Posts
Arizona, (or at least the Maricopa County) wants to do away with the US Constitution altogether. The feds have sued the county because they engaged in willful discrimination, illegal searches and seizures and English only policy in their jails. The feds asked for documents 15 months ago, and Maricopa county has not complied.
Obviously Maricopa is hiding something. I am willing to bet that many of those Hispanics or brown people (and I'm sure they are legal or else Sheriff Arpaio would have either killed or have them deported already) is being detained for no legal reasons whatsoever. If the Sheriff is a confirmed racist, the jury will not be any different.
Meanwhile the Pew Research Center released a study saying that most illegals have left Arizona and the number coming into the US has declined.
Arizona does not want to follow the principles of the US Constitution. Yet it wants to be a part of the US? Why get the benefits of the federal dollars, if you cannot maintain the tolerance that is the hallmark of the US. And even John McCain, who with Senator Kennedy had once introduced the best comprehensive immigration bill in the Country ever, is now anti immigrant. He even said that most accidents are caused by illegal immigrants! What a Republican can do for votes.
Wonder if what Sheriff Arpaio's forefathers would do if the Native Americans tried to deport them.
For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Prevailing Wage and H-1B
The Department of Labor (DOL) just penalized a Company in Atlanta (Smartsoft International Inc) one million dollars for not paying 135 of its H-1B employees the prevailing wage. In this blog I am NOT defending Smartsoft. If they promised the DOL that they would pay a certain amount to their employees, they should do it. And many Indian run companies operate as they do in India, abusing employees. They forget that employees here have recourse that they would not in India.
However this blog is about fairness where prevailing wage is concerned on the part of the DOL. They just came out with a new prevailing wage system, where most wages are higher than the previous prevailing wage. We are in the midst of a recession, the rate of employment now is higher than it has been in at least a decade. Soon deflation is going to be the reality in the USA, but not in the world of the DOL's Prevailing Wage. Thus if Smartsoft was paying its H-1B workers the same as their other US Citizen workers,(and I don't know if they were or not) would that be a crime? After all isn't Prevailing Wage the Wage that is "prevalent" at a particular place? And why would an employer pay more when there are 50 people who will do the same job for less?
I think the US has realized that they have a cash cow in employment based immigration. H-1B and L-1 fees for certain Companies (mainly Indian Computer based companies) were raised to pay for US border security. Companies don't have compelling stories, and the democrats don't like them. But these small companies will simply outsource the jobs to India. And can the US afford a retaliatory price increase if the Indian Government wishes to implement that to secure its borders as well?
For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee
However this blog is about fairness where prevailing wage is concerned on the part of the DOL. They just came out with a new prevailing wage system, where most wages are higher than the previous prevailing wage. We are in the midst of a recession, the rate of employment now is higher than it has been in at least a decade. Soon deflation is going to be the reality in the USA, but not in the world of the DOL's Prevailing Wage. Thus if Smartsoft was paying its H-1B workers the same as their other US Citizen workers,(and I don't know if they were or not) would that be a crime? After all isn't Prevailing Wage the Wage that is "prevalent" at a particular place? And why would an employer pay more when there are 50 people who will do the same job for less?
I think the US has realized that they have a cash cow in employment based immigration. H-1B and L-1 fees for certain Companies (mainly Indian Computer based companies) were raised to pay for US border security. Companies don't have compelling stories, and the democrats don't like them. But these small companies will simply outsource the jobs to India. And can the US afford a retaliatory price increase if the Indian Government wishes to implement that to secure its borders as well?
For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Chop Shops and Job Shops the four letter H-1B words
The Senate passed a $600 million border security bill last Thursday, and tucked inside that bill was a provision that would raise the H-1B filing fees. For companies which employs more than 50% of its employees on H-1B, the filing fees for each application would be $4820/- (currently it is $2320/). The bill is now being debated in the House and if passed, will head to President for signature.
This would impact big Indian IT companies like Infosys, but not the US companies like Microsoft or Google. This is of course discriminatory. Borrowing a word that has been used by the Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS) for Indian IT firms, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) called Infosys a "chop Shop." The CIS seems convinced that all Indian IT firms are filing "false petitions." The Government of India has protested this. The US needs India in the war against Al Qaeda and to keep China in check. Can it afford a bad relationship with any of the BRIC nations?
