Australians in New York City

I was at the Australian-owned Milk Bar in Prospect Heights last summer eating a delicious Cheddar Biscuit Breakfast Sandwich after I'd just had a flat white at Glass Shop when I thought, Wow, there really are a lot of Australians in New York City. Many others have had this thought too, such as Lizzie B. who recently sent me this Gothamist post, which credits the E-3 visa for the influx of Australians in the city (to be fair, there's also a lot of Australians in Los Angeles). Lizzie B. is herself no stranger to Australians and E-3s as she wrote a very informative post discussing E-3s, H-1Bs, and TNs (which included a super cool chart).

Is New York City the new London for Australians? Maybe. Either way, Protima isn't complaining as she is obsessed with Australian coffee, and I have to agree: it is very good. She loves Cafe Grumpy and Toby's Estate. There's also Little Collins and Bluestone Lane.

Where to eat and drink? Try Little Australia. Or Flinders Lane.

The most interesting Australian import? Périgord black truffles ("...fresh truffles offer a complex, musky and earthy flavour that’s hard to pigeonhole – 'sex' is one of the more out-there descriptors people have reached for..."), grown in Western Australia and served at Thomas Keller's Per Se.

My Favorite Immigration-Related Site

Protima Daryanani - ImmigrationAtty.tumblr.com
Other than sites where I get my daily legal updates, I usually check ImmigrationAtty.tumblr.com for a lighthearted take on all things immigration. The author uses GIFs from television and film to express the myriad of emotions we immigration attorneys experience (sometimes in a day). From the insanity of H-1B season, to the unauthorized practice of law, to frustrations with government websites, the author (and contributors) manages to capture the exact sentiment.

Manuel G. Otero - Immigration Impact
The goal of Immigration Impact, launched in 2008 by the American Immigration Council, is to encourage a thoughtful and informed conversation regarding comprehensive immigration reform in the US. It is an excellent resource for news regarding US immigration topics, including reform efforts being undertaken at both the state and national level. The website also focuses on many of the most important topics framing the US immigration reform debate today, including issues regarding border security, enforcement efforts, the economic effects of US immigration policies on businesses and entrepreneurship, as well as addressing the issues raised by “Restrictionist” groups such as the Tea Party. Overall, Immigration Impact debates these issues in a manner that respects both sides of the argument, all in the hope of fostering a civilized debate that will lead to workable and effective comprehensive policy reform.

Matthew Bray - Insightful Immigration Blog
In a friendly collegial spirit (unusual for New York City law firms, I know), I’d like to recommend the Insightful Immigration Blog published by the law firm of Cyrus D. Mehta & Associates, PLLC, a small NYC-based firm. This blog is particularly good at providing technical, lawyerly, and more in-depth analysis on topics relevant to immigration litigators including the latest Second Circuit case law in addition to posts such as the one celebrating the naturalized American who won the Boston marathon this year. The writing is high quality and the analysis top notch. Much like another immigration law blog I know.

Elizabeth Brettschneider - Cool Immigration Lawyers (no link. Invite only. Yep, super cool.)
Did I join this invite-only Facebook group just for the name? I plead the fifth.  Not only do I get to feel popular by being a member of this group, but I actually have learned some valuable information. Attorneys can post questions, stories, and immigration-related news articles to this group and have their fellow attorneys comment. Importantly, attorneys also often post questions on procedure or a complicated legal conundrum and this makes the forum a useful place to get trusted opinions on these questions; however, the most enjoyable posts are when attorneys write about their hard-fought victories. I particularly love reading these posts. In the practice of immigration law there can often be complicated fact-patterns, procedural histories, and sometimes confusing government agency actions. So when after years of struggle an attorney can claim a victory and feel like they’ve positively changed the life of their client, it’s nice to have a forum to share with others who understand the struggle. Whenever I feel like my frequent reading of this group’s posts on asylum victories or the latest Department of Labor practices has cemented me as an immigration attorney nerd, all I have to do is look back at the forum title and be assured that, no, in fact I am “cool.”

Ashley Emerson - @USAinUK
The US Embassy in London has its own Twitter handle! Created in May 2008, the US Embassy tweets several times daily and has over 29,900 followers. This Twitter account is a fun and eclectic mix of US and world news, cultural events, and engaging and entertaining happenings. Some of my favorite tweets over the past month have related to the World Cup (see #OneNationOneTeam), a stray duckling being guarded by a US Embassy policeman, and their photo contest--not to mention helpful reminders for such events as the "Ask a Consular Officer" webchats. Overall the Twitter account is informative and entertaining. I highly recommend reading!

Jacki Granet - @joseiswriting and @defineamerican
A few weeks ago, Protima and I saw a riveting documentary called Documented, featuring Jose Antonio Vargas (@joseiswriting). Mr. Vargas came to the US as a child and has lived here ever since. Mr. Vargas is an undocumented immigrant. He went to elementary, junior high, and high school in the US, then to college, and is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist working in the US. In the last few years, Mr. Vargas has dedicated his life to championing for immigration rights, including revealing himself as undocumented in a major The New York Times Magazine article in 2011. Shortly thereafter, he started Define American (@defineamerican), a media campaign that aims to shift the dialogue of what it means to be an American. Both Twitter handles offer fascinating stories, lively debate topics, and, perhaps, most importantly, a voice for those who are often afraid to speak out due to their undocumented status.

