and stay in the US. However, come April 01, try and explain that to the driver's license agents in any state. They will simply not get a renewal. Without the car, it is extremely difficult for Cleint C to get to work. But if he does not work, according to Federal Immigration law his status is not valid. So yes, Client C has to get up at 4 am and take public transportation, cab or walk or bike to work.

Take the example of client B. He came to the US and married. He files adjustment of status. His wife cannot put him on any health insurance. He falls sick. Now what? They cannot rely on State welfare for his disease. And most people simply cannot afford to pay out of pocket for medical costs.

These legal immigrants are being penalized simply because States do not like illegal immigrants. And if these States enact these laws, should they at least attempt to teach their personnel the Federal Immigration laws?

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

Why I came to America

A place has a lot to do with developing people. It nurtures and fosters creativity and intellectual growth. Such was the case of impressionist Paris. Artists all over Europe converged. Art, architecture, philosophy blossomed in the cafes of Mont Marte. Same was true of Rabindranath era Kolkata. Poetry, Revolution against the British, Science, and even soccer saw their heyday in the 19th century Kolkata.

I was born though in the latter part of the 20th Century in Kolkata. A Kolkata where thoughts were stiffled, a Kolkata that was fast falling behind the rest of the Indian mileau. I went to an all girl's Catholic school, and then to Presidency college, a college that had the repute of turning out scholars and revolutionaries. Yet, the 80s Presidency College I attended, with an English major, sought to stiffle my original thoughts. If you wanted the grades, you had to conform to the pattern of writing that was "prescribed " for you. Creativity had no place.

As was the case of most women in Kolkata at that time, I was never given a chance to develop physical prowess. No gyms, no biking. And of course, wearing a swim suit in public was out of question in my conservative family. How I cursed Kolkata when I wanted to learn, but found so difficult breathing in the water for swimming in the US. It took me a whole three months before I could swim two laps without stopping. Kids learn that in one week.

On the emotional part, dating was frowned upon. Even if it was allowed, you were never allowed to date more than one guy in your life time. So you better meet your perfect match on the first date, or be doomed to an arranged marriage, where the only thing that mattered was the guy's education, ability to earn, family (ie no one was divorced, or had any bad reputation)and of course a perfect horoscope match. I take that last one back. You can bribe any priest in India, like most other things in India, and get that perfect match if your parents really wanted that match.

Yet with a billion people, things dont come easy in India. We had to work hard for the grades, and your social life depends on your standardized exam scores. Thus the value of education and hard work were ingrained in me.

So I journeyed across the ocean, and today I am proud to be an American. Law school taught me how to think analytically instead of conforming to a pattern. The society gave me the freedom to do what I wanted. I am still proud of the fact that I drove by myself from Canada to Rochester New York to see the lilac festival, a feat that Americans would take for granted shortly after I came to the US. And I can swim, run, bike, do whatever I want, in clothes that do not encumber these activities. When I see Indian women in my gym, wearing long pants and sweating like anything, I feel so glad to be an American, wearing shrots, without caring.

But also my drive to achieve and hard work propelled me forward. After graduating third highest in my law school, I practiced law, but also focussed my energy on raising my kids. A combination of American thought and Indian work ethic led my children into ivy leagues and subsequently into med school. And that is the value of America, where the thought, culture and opportunity is mingled with the old world hard work and ethics. The end result of immigration then is SUCCESS.

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

Immigration Reform

Presedent Obama is in the border town of El Paso today, stressing Immigration Reform. The border towns of Texas has recently felt the violence of the drug war on the other side. They have seen the deaths of relatives on the other side as well. And Americans, afraid of the drug war spilling over, attribute all crimes to Mexican illegal immigrants. They call for border controls.

The Republican, in the Bush era bandied along the idea of building a wall along the border. But walls like the Berlin wall do not prevent immigrants spilling over. The human species is ingrained with the survival instinct, and if there are jobs on this side, they will come. And thus the 11 million illegal immigrants stay. They have jobs. They are not given driver's license, they can be picked up and deported, they often undergo their bosses paying them next to nothing. Yet they stay. And they have children. Those children gets educated. They fall sick. They get treated at our emergencies. They have no driver's license, and hence no insurance. They hit our cars, we pay for the repair. They make money, yet dont have to pay taxes. Just doesn't make fiscal sense.