The President and his party in their socialist type agenda want to "preserve" US jobs. Getting rid of the free market economy in this deep recession will only hurt the US economy more. Infosys and other companies are already paying $2320/- per H-1B beneficiary. $1500/- of that is supposed to educate the US public. I have yet to see an education program funded by that money. The Companies will simply cease to do business in the US. And yes, today the US market is the biggest. But Asia and the BRIC countries are coming up , and together with Europe and Canada, will have more clout than the US.
The history of Immigration Law is ripe with untold discrimination against "colored people". It is time to end this discrimination. However I cannot forget that Nancy Polosi had once said that if she gave amnesty to the illegal immigrants, she would not make them pay. She would raise the fee on H-1B, because these "legal"employers had the money to pay, which the illegal immigrants did not. So my hopes for the House not passing this bill is slim indeed.
The new N word for Indian Companies have indeed become "job shop" or "chop shop" and this time its our Government who is using these words.
For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee
This would impact big Indian IT companies like Infosys, but not the US companies like Microsoft or Google. This is of course discriminatory. Borrowing a word that has been used by the Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS) for Indian IT firms, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) called Infosys a "chop Shop." The CIS seems convinced that all Indian IT firms are filing "false petitions." The Government of India has protested this. The US needs India in the war against Al Qaeda and to keep China in check. Can it afford a bad relationship with any of the BRIC nations?
The President and his party in their socialist type agenda want to "preserve" US jobs. Getting rid of the free market economy in this deep recession will only hurt the US economy more. Infosys and other companies are already paying $2320/- per H-1B beneficiary. $1500/- of that is supposed to educate the US public. I have yet to see an education program funded by that money. The Companies will simply cease to do business in the US. And yes, today the US market is the biggest. But Asia and the BRIC countries are coming up , and together with Europe and Canada, will have more clout than the US.
The history of Immigration Law is ripe with untold discrimination against "colored people". It is time to end this discrimination. However I cannot forget that Nancy Polosi had once said that if she gave amnesty to the illegal immigrants, she would not make them pay. She would raise the fee on H-1B, because these "legal"employers had the money to pay, which the illegal immigrants did not. So my hopes for the House not passing this bill is slim indeed.
The new N word for Indian Companies have indeed become "job shop" or "chop shop" and this time its our Government who is using these words.
For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee
Friday, August 6, 2010
Leaked CIS Memo
On Sunday, July 29, a memo written by 4 chief personnel (including Mr. Neufeld of the now infamous January 8 H-1B memo) wrote a proposal to Director Mayorkas about strategies that the CIS can provide to individuals, to " promote family unity, foster economic growth ....... and reduce the threat of removal of certain individuals." Of course the Republicans immediately decried the memo as providing "backdoor amnesty." However, as the Republicans fail to realize, these are remedies that will make America economically stronger, and promises no one the Permanent Residency.
Amongst the business immigration proposals, is extending the 10 day grace period usually given at the end of a visa before a foreign national has to return to her home country to 45-90 days. In this economy many H-1Bs have lost their jobs. They have homes, their children have schools, etc. Clearly 10 days is not enough to pack up and leave a place that someone called home for years.
The agency might also grant work permits to H-4 non immigrant spouses of H-1B workers. H-1Bs are given to Specialized Professionals. The visa is initially given for 3 yrs and a total of 6 yrs. The spouses cannot work. Human nature demands that people be productive. I have seen marriages break up because spouses cannot work. Letting someone stay in the country for 6 years and beyond, and not granting them the right to work is a violation of a fundamental right.
The third proposal is to grant "dual intent" ie intent to have Permanent Residency to F (students) O (Outstanding category) TN (Nafta treaty visas), P (athletes and Performers) and E (Treaty trader) visa holders. This dual intent is available for H and L visa holders, but not for the above mentioned professionals. However it is in the US National interest to grant Permanent Residency to retain these professionals.
All of these above proposals are for legal non immigrants doing jobs which the majority of Republican and Tea Party supporters cannot do; jobs that require education, training and a brain. However, since this memo was leaked to the media, and there is tremendous Republican backlash, I doubt that any of these proposals will come to fruition.
For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee
Amongst the business immigration proposals, is extending the 10 day grace period usually given at the end of a visa before a foreign national has to return to her home country to 45-90 days. In this economy many H-1Bs have lost their jobs. They have homes, their children have schools, etc. Clearly 10 days is not enough to pack up and leave a place that someone called home for years.