Bloomberg: "New York to Issue ID Cards for Undocumented Immigrants"

We discussed earlier this year New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's campaign promise of issuing city identity cards to undocumented immigrants, and today the New York City Council approved the measure. With similar programs in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New Haven, Connecticut, these cards will allow the approximately 500,000 undocumented immigrants as well as homeless (and others) in New York City to open bank accounts, obtain leases, and use medical clinics.

Applications for the card can be made with a US or foreign passport, a domestic or foreign driver’s license, birth certificate, or proof of foreign military service, along with proof of city residence. Transgender applicants can identify themselves as they wish, regardless of the listed gender on their other identification.

Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said before the vote: "'It sends a simple and clear message that we are a city that believes in including everyone...We don’t accept that some people can be left out because of their immigration status, how they identify their gender or whether they may be homeless.'"

And The New York Observer interviews Juan Carlos, an immigrant, who says: “'I understand what it is not to have an ID...This ID would allow me to come out of the shadows more, to lose my fear in front of and dealing with the police, and to really be able to feel like a citizen and a resident of New York.'”
 

Think Progress: "There Are Now More Displaced People Than Any Time Since WWII"

For the first time since World War II, the number of displaced persons, asylum seekers, and refugees worldwide exceeds fifty million, with Afghanistan, Syria, and Somalia as the top three major source countries. The UN Refuge Agency released the report on World Refugee Day, and stated:

This massive increase was driven mainly by the war in Syria, which at the end of last year had forced 2.5 million people into becoming refugees and made 6.5 million internally displaced. Major new displacement was also seen in Africa – notably in Central African Republic and South Sudan.
"We are seeing here the immense costs of not ending wars, of failing to resolve or prevent conflict," said UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres. "Peace is today dangerously in deficit."

The report notes that a record 25,300 asylum applications were from children who were separated from or unaccompanied by parents. In that regard, the US is continuing to address the high influx of unaccompanied minors at the US/Mexico border with a House Committee hearing where Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson had to "remind members of Congress of the laws they passed to protect unaccompanied minors and prevent their further victimization." Also: some lawmakers are calling for lawyers for these minors. The Daily Beast makes an argument that "cartels may actually be responsible for the recent influx of Central Americans attempting to cross the Southwest border and, specifically, the surge in unaccompanied minors coming from the region." Meanwhile, Vice President Joe Biden heads to Central America to dissuade others from coming. Also: comedian John Oliver gives his take on immigration reform.

Television Review: Borderland

Borderland, a new series produced for Al Jazeera America, examines our current immigration crisis by following six Americans from different parts of the country and walks of life as they trace the steps of migrants who died crossing the border. The Borderland experience promises that each of the six participants--all of whom hold strong opinions regarding immigration, both pro and against--will be changed forever by the journey, and the series certainly delivers on that promise. In the process, the show provides a more informed and nuanced perspective on the debate about our immigration policies by painting a picture of some of the human cost of those polices beyond the rhetoric and statistics.

The six Americans are: Alison Melder, Republican staffer in the Arkansas State Legislature; Alex Seel, a Brooklyn-based photographer and artist; Gary Larsen, who employs migrant workers on his Washington State asparagus farm; Kishana Holland, a fashion blogger and publicist from Las Vegas; Lis-Marie Alvarado, daughter of Nicaraguan immigrants and an activist and community organizer on behalf of day laborers in Florida; and Randy Stufflebeam, Vice Chairman of the Constitution Party, which opposes amnesty for undocumented immigrants.

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BusinessWeek: "The Soccer Fan's Argument for Immigration Reform"

We've already had one World Cup-related blog post (Manny discusses visas for athletes here), and as the matches continue to play on our office lobby television, it only seems fitting to have another--this one by economist Charles Kenny about the benefits of globalization as seen in the world of professional European soccer:

In a study of the increased globalization of soccer, Chrysovalantis Vasilakis of the University of Warwick found that relaxing rules on player migration confers significant benefits to those who move and to those who stay behind. In 1995, the European Court of Justice ruling made it far easier for players from outside the European Union to play for European soccer clubs, and for players already in the EU to move from one club to another...The European Court ruling led to a significant and swift increase in the proportion of the world’s talented players playing in Europe, Vasilakis found.

The study found that it was not only the European clubs who benefited, but also the home countries of the players who migrated to play in Europe in that there was an increase in both a higher number of talented soccer players produced in the region as well as the country's national team rankings and also improved international performances. The moral of the story, Mr. Kenny says, is that the "free flow of talent across borders confers substantial benefits all around." And: "More immediately, it suggests this year’s World Cup might be one of the most exciting to watch in the event’s history—reason enough to celebrate the globalization of the world’s most popular game."

Dos and Don’ts for Marriage-based Green Card Interviews

“Are they going to separate us into different rooms and ask us what type of face cream my wife uses?”

This is a common question I am asked when meeting with clients before their marriage-based Green Card interviews. They have clearly watched the movie Green Card and with all the inaccuracies that Hollywood offers, I’m not surprised this is the way people think the typical interview goes. Of course, it’s my job to give as accurate a picture of what to expect in these interviews as possible.

Every US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) District Office—where these marriage-based Green Card interviews are conducted—operates a bit differently, and even within each office, each officer conducting the interview has a different personality and interview style; therefore, every interview is slightly varied. While there are certainly common topics that most officers will usually touch upon, there is no standard set of questions which a person can “look up” before their interview. While asking where a couple met, how long they dated before marriage, whether their families have met, and similar questions, is pretty typical, there are many other questions that may come up as the officer converses with a couple. 

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