The other segment that breaks my heart are the children of these illegal immigrants. We educate them, yet we dont allow them the opportunity to work. Bills to legalize them, called the "Dream Act" routinely gets shot down in the Congress. Recently Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, (R Tex) said she did not want to legalize these people, who will ultimately become citizens and then bring over their parents. Ok, so lets educate them, and then let them sit. And their mothers are already here. Lets keep them illegal. Why let them be productive and contribute to the economy. Ratioonalization has never been a Texas trait.

However, to be fair, the Republicans do look out for business immigration. Nancy Pelosi (D, Ca) had once said, that she would legalize all illegal people, but let H-1B employers pay for them with additional fees. The H-1B small enmployers (those employing less than 25 employees) pay $ 1285/- per H-1B immigrant. They employ legal non immigrants. These small businesses would not pay this amount if they got American people who could do the job. Requiring them to pay more would simply shut many of these small businesses down. Also, many legal non immigrant, particularly those born in India and China are standing in line for years to get the immigration. Its simply not fair to grant illegal people immigration over these non illegal people as the Democrats propose.

Hopefully there will be comprehensive immigration reform, and thankfully it will not be as one sided as the health care bill.

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

Extraordinary Ability

The USCIS has just released a 'Request for Evidence" (RFE) Template for officers to use in Extraordinary Ability cases. Hopefulluy now the process will be far more standardized and not depend on individual whims of the officers. (I once was given a RFE from the Texas Service Center asking me to prove that breast cancer research was national in scope for a National Interest Waiver. Dallas, breast cancer is not the Mavs).

The template spells out many of the misconceptions that I find dealing with Scientists, especially those born in India or China who want to file under EB-1. Also I find that Scientist who were not born in India or China, want to file under EB-1 (rather than National Interest Waiver EB-2) because it is a ego boost for them.

Here are some common misconceptions:

1. Grants and money awards are not awards of National and International repute. Neither is poster award or any other departmental award. The award selection criteria has to be discussed, and the award has to be given to a national pool of people.

2. Just being member of an organization, where you can pay money and become a member is not good enough. For instance, most Immigration attorneys and I pay money to be memebrs of American Immigration Lawyer's Association.(AILA). AILA does not require its members to have outstanding achievement. You just have to hold a law license, and pay the money. This membership cannot be counted towards the Membership category of Extraordinary Ability. Moreover the membership has to be in the field of the researcher. So a Mensa Member would not qualify because it only proves that you are bright.

3. Evidence of High Salary ---- The salary has to be higher than the average people in the field. Usually this is very hard for researchers, because most universities pay the same amount.

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

Anti Immigration Stance and Xenophobia

A recent New York Times article traces the modern anti immigration movement to Dr. John Tanton.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/us/17immig.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=John%20Tanton&st=cse

The article points out that Dr. Tanton's writing reveals that he believes in genetic supremacy of the white race. In fairness, the article also points out how pro-immigration crusadors are demonizing the entire anti immigration movement by pinning it on the supremacist views of Dr. Tanton. However, the anti immigration movement is NOT a centrist movement as their proponents claim. No immigrant (legal or illegal) is taking the job of any US Citizen. Our laws make it very difficult to employ immigrants, legal or illegal. And no one will leave their country and come to the United States if they dont find jobs. And do these immigrants lower the wages? YOU BET. But thats the reality of a marketplace. If we artificially restrict movement of people and inflate our wages, then countries like China will simply fill the void. And if we restrict trade as well---- well, we will go back to the 19th Century society, and watch as the world turns. We are one world now, and the world is a mouse click away. Lets just accept this and move on. If US Citizens want a job, compete just like immigrants do.