The agency might also grant work permits to H-4 non immigrant spouses of H-1B workers. H-1Bs are given to Specialized Professionals. The visa is initially given for 3 yrs and a total of 6 yrs. The spouses cannot work. Human nature demands that people be productive. I have seen marriages break up because spouses cannot work. Letting someone stay in the country for 6 years and beyond, and not granting them the right to work is a violation of a fundamental right.
The third proposal is to grant "dual intent" ie intent to have Permanent Residency to F (students) O (Outstanding category) TN (Nafta treaty visas), P (athletes and Performers) and E (Treaty trader) visa holders. This dual intent is available for H and L visa holders, but not for the above mentioned professionals. However it is in the US National interest to grant Permanent Residency to retain these professionals.
All of these above proposals are for legal non immigrants doing jobs which the majority of Republican and Tea Party supporters cannot do; jobs that require education, training and a brain. However, since this memo was leaked to the media, and there is tremendous Republican backlash, I doubt that any of these proposals will come to fruition.
For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee
Friday, July 30, 2010
Xenophobia and Immigration in Arizona
At the heart of any Immigration Law in any country is Xenophobia. No matter how you look at it, its one group, who established themselves in a place trying to keep others out. Even if this means handing a carrot to any group, its still based on the idea that a certain group of people have sovereign rights to a certain place. And it is this territorial and supremacist ideas that lead to acts of war and terrorism. Imagine if Al-Qaeda did not care if other people were different from them.
In passing SB 1070, Gov. Jan Brewer and other Fox news types, tried to justify their Xenophobia by saying that since the federal government wont do anything about immigration, their state will take it on. Probably they thought that restricting immigration will mean more jobs for their citizen. Yet, sadly its the Republican's philosophy (which I think is correct) that the economy should not be manipulated by the Government. Laissez Faire and Capitalism were hardly swear words to Republicans.
Any employer, whether they are individuals wanting their lawns cut, or construction companies, or restaurants, will hire legal immigrants if the legal immigrants do a good job at a right price. But they cant find one. American workers would rather sit on their a** and collect food stamps than work in difficult jobs. And if they do work, they will charge phenomenal amounts. I will not pay more to my grass cutter than to my doctor, simply because grass cutting does not require the same level of knowledge as cutting the heart.
Of course hiding under this SB-1070 is the fact that this will give the likes of Sarah Palin the license to go "hunting" in Arizona.
For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee
In passing SB 1070, Gov. Jan Brewer and other Fox news types, tried to justify their Xenophobia by saying that since the federal government wont do anything about immigration, their state will take it on. Probably they thought that restricting immigration will mean more jobs for their citizen. Yet, sadly its the Republican's philosophy (which I think is correct) that the economy should not be manipulated by the Government. Laissez Faire and Capitalism were hardly swear words to Republicans.
Any employer, whether they are individuals wanting their lawns cut, or construction companies, or restaurants, will hire legal immigrants if the legal immigrants do a good job at a right price. But they cant find one. American workers would rather sit on their a** and collect food stamps than work in difficult jobs. And if they do work, they will charge phenomenal amounts. I will not pay more to my grass cutter than to my doctor, simply because grass cutting does not require the same level of knowledge as cutting the heart.
Of course hiding under this SB-1070 is the fact that this will give the likes of Sarah Palin the license to go "hunting" in Arizona.
For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Extraordinary Ability
The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) ruled in a recent case that first authorship in articles are not always necessary to establish Extraordinary Ability. The alien had a lot of papers published and "hundreds of citations." However not all papers were first authorship. The Texas Service Center refused to consider those papers.
The AAO wrote:"As modern scientific research endeavors routinely involve collaborative efforts, we find no statutory, regulatory, precedential, or evidentiary basis to conclude that USCIS should not assign weight to collaborative scientific research such as the petitioner's. It could be argued that the director was simply seeking stronger evidence of the petitioner's prominent role in his research studies. However, statements from the petitioner's first-author collaborators submitted on appeal
confirm that he played an integral role in their jointly published research."
Of course, the alien has to have the three criteria out of ten enumerated in the Statute.
The Texas Service Center is out of touch with reality. They had asked me to PROVE that breast cencer research is "National in Scope" for a National Interest Waiver case.
