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The Crane from Joseph McKeown on Vimeo.
There's been some serious construction outside our Washington Street windows in this lot next to the High Line, and in between looking at The Standard Hotel windows for exhibitionists, we made a short time-lapse film about this lovely and hardworking red crane.
Liberian national, Thomas Eric Duncan, has become the first person to die in the US from the effects of the Ebola virus. Anti-immigration critics were using Mr. Duncan's immigration status (he was reportedly in the US on a visitor visa) to advocate for travel restrictions or bans for those from the West African nations hardest hit with the worst Ebola outbreak in history. Calling the late Mr. Duncan another "visa mistake," Jessica Vaughan of The Center for Immigration Studies estimated that there are about 13,000 people from Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea with valid visas to travel to the US, and faulted the Obama administration on their refusal to "use immigration controls even to protect the homeland." (Senator Ted Cruz suggested restricting or banning flights to West Africa and one US general expressed apocalyptic-type fears of mass immigration to the US border by infected Central Americans.) In addition, a recent survey found that a majority of respondents wanted flights from the "Ebola" countries banned.
President Obama called the Ebola outbreak a matter of national security and said that the "ability of people who are infected to carry that [Ebola virus] across borders is something that we have to take extremely seriously." While the president did not discuss visa bans or restrictions, in response to the US outbreak and the death of Mr. Duncan, federal officials announced they will begin additional screenings at five US airports, including Kennedy International Airport here in New York City, for passengers from Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.
The Department of Homeland Security explained how such screenings would work for travelers as they exited their home country and subsequently attempted to enter the US. Travelers will be given information on Ebola and its symptoms before being questioned about their exposure to Ebola and having their temperature taken. If travelers have a fever or have been exposed to Ebola, they will be referred to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for additional evaluation. For the late Mr. Duncan, these temperature screenings would not have mattered in all likelihood, as he reportedly did not display symptoms until several days after he entered the US.
The State Department indicated that while they ordered the departure of family members of Embassy staff in Monrovia and Freetown due to lack of routine health care services, their "Embassies remain open and will continue business as usual in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. They also said: "We remain deeply committed to supporting regional and international efforts to deliver health care as well as contain and control the transmission of the Ebola virus."
The US Embassy in Monrovia, Liberia has stated that visa applicants will be screened for symptoms of Ebola and any visitors exhibiting symptoms will be asked to leave and reschedule the interview. In general, the US Embassies in West Africa have posted information on the US government's fight against Ebola, including the "White House Fact Sheet" detailing the US government's four-point strategic response:
Controlling the epidemic at its source in West Africa;
Mitigating second-order impacts, including blunting the economic, social, and political tolls in the region;
Engaging and coordinating with a broader global audience; and
Fortifying global health security infrastructure in the region and beyond.
To meet these goals the government is using US military and broader uniformed services for command, logistics, training and engineering, and is providing new resources, such as health care and hospital staff, Ebola Treatment Units, protection kits, and home health care kits, in addition to the resources, staff, health specialists, and emergency supplies already provided.
As we reported, US Citizenship & Immigration Services still has certain immigration-relief measures for nationals of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone who are currently in the US.
The White House Fact Sheet notes: "Every outbreak of Ebola over the past 40 years has been contained, and we are confident that this one can—and will be—as well."
This year I had the great opportunity to attend the annual fall conference of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), held in Seattle, Washington. The theme of the conference this fall was “Mastering the Art of Removal Defense,” and consisted of an all-day Continuing Legal Education program designed to provide attorneys with a review of the basics of representing immigrants in removal proceedings as well as the latest developments in the law. The program also included a report from several attorneys who had recently volunteered for the hundreds of mothers and children detained at the Artesia facility as well as an update on the lawsuits filed recently to try to shut down that facility and put a stop to the expedited deportation practices of the Obama administration in response to the border surge.