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

USCIS and VIBE

Mainly for the I-140 the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) is now doing a new internet based check. It’s called Validation Instruments for Business Enterprise or VIBE. Through an Independent Service Provider, the USCIS can check the following information :



Business activities, such as type of business (North American Industry Classification System code), trade payment information and status (active or inactive)
Financial standing, including sales volume and credit standing
Number of employees, including onsite and globally
Relationships with other entities, including foreign affiliates
Status, for example whether it is a single entity, branch, subsidiary or headquarters
Ownership and legal status, such as LLC, partnership or corporation
Company executives
Date of establishment as a business entity
Current physical address
The USCIS is using Dun and Bradstreet to check this information. It is resulting in irritating Request for Information (RFE) about the location of the Company. D & B uses data from incorporation etc to maintain its database about companies. And they don’t update this information. Thus even though we submit tax documents etc which has verifiable information like addresses which match the I-140, the RFEs are still being sent out. In some cases the RFE refers to addresses that the Company has never used. D & B denies ever putting up the information. In another case, we had an RFE that basically had nothing to do with the D&B report of the Company, yet the RFE started with the D&B language. I guess the officers are using that template so often, that it crops up in almost all RFEs. And officers are just dong the checks and hitting the RFE button, instead of actually looking at the petition submitted.



The RFEs are also saying, “ USCIS does not require you update your record with D&&B” But yeah, do so now. Businesses may not want their information to go public, and give their competitors access to their information. Yet it seems if you sponsor a foreigner, you might have to. Big Brother dictating? You bet. Mr. Obama, aren’t you a constitution expert? What about the rule of law?



For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

Employment Based Category 1

This week the USCIS published a Statistics of its denial rates for Employment Based First Preference (EB-1) categories of Aliens with Extraordinary Ability and Outstanding Researchers categories. Extraordinary Ability is a self petition and has a higher standard than Outstanding Researcher which is petitioned by Universities and Research Institutions. The denial rate for Extraoridnary Ability has gone down. In 2010 for Extraordinary Ability was 38%, as opposed to 2008 when it was 53%. In 2009 it was 41%

However the denial rate for Outstanding Researcher has gone up. In 2010 it was 9% as opposed to an all time high in 2007 of 10%. In 2009 it was 7%

This is just statistics. It does not mean that Extraordinary Ability has become any easier. What's astounding is the very high rate of denials. Many researchers who are young and thus haven't risen to the level of Extraordinary Researchers, but were born in India or China, where an EB-2 National Interest Waiver takes forever; choose to file under Extraordinary Ability and gets denied. Their institutions do not want to sponsor them, so they self petition under Extraordinary Ability. Unless a researcher has discovered something extremely novel, which will help mankind, a post doc usually does not qualify under Extraordinary Ability.

Similarly I don't think that Outstanding Researcher has gotten any more difficult. Many of those petitions are done by the International Affairs divisons of Universities, where they are not attorneys and produce poorly written petitions.

But as with grants for researchers, immigration law does not have the ability to see the young mind thinking of novel ideas. And going back to statistics again, most extraordinary research was done when the researcher was in their prime. (Think relativity) Young minds can challenge assumptions, and rebel against established thought to produce revolutionary new discoveries. Yet lots of them were squashed because of lack of funding and some leave for greener pastures in other countries, because the immigration process under EB-2 takes too long.

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

Why we need H-1B; Because of NCAA

There is a quota of 65,000 for regular H-1B and 20,000 for holders of Master's Degree or Higher in a fiscal year. This year the USCIS has received appx 5,900 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap, and approximately 4,500 petitions toward the 20,000 cap exemption for individuals with advanced degrees so far.

But the March Madness which recently ended, embodies why we need H-1Bs. Our colleges spend way more on sports than on education. I had not heard of Butler until last year. And most people supported Butler over Duke. Cinderalla team? Sure. But we did not know about the existence of this educational institution unless there was NCAA Basketball. Same with VCU this year. There is nothing wrong with cheering for the underdog, until you realize that these are actually educational institutions. And the Coach at Butler or VCU gets paid far higher than any professor or researcher in those institutions.

In other countries there are no colege sports. College sports are not big businesses. Instead the money goes towards education. Thus we have serious, and more productive students who in turn make better workers, and hence the H-1B program.