Mr. Roark, I suggest a field trip for your officers. UT Southwestern Medical School, which has four nobel laureates and does tons of research is just a hop skip and jump away from your Stemmons Freeway location. These Officers should probably go and check out how exactly research is done. Also adjudicating officers dealing with "research" based petition should complete an undergraduate degree with some amount of research in College. And maybe a BSC degree will help adjudicators judging Science based petitions, rather than say a major in dance. Where do these officers go to College anyways?
For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee
The AAO wrote:"As modern scientific research endeavors routinely involve collaborative efforts, we find no statutory, regulatory, precedential, or evidentiary basis to conclude that USCIS should not assign weight to collaborative scientific research such as the petitioner's. It could be argued that the director was simply seeking stronger evidence of the petitioner's prominent role in his research studies. However, statements from the petitioner's first-author collaborators submitted on appeal
confirm that he played an integral role in their jointly published research."
Of course, the alien has to have the three criteria out of ten enumerated in the Statute.
The Texas Service Center is out of touch with reality. They had asked me to PROVE that breast cencer research is "National in Scope" for a National Interest Waiver case.
Mr. Roark, I suggest a field trip for your officers. UT Southwestern Medical School, which has four nobel laureates and does tons of research is just a hop skip and jump away from your Stemmons Freeway location. These Officers should probably go and check out how exactly research is done. Also adjudicating officers dealing with "research" based petition should complete an undergraduate degree with some amount of research in College. And maybe a BSC degree will help adjudicators judging Science based petitions, rather than say a major in dance. Where do these officers go to College anyways?
For more information contact Houston Immigration Lawyer or Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee
Obama, Secrecy and Rule of Law in the H-1B visa
The Obama Government ran on a promise to make Government more transparent, more accountable and promised to restore the Rule of Law so blatantly flouted by the previous administration. Yet, in most immigration cases, and certainly in the H-1B context, all those principles are simply baseless and unfulfilled campaign promises.
AILA has just filed a lawsuit against USCIS on the issue of transparency. The administration beginning last summer conducted hundreds of raids on H-1B sponsoring businesses. Yet the rules and guidance of this whole process is guarded in secrecy. Requests by AILA to divulge this review process under the Freedom of Information Act were denied.
These are PROFESSIONAL employees--- Computer professionals, Engineers, Doctors, teachers. The Government shows up at their Company door step, demand to see their records, with no notice, and many times with no uniform procedure. The Officers ask to see anything and everything. The businesses are all sizes, but all professional service providers.
In a separate class action lawsuit the USCIS is being challenged on the January 08, 2010 memo, which "created" additional requirements in respect of direct control of employee by the employer. This has virtually eliminated the computer consulting business from sponsoring H-1B visa holders. This requirement was no where in the plain language of the H-1B law. Also the the senator who introduced the H-1B legislation in the Congress verified that this was Never Congressional intent. Moreover an agency cannot rulemake without publishing a notice and giving the public a chance to comment. No such notice and comment was done for this memo. This clearly violates the Rule of Law that Obama championed. In terms of immigration law the old Government's policies are not only being followed, but in many instances further deviating from the Rule of Law.
For more information contact http://www.visatous.com"> Houston Immigration Lawyer or http://www.visatous.com">Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee
AILA has just filed a lawsuit against USCIS on the issue of transparency. The administration beginning last summer conducted hundreds of raids on H-1B sponsoring businesses. Yet the rules and guidance of this whole process is guarded in secrecy. Requests by AILA to divulge this review process under the Freedom of Information Act were denied.
These are PROFESSIONAL employees--- Computer professionals, Engineers, Doctors, teachers. The Government shows up at their Company door step, demand to see their records, with no notice, and many times with no uniform procedure. The Officers ask to see anything and everything. The businesses are all sizes, but all professional service providers.
In a separate class action lawsuit the USCIS is being challenged on the January 08, 2010 memo, which "created" additional requirements in respect of direct control of employee by the employer. This has virtually eliminated the computer consulting business from sponsoring H-1B visa holders. This requirement was no where in the plain language of the H-1B law. Also the the senator who introduced the H-1B legislation in the Congress verified that this was Never Congressional intent. Moreover an agency cannot rulemake without publishing a notice and giving the public a chance to comment. No such notice and comment was done for this memo. This clearly violates the Rule of Law that Obama championed. In terms of immigration law the old Government's policies are not only being followed, but in many instances further deviating from the Rule of Law.
For more information contact http://www.visatous.com"> Houston Immigration Lawyer or http://www.visatous.com">Houston Immigration Attorney, Annie Banerjee
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