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