Note to Butler, You had two turns, and still could not win. Next year funnell more money into research, so that your US Nwes and World Report ranking rises.

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

A New way for the Government to make money---Deemed export rule

Certain technology is controlled by our Government and restricted for importing to other countries. The Commerce and State Depratments issue licenses for such exports. This rule has long been in the books, but was not really enforced. Suddenly in December of 2010, the new I-129 form came in, and the form included questions about deemed export for H-1B, H1B1,L-1 and O-1A.

The employer has to first ascertain what the beneficiary's citizenship country is. Then ascertain what technology the beneficiary has access to. If the employer needs a license from the Department of commerce/State to export that technology to that person's country, then the employer has to first get the license before filing the H-1B, or deny access to the person until such license is obtained.

For large Computers Systems, usually source code is controlled, not onject code. Also sophisticated networking systems and encryptions are usually controled.


There are two types of Deemed Export regulations: the Export Adnimistration Regulations administered by the Department of Commerce, and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, administered by the Department of State. More information on these can be found at:

http://www.bis.doc.gov/licensing/exportingbasics.htm



To get the license for nationals from countries like Iran, Iraq, Syria, China and Libya is very difficult.

The penalties for violation of this law is severe. And ICE will audit employers. Civil penalties range is either $250,000 or twice the gain from the particular technology. Criminal pelalties range from upto 1 million USD, and upto 20 years prison term.

There is of course no prior evidence that anyone on H-1B ever exported any technology back home. But, Immigration is fast becoming a huge cash cow for the Government. We love to hate immigrants, and make employers who hire immigrants pay severe penalties. And in the process we will loose our competitive edge to other countries.



For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

Xenophobia failing in Arizona

We formed society and weaved laws to regulate our lives so that we can live and let live. Laws need to be for common good. Thus any law based on hatred for any group, usually fails. The tough immigration law of Arizona, based on xenophobia is failing. Arizona has been shunned by businesses across the nation. Phoenix dropped from being one of the top four destinations in the US for conventions, to being the 23rd. And Governor Jan Brewer's tough anti immigration stance has been tempered.

Arizona businesses are now strongly protesting the anti immigration law. Bowing down to business pressures, the Arizona Senate recently voted down 5 bills which included amongst other things that hospitals report police of immigration status of emergency care patients, and do away with birthright citizenship. Other conservative states like Utah are not going the Arizona way. The whole reason behind the unpopularity of the Arizona law was that it was based on xenophobia about Mexican immigrants. The hatred for them was embodied in the denial of basic services to them. And hatred for a targeted group got no one no where.

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

Immigrant Children

In the official American Immigration Lawyer's Blog, Ms. Crystal Williams disputes a "study" for the Center for Immigration Studies, an Anti Immigration group, which states that in 2009, 200,000 people were born in the US to immigrant women here who were "lawfully admitted as temporary visitor" and they are all growing up to become terrorists. Both the claims are of course preposterous. Ms. Williams reasons why the number (200,000) is impossible in her blog. http://ailaleadershipblog.org/2011/03/15/msu-on-steroids/

In this blog, I want to make a case that first generation immigrant children achieve much more than their peers who are not. I was one of those who had a child born in the US, when my husband was on a J visa at Harvard Medical School, and this is my story too.

In her book, "Battlehymn of the Tiger Mother" Ms. Amy Chua, a Yale law professor argues about how, we immigrant mothers do not have the softer way of parenting as does native American mothers. We are not concerned about hurting the feelings and self confidence of our children. We feel that if our children achieve, they gain the self confidence through admiration from teachers and other students, rather than from parents. I have "American" (I will use this term to mean US born) mother friends who say "wow" when their children get Bs and Cs. If my children got a 95, I would ask why they did not get a perfect score. The result? Both my happy healthy kids went to the ivy leagues, and are now both in med school. In both their graduations, about 95% of cum laude students were first generation Americans. My kids loved the education they got, and have already given back numerous hours in social service. They will continue to do so, because they feel for Americans. (Not to mention the high taxes they will pay as future doctors).

