ABC News: Immigration Judges Eligible to Retire

ABC News reports that nearly half of the judges in the immigration court system will be eligible for retirement next year:  

The Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees the nation's 59 immigration courts, says the court already has 32 vacancies, contributing to the current backlog of nearly 350,000 cases. Judges are overwhelmed, and immigrants with legitimate asylum claims can spend years in legal limbo.

Retirement could add to the case backlog, and may not be unexpected given the large caseload and that the judges have "no bailiff, no court reporter and aren't guaranteed a court clerk" and that a Georgetown Immigration Law Journal article found immigration judges "exhibited more burnout 'than prison wardens and physicians in busy hospitals.'" 

Holiday Greetings from London

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Washington Post Op-Ed: "Immigrants, Like Me, Want to Succeed. Congress Should Let Them"

José Andrés, an award-winning Spanish chef and restaurant owner who came to the US with fifty dollars and a knife set, has an op-ed urging immigration reform:

I understand that this is a difficult and complicated issue. But we are not asking for an open-door policy that allows unregulated immigration. Indeed, the bill before Congress would do more to secure our borders than any other law in history. What we’re asking is to give the 11 million undocumented immigrants who are already part of America’s DNA a chance — a chance to prove they are worthy of citizenship; a chance to contribute more to this incredible country; a chance to belong.

José Andrés himself recently became a US citizen and shares his story on the TODAY show.

MSNBC: "How America’s harshest immigration law failed"

MSNBC's Benjy Sarlin reports on Alabama's failed immigration law HB 56:

The vast scope of the law turned Alabama into an unprecedented test for the anti-immigration movement. If self-deportation didn’t work there, it’s hard to imagine where it could. Early reports suggested success: undocumented immigrants appeared to flee Alabama en masse. But two years later, HB 56 is in ruins. Its most far-reaching elements have proved unconstitutional, unworkable, or politically unsustainable. Elected officials, social workers, clergy, activists, and residents say an initial immigrant evacuation that roiled their communities ended long ago. Many who fled have returned to their old homes.

Meanwhile, South Carolina is resolving challenges to their immigration law (which contained measures similar to Alabama's law).

[via BillMoyers.com]

NYC Taxi Drivers Beefcake Calendar

The New York City taxi driver is an iconic character. Appreciated or feared, these drivers are known for their aggressive driving tactics and liberal use of the car horn (and in the case of my colleague, Protima, quite a few marriage proposals), but they are not generally known for their humor or muscular good looks. NYC-based writer and filmmaker Phil Kirkman and photographer Shannon McLaughlin sought to break through some of these stereotypes while also drawing attention to the vast working immigrant population in New York City by presenting the NYC Taxi Drivers 2014 Calendar. In this calendar, Kirkman and McLaughlin put a face (actually, twelve) to one of the most diverse and dedicated work forces in New York City. 

With 82% of taxi drivers born in a country other than the U.S., it’s fitting that 100% of the calendar's net sales will go to University Settlement, an organization founded in 1886 on New York City’s Lower East Side serving over 30,000 immigrant and working individuals and families every year with basic services such as quality education, housing, and literacy programs. The calendar can be purchased here. Or else (at your own risk) you can just ask your next male cab driver to take his shirt off. 

Noriko's Visa Adventure

The US Embassy Tokyo has a brief but informative video on the process of obtaining a visa at the consulate there. The video, one of many on the Embassy's Youtube channel, has some helpful pointers on what to expect, particularly in regards to the F-1 student visa (spoiler: Noriko gets one!). The Embassy also states they will respond to questions on their Twitter.

NBC Latino: Daniel Alarcón

Peruvian-American writer Daniel Alarcón, author of At Night We Walk in Circles, talks with NBC Latino about identity, writing in English and Spanish, and US patriotism. He says:

There’s something that gets lost in the immigration debate here in the United States: well, they don’t talk about how patriotic immigrants are. How much appreciation many immigrant families have for the opportunities that the United States has afforded them. So it wasn’t that we were sitting around thinking, “Oh, we’re so lucky to be here.” But there was a real patriotic strain in our family, and at least among the Peruvians that I grew up with, that was not unique.

The New York Times also profiled Alarcón and discussed how he navigates two cultures:  "'I think I’m an American writer writing about Latin America, and I’m a Latin American writer who happens to write in English.'”

D&B Holiday Party 2013

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Stephanie Carril and Matt Bray in deep concentration as they prepare dinner as part of the annual firm holiday party/cooking lesson at the Institute of Culinary Education.