Read more"American society is very like a fish society...Among certain species of fish, the only thing which determines order of dominance is length of time in the fishbowl. The oldest resident picks on the newest resident, and if the newest resident is removed to a new bowl, he, as oldest resident, will pick on the newcomers."
India's recently-elected Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, visited the US arriving last week. It was a whirlwind tour featuring appearances at the United Nations, Madison Square Garden, the White House, and an impromptu stop at the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park. He even co-authored (with President Obama) an op-ed for The Washington Post, where they proposed "to find mutually rewarding ways to expand our collaboration in trade, investment and technology that harmonize with India’s ambitious development agenda, while sustaining the United States as the global engine of growth." And perhaps the ultimate sign of welcome, Jon Stewart covered the visit in his own unique style.
But he wasn’t always welcome in the US with such open arms. In 2005, when Mr. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, he was denied a visa to the US under regulations that denied visas to those who were believed to have committed “particularly severe violations of religious freedom.” (The denial of this diplomatic visa also resulted in his visitor visa being revoked, effectively resulting in a visa ban.) The accusations arose out of claims that Mr. Modi stood by or even encouraged religious riots in which over 1000 people, mostly Muslim, were killed. Mr. Modi denied all wrong doing and was eventually cleared of all charges.
When Mr. Modi was elected as Prime Minister of India, however, he was invited to the US and granted a diplomatic visa. The Obama administration was keen to overlook the visa ban as a decision of the previous administration. During his visit to the US, Mr. Modi even made reference to his past visa difficulties, “saying he understood when fellow Indians complained of problems obtaining a visa.” Given his understanding of the visa process, we hope that he talked to President Obama about how to get more H-1B visas, which are typically used in large percentages by Indian nationals. At any rate, Mr. Modi said: "'My visit has been very successful.'"
"I love American people. There is something so earnest about them. They’re nice, gentle, and really kind. Of course, you have assholes everywhere. But being nice is something good—and that is very American...I love diners. I love the big roads. But the last time I was in New York, I had to go all the way to Harlem for Cheez Whiz. Everyone in New York is so into organic foods, being healthy, that I had to go to Harlem to find marshmallow fluff. I love fluffernutter sandwiches."
Light Cave by LA duo FriendsWithYou is the current public art exhibition in the plaza of The Standard Hotel. The duo Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III say they wanted to create “'a place of wonder and awe, play and exploration.'"
It’s one of the last warm mornings in September. Fall is coming, I know, but today is hot and humid, and I’m going to enjoy it. I begin my walk on the High Line in the Meatpacking District near our office—Gansevoort and Washington Streets, where workers are finishing up construction on the new Whitney Museum of American Art building, scheduled to open in 2015. I ascend the “slow stairs” (called this because of the long and gradual ascent through the beams and structure) and enter the High Line at the Gansevoort Woodland, which has raised planting beds with greater soil depth for the Pennsylvania sedge and redbud trees that grow in this area—at least so says the High Line Field Guide published by Friends of the High Line.
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This is, of course, more secure than the red ink.
After changing the color of the US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) Request for Evidence pages from blue to yellow, I-797 receipt notices from swirly paper (an industry term) to white, and redesigning the Green Card so that it is actually green, USCIS has announced another major design change: this time from red to blue. Effective July 1, 2014, USCIS is now reporting, the "older secure red ink was retired" and they began using a "new secure blue ink" for some immigration stamps, including:
USCIS advises that employers should be aware of this change when examining employee documents during the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification process. USCIS also notes that employers "must accept the documents presented by a worker when completing Form I-9 as long as those documents appear genuine on their face and relate to the person presenting them."
We will keep our readers updated on any future major design changes.
"America was to be the great experiment, a testing ground for political liberty, a model for democratic government. And although the first task was to mold a nation on these principles here in this continent, we would also lead the fight against tyranny in all continents. This is a great inheritance. It is a proud privilege to be a citizen of the great republic. To realize that we are the descendents of forty million people, who left other countries, other familiar scenes, to come here to the United States to build a new life, to make a new opportunity for themselves and their children."