Would they have done this, if birthright Citizenship was not granted to them? Would these high achieveing ivy educated kids love a country that did not care for them? We would be back to the America of the 50s, with a generation of Willy Lomans if we followed the dictates of Center for Immigration Studies.

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

Peter King, Muslims, the Hysteria

Today, the Chairman of the Department Of Homeland Security in the House, a Republican from New York, Peter King testified before the House about the "growing radicaliszation of American Muslims." He has previously said more than 80% of mosques were tainted by radicalism. I wonder where he got that figure. There were two people who testified that they their relatives, (a son and a nephew) turned radical. Two out of how many muslims in this nation? Two is a trend for Mr. King. Enough to scrutinize every Muslim in America and deprive them of their fundamental right to privacy. Not to mention the humiliation.
Interestingly where were these republicans when Timothy McVeigh blew up the federal building in Oklahoma. Or during the KKK ralies? Unfortunately its so easy to target and demonize an identifiable minority group. And if America does this, can it really champion Freedom and Democracy to the rest of the world?

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

Proposed registration before filing the H-1B

The Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) is proposing a registration process before filing the actual petition for new cap subject H-1Bs. The registration will apparently take 30 minutes, and the CIS will preview the application and then give the employer the go ahead to file.

If by April 01, more than 65 K applications are reached, the the CIS will do a lottery and let lucky ones know. The rest will be kept on a wait list, and may get in if the numbers become available. If the numbers are not reached on the first day, the CIS will keep the registration open until the cap is reached.

This will hopefully be a simpler process, and cut down the amount of work, and thus the cost of having an H-1B petiton filed.

However, what we dont know is HOW LONG the CIS will take to review the registration and give the go ahead. Also not known is how much bureaucratic mess we will go through. The Department of Labor's LCA fiasco with their "inability to match FEIN numbers" come to mind. So if numbers are still available after October 01, of a given year, and an employer wants an urgent approval, she will still have to deal with first the CIS registration, and then the LCA process before she can file. Thus the purpose for which Premium processing was created so that the Employers can get somebody at the pace of the 21st Century, will become meaningless.

Also not known is how extensive this registration process will be. If the CIS needs to adjudicate substantive issues of the law, then the registration itself will be as long as the petition. Thus this whole process will be a complete waste of time and money for everyone.

The Comment period is until May 02, 2011. So this registration process will not be for Fiscal Year 2012.

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

Sputnik Moment for the arts?

This weekend I'm going out with some friends to a Korean restaurant in Houston. Not the kind of place where the menu is in Korean and the food looks like it could be in Seoul. We don't have such places in Houston, or New York, or LA. To find authentic food, other than that country, you need to travel to Canada. Why? Because we will simply not give immigration to Chefs.

President Obama reiterated our Sputnik moment, a moment when we competed with Russia in the space war and won it. And yes, we want the brightest and the best. But only the brightest and the best in Science. We give an additional 17 month work permit for foreign students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. The rest of the subjects don't matter to us. In general Extraordinary Ability visas are easier for Scientists to obtain than artists. And yes, the measly budget that the Government spends on the National Endowment for the Arts gets slashed every time, to increase budgets like the military.

As a Society we consciously chose to become a melting pot. And we did that with great success. Countries like Canada, England or France which chose multiculturalism created sub classes of immigrants with awful race relations. Yet we are not adding to our melting pot.

During New York's Fashion Week, Mayor Michael Bloomberg argued that the country's immigration policies jeopardize New York's status as "the fashion capital of the world," saying they limit visas for designers, manufacturers and, yes, models. Similarly throughout the country artistic performances get canceled because artists don't get visas. And what's strange is that most politicians, including President Obama are humanities majors. Yet until they realize the importance of the arts, I have to be content with my American version of Korean food.

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

The PERM Game

In order to do a Labor Certification, commonly known by its acronym, PERM, the US employer has to "test" the labor market to prove that no Americans are available to do the job. They do this by advertising in various places. The Department of Labor prescribes to us which particular places we can advertise. And that's where this game starts. Its a stilted process which has no resemblance to real life. We have to advertise in the Sunday edition of a newspaper. While this might keep the newspaper industry in the US afloat, in real life especially for jobs like "software engineer"--nobody reads print newspapers anymore. Then we have to advertise in the State Workforce Agency's web site. I bet you did not know that each state has a job search website run by the workforce agency. I did a google search on "Engineering jobs in Texas" and the workforce agency's website did not come up in the first two pages.

Yet when employers use a private Recruitment firm to do the "test" of labor market, they can get denied unless they have adequate documents to delineate exactly how they conducted recruitment. In re Unica Corporation, Balca 2010-PER-00006

So my advise to Employers is play the game by the DOL rules. In this game, the referee (DOL) is unforgiving, so avoid fouls by keeping meticulous records of all advertisement and recruitment report before starting to play the PERM game. If you are using any private recruitment agency, have a signed statement from them as to what they did, and keep it in the file. Follow the letter of the law, not its intent. Is this contrary to American jurisprudence? You bet.

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

Immigration Scams that you should know about

Immigration Scams are easy jobs. The immigrants are trusting, and willing to give everything for immigration. And the scam artists know that. Here are some common things to look out for:

In the United States, ALL Government web sites end with dot gov. So if the web site says dot com, dot org or anything else, it is not a Government web site.

No one, not even the President of the United States can promise immigration. In fact, President Obama's aunt, his father's sister, (someone who President Obama did not know existed) was living here illegally. The Government deported her, even though her nephew was the President. This is the United States, and this is why people want to come here.

Similarly, many lawyers in big law firms promise that they are tight with the CIS, can can process the papers faster, better. Not true. There is NO influence peddling in the Government. The biggest Immigration law firm in the United States was audited by the Department of Labor when they were suspected of illegal practices, and each and every case suffered.

Immigration lawyers can only process immigration papers. They cannot give you a job, an office for L-1 a spouse or anything. Anybody who promises that is fraudulent. A Houston lawyer was found to be doing that with L-1 visas. Now she is in jail, and all her cases are being audited.

The Diversity visa is done through a lottery. The lottery is done by computers. Many people claim they can influence the results--- NOT TRUE.

Notarios are not lawyers in the United States. They are not supposed to be practicing law. They can only attest to the fact that if someone signs, that the person is really the one signing.

And finally, check out the lawyer's credentials before hiring her. Ask questions. Most lawyers have their degrees and licenses to practice law framed in their offices. Read those to determine that it is indeed a true LAW degree. Many times a degree in a certain law: "Bachelors in Criminal Law" or "Bachelors in Environmental law" are not true JD degrees.

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

Patriot Act dying a slow death

The House Republican majority failed to pass the Patriot Act, set to expire at the end of February. The Patriot Act is the Act that denudes Americans of their privacy, enables the Government to tap into their phone, e mail, library books, etc. 26 Republicans voted against the bill, while 67 Democrats voted with the Republicans for the bill.

This shows that House delegates do not necessarily vote on party line. The Republican controlled House cannot just assume that they can pass their agenda, despite Obama holding out carrots to them with the tax bill and other recent things.

Or maybe the house members are realizing how it feels to have your privacy eroded, with the Wiki leaks.

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

Laissez Faire and Immigration

Two seemingly unconnected things happened this week, yet they are connected by a broad policy issue. The 65,000 H-1B quota finished last week. And a Florida Judge ruled that Obama's health care was unconstitutional. Yes, health care and immigration has nothing in common, but the laissez faire policy reaches out to every facet of Government.

The Florida judge ruled that the State cannot compel an individual to buy public health care. In a 78 page opinion, the judge goes back to American history, and the founding father's intentions of creating a society founded on freedom, where State does not interfere on individual's life. The Republican and tea party are rejoicing in that decision. Yet, the same people have no problem establishing quotas on business immigration.

There are only 65,000 (and 20,000 for US Master's holders) H-1B visas given annually. In years when the economy was better, there were more than 200,000 petitions filed on the first day (April 01). When the economy got worse, the filings slowed down. Last year, the numbers finished in late December, this year it was late January.

Thus filings mirror the marketplace. It is this imposition of an unnatural quota that is contrary to the founding father's intentions. Even now, there may be a doctor, who cannot give services due to the numbers, or a highly needed software professional, who cannot get an urgent work done.

Why don't we go back to the original intentions of our nation, as a Capitalist Laissez faire economy, abolish unnatural quotass, and have the market place determine what is necessary?

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

The Future is ours to win

The title is a quote from President Obama's State of the Union speech last night. Yet, my blog is not about the State of US, it is about immigration and India.

A couple of years ago, Tata Consulting Company (TCS) was found to have been violating the L-1 requirements. Since the L-1 had no set amount that beneficiaries were to be paid, TCS brought people over on a blanket L, paid them very cheap wages, and farmed them out to other companies at a cheaper rate than US Companies would. This lead to sweeping reforms of the whole L-1 visa.

Last year, several computer consulting companies, owned by Indian Americans were found to be performing many illegal activities in the H-1B visa categories. This led to the now infamous Jan 08, 2010 memo, where USCIS instituted hightened requirements for consulting companies. It also led to the H-1B site visits.

Last week, Tri Valley University was found to have been giving false student visas to Indian students. There was anything but learning going on at this California institution. There were no education standards whatsoever. In fact I personally would not grant an H-1B visa to a Tri Valley student, if I were a CIS officer. This quota is for "professionals", and if you cannot get entry into a better school, you are NOT a professional. Yet many of these "students" were former H-1B holders, who, having lost their jobs, enrolled in Tri Valley.

Indians are a minority, and when things like these happen, they get sterotyped (albeit unfairly) as corrupt, false, doing anything and everything to stay in the US. The CIS scrutinizes the petitions of all Indians more carefully than other nationalities. And the majority of hard working, and successful Indian American owned businesses suffer.

Tri Valley is in the heart of Silicon Valley. Google will be hiring 6000 people shortly. Will anyone be Indians on H-1B?

We all suffer when things like this happens. And unless we take responsibility, the acts of few corrupt, (or in the case of Tri Valley students--- stupid) individuals, will hamper India's outsourcing business majorly. The future is ours to win.

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

Immigrants, Parenting and Tiger Mothers

Amy Chua's book, "The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" has created quite a stir in the US. In it Ms Chua, a Yale Law Professor, describes her hard driving parenting style that achieves the perfect child, rather than the feel good 'Disneyesque" Western Style of parenting which does not push achievement. In the Wall Street Journal article titled 'Why Chinese Mothers are Superior", Ms. Chua defines the term 'Chinese mothers" as---I'm using the term "Chinese mother" loosely. I know some Korean, Indian, Jamaican, Irish and Ghanaian parents who qualify too. Conversely, I know some mothers of Chinese heritage, almost always born in the West, who are not Chinese mothers, by choice or otherwise

Thus it is clear that at least in Ms. Chua's view mostly immigrant mothers qualify as the over driven creators of superb children, the Tiger Moms. Why? Immigrants bring with them the drive and the focus to succeed. They choose to come to the US, (as opposed to just being born here,) fight a lot of discrimination, and make it big. The other choice for them is to go back to the life they are fleeing from. No one hands them food stamps, no one gives them Social Security. No health insurance.They have to fight for everything they get, and in the strictest Darwinian terms, for them it is the survival of the fittest. And fittest they become. And so do their children, first generation Americans raised by immigrant parents. Eventually these children become successful adults, going into ivys, having successful jobs, paying lots of taxes. And what happens to the kids of the anti immigration ralliers? Well, at best they do the blue collar jobs, at worst they become KKK members.

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

Does Immigrants actually take jobs?

Meet Mr. Patel. He came to this country from India, illegally at first, many years ago, and then naturalized. He started working at the bottom of the ladder, in his cousin's motel. He worked at least 12 hour days and saved money. Eventually he bought a motel, then another. Now he has a string of 6 Holiday Inns. He employs a lot of Americans.

Meet Mr. Ebrahim. He came from Pakistan on a visitor's visa pre 9/11. He bought a convenience store. Initially the whole family worked 24/7 to keep it going. Now he has 3 convenience store. He employs a lot of Americans.

Meet Mr. Oschwitz. He came to the US on an L-1 visa from Romania. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, and the rise of Capitalism, he opened a chain of gas stations in Romania. He brought over a million US dollars. Now he owns 5 gas stations and an apartment complex here. He employs a lot of Americans.

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

Meet Mr. Reddy. He came over from India on an H-1B, and eventually got his green card. Now he has a big Computer Consultancy Company. He employs a lot of Americans.

Meet Mr. Bose. He came over from India as a student, graduated from MIT, and has his own business where he researches and makes audio equipments. He employs a lot of Americans.

I have altered the names of these individual to provide anonymity, but the stories are true.

Do hard working Immigrants really take jobs from American Citizens? Should we ban immigration, and take away the jobs of all Americans who work for an immigrant?

The Rise of Expectation

I recently visited India, and as everybody knows was amazed by the optimism of the young Indian Professionals. They work hard, six days a week, and speak of India overtaking the world. Yet I cannot but feel that this exuberance is overblown, perhaps created by Indian media. The young middle class Indians feel they are at par with America. Yet here are the things that my Western eyes found are hindrances to its growth.

Population and Poverty---- The Young Indian Professional is completely blind to the millions of people barely subsisting on the "other side of the track." In Mumbai, there were blind children begging for a morsel of food from a fat middle aged women holding some fried pakoras. She promptly got into her car and her husband nearly ran over the little girl. Yes, I know that beggar kids are a business in Mumbai, and you can avoid them; but do you have to be mean? The haves simply do not even recognize the existence of the have nots. I would vote any day for China's one child policy.

Traffic---- Everyone gets a car, no one builds roads. The traffic jam situation is horrible. So are the dirty roads. Strangely India is more kind to their stray animals than people. Cows, dogs, monkeys, people just live, eat, defecate on the roads creating health hazards galore.

Expectations---- India has money. Yet the conditions are so bad. We in the US would complain bitterly and not accept these conditions and thus they would not happen. yet people in India take this lying down. Whatever money India has is enough to build roads, feed people, etc. But it is being stolen by corrupt politicians and their innumerable 'meetings". I was in Kolkata for 4 days. In one of those days there was a massive rally in the center of the town, paralyzing the traffic in the City. There was no elections coming up. I was told they have this situation at least every 15 days. Yet the corrupt politician get away with almost everything fueled by money from rich business people. Unless this is stopped, India will never achieve first world status.

As someone once said, "china is rising because of their Government, India is rising despite their Government." If this is the price of democracy, to hell with it. Self Government cannot be condoned for Corrupt Government.

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee

Can't we all get along?

Its a New Year- a time for a new better beginning. And with the Republicans winning most states, there will be plenty of anti immigration related bills in at least 6 or more states, following the lead of Arizona. The Republicans feel that since the federal Government won't do anything, it will be left up to the states to enact and enforce tough new immigration laws. The laws range from denying illegals right to public colleges to denying birthright citizenship to children of illegal immigrants.

It is not in anyone's interest to enact these punitive laws. The Republicans will loose the support of certain business interests. A coalition of business groups, including certain Chamber of Commerce is opposed to enacting punitive measures because certain businesses will not be able to find workers. US Citizens don't work in such jobs as poultry or construction--- hard jobs--- when they can collect food stamps, etc and survive on that. The increasing Hispanic population, which will be a major voting block in the future will also be opposed to punitive anti immigration measures.

Thus it is time for the feds, and Mr. Obama to enact a comprehensive Immigration bill. And by Comprehensive I mean both legal (mostly business immigration) and illegal immigration. Unlike the health care bill, this time the House controlled by Republicans will not bow down to an entirely Democratic agenda.

President Obama showed that he can be flexible and concede to some Republican demands. The Republicans want to better business immigration, while the democrats care about illegal people. Hopefully now that the house is Republican, and the Senate Democratic, we will be able to reach a happy median.

For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee