Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi

Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers in Rome.

Commissioned by Pope Innocent X in the 1600s, the Fountain of the Four Rivers is located in Piazza Navona, the ancient stadium of the Emperor Domitian and the site of the palace of the Pamphilis, the pope's family. Surrounded by an ancient obelisk with a dove on the top to signify not only the Holy Spirit but also conveniently the Pamphili family emblem, the fountain depicts pagan gods of the four great rivers in the four continents as then recognized by the Renaissance geographers: the Nile in Africa, the Ganges in Asia, the Danube in Europe and the Río de la Plata in America. The sculpture pictured above represents the Río de la Plata and the Americas, and the coins represent the wealth they perceived would be found in the Americas. The size and placement of the sculptures on the fountain lead the viewer in a circular motion, as there is not one position that offers a view of the entire fountain. Although it's my favorite fountain in Rome, I respectfully managed to refrain from getting in and taking a swim.

USCIS: Immigration Relief Measures for Nepali Nationals

After the devastating magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Nepal that has left over 7,500 dead, US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced several immigration relief measures that may be available to Nepali nationals who are affected by this tragedy. The relief measures that may be available to eligible Nepali nationals include:

• Change or extension of nonimmigrant status for an individual currently in the United States, even if the request is filed after the authorized period of admission has expired;

• A grant of re-parole;

• Expedited processing of advance parole requests;

• Expedited adjudication and approval, where possible, of requests for off-campus employment authorization for F-1 students experiencing severe economic hardship;

• Expedited adjudication of employment authorization applications, where appropriate;

• Consideration for waivers of fees associated with USCIS benefit applications, based on an inability to pay; and

• Assistance replacing lost or damaged immigration or travel documents issued by USCIS, such as Permanent Resident Cards (green cards).

USCIS acknowledges that natural catastrophes and other extreme situations can occur outside the control of foreign nationals and affect their immigration status, application, or petition. USCIS has therefore established these humanitarian measures for foreign nationals affected by such disasters to help them obtain the benefits for which they qualify. 

UPDATE: USCIS announced that Nepal has been designated for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for eighteen months because of the conditions resulting from the devastating earthquake. Eligible nationals of Nepal residing in the United States may apply for TPS effective June 24, 2015, through December 24, 2016. During the designated period, eligible nationals of Nepal (and those without nationality who last habitually resided in Nepal) will not be removed from the United States and may receive an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). USCIS has eligibility requirements and instructions on applying.

Homeland

"One of the women told a wonderful story about being recognized in her local bakery during the first visit back to her homeland. An old acquaintance walked in, looked at Alice and said, 'Oh, hello. I haven’t seen you for a while.' Alice’s sister responded, 'No wonder, she’s been in New Zealand for 24 years!' Alice was thrilled and comforted to be recognized as though she had never left. It made her feel that her homeland, which she missed and treasured very much, would always be home."

- Molly George
   "Interview: Immigrants Talk About Growing Old in Their Adopted Land"

Say Hello to the New Whitney

The new Whitney Museum of American Art at 99 Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District.

As if our neighborhood wasn't already cool enough, The Whitney Museum's new location opened today. Designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, the building includes approximately 50,000 square feet of indoor galleries (making it the largest "column-free" museum gallery in New York City) and 13,000 square feet of outdoor exhibition space and terraces facing the High Line. As part of the opening day festivities, The Whitney and The Empire State Building have partnered to celebrate the opening of the new location and also the eighty-fourth anniversary of the Empire State Building. Beginning tonight at 8pm, lighting designer Marc Brickman will interpret pieces by artists Georgia O’Keeffe, Edward Hopper, and Andy Warhol, among others, utilizing the Empire State Building’s LED tower lights. Many of the pieces inspiring the light show are also part of the museum's inaugural exhibition, America Is Hard to See (part of which can be seen through the window in above photo). And there's a free block party tomorrow!

JD Supra: "Changed locations require New H-1B Petition, Not Just LCA"

After a decision earlier this month by the US Attorney General to designate as "precedent" a decision by US Citizenship and Immigration Services' (USCIS) Administrative Appeals Office (AAO), employers must now file amended H-1B petitions if the employee moves work locations outside the geographic area specified on the original certified labor condition application (LCA) because the filing of a new LCA is a material change. The LCA is designed to protect American workers by verifying to the Department of Labor (DOL) that the employer is paying the H-1B employee at the industry wage level for the geographic location of employment thereby eliminating economic advantages to hiring foreign workers. Previous to this decision, most practitioners simply filed a new LCA and updated the company’s public access file when the employee changed geographic locations but did not file an amended H-1B petition. Although disputed, this practice at one time was confirmed in a letter by stakeholder Efren Hernandez who was then Director of the USCIS Business and Trade Branch. A new H-1B was typically filed only when there was a “material change” in the beneficiary’s employment but there was no consensus as to what exactly constituted a “material change.”

Designating AAO decisions as precedent is a "quicker way of settling an interpretational issue than issuing a regulation" and this decision will immediately change how petitioners file certain H-1B cases and, of course, how USCIS adjudicates them. 

Because by statute the Attorney General (AG) is the ultimate arbiter within the Executive Branch about the meaning of immigration laws, the AG's designation as precedent makes the decision binding on all immigration officers in the Department of Homeland Security as well as all Immigration Judges in the Department of Justice. An agency decision designated as precedent also tends to receive the highest level of deference from federal courts, the same as in a regulation following notice and comment rulemaking.

This AAO decision (Matter of Simeio Solutions, LLC) concerned the revocation of an H-1B petition for an foreign national IT worker, whose case also highlights some of the potential H-1B "abuses" that USCIS has been trying to remedy. In this instance, the petitioner filed an H-1B petition listing a sole work location in Long Beach, California. After the petition was approved, when the beneficiary attempted to obtain a visa stamp at the US Embassy in New Delhi, India, the consular officer conducting the visa interview raised concerns about the approval of the H-1B petition, requested additional documentation, and referred the case back to USCIS. In addition, USCIS also conducted a site visit to the work location and found that the petitioner had vacated the site and was using an employee's home as the company address. After USCIS issued a notice of intent to revoke the approval of the petition, the petitioner submitted a new LCA listing two new work location addresses: one in Camarillo, California, and one in Hoboken, New Jersey. USCIS concluded that these work location changes "constituted a material change to the terms and conditions of employment as specified in the original petition" since the prevailing wage of these locations was different than what was previously listed on the original LCA and USCIS required that the petitioner “file an amended Form I-129 corresponding to a new LCA that reflects these changes." Since the petitioner had not filed the required amended H-1B, USCIS revoked the original petition approval, which is never something attorneys want to tell their clients.

The decision, in short, clarifies that a change of work location outside the geographic area is a "material change" to the H-1B petition since such a change affects eligibility for H-1B status (as the LCA specifically attests that employees are compensated at the prevailing wage for a certain geographic location), and thus an amended H-1B petition must be filed. The decision concludes: "Full compliance with the LCA and H−1B petition process, including adhering to the proper sequence of submissions to DOL and USCIS, is critical to the United States worker protection scheme...and necessary for H−1B visa petition approval."

In One Generation

"This may sound cliché to some, but for my family it’s not. In one generation we went from parents with little formal education to all four kids graduating from graduate school and going on to successful professions. I have no doubt that my kids will achieve and contribute even more to the American enterprise. This is what keeps me going: that you can go from a sub-basement apartment in a 1960’s Brooklyn ghetto to working for the President of the United States in one generation. We need to make sure every kid has this kind of opportunity."

- Adolfo Carrion, Jr.
Former Director of the White House Office of Urban Affairs Policy

Shaun in the City

Shaun the Sheep in St. James's Park in London.

This spring and summer Wallace & Gromit’s Children’s Foundation is bringing Shaun the Sheep (all 120 giant sculptures by artists, designers, and celebrities) to London and Bristol's green spaces for the public to enjoy. The sculptures will go to auction later in the year to raise charity funds to help sick children in hospitals across the United Kingdom. Shaun the Sheep sculptures will be in London until May 25th. Go say hi!

The Guardian: "UN says 800 migrants dead in boat disaster as Italy launches rescue of two more vessels"

A shipwreck this past weekend off the coast of Libya has led to the death of 800 migrants and has prompted calls for the European Union to address the worsening migrant crisis in Europe. The boat, which set sail from Tripoli and is one of many unseaworthy vessels that human smugglers use, contained nationals of Gambia, Ivory Coast, Somalia, Eritrea, Mali, Tunisia, Sierra Leone, Bangladesh and Syria, and included children between the ages of ten and twelve. With only a reported twenty-seven survivors, it is the worst such disaster in the Mediterranean Sea. Italian authorities arrested a Tunisian man who is believed to be the captain of the boat as well as a Syrian national, who were charged with human trafficking and the captain also charged with reckless multiple homicide. The overall migrant death toll in the Mediterranean Sea this year has already surpassed 1,500 victims—a drastic increase from the same period last year. The record number of migrants including children seeking haven in Europe is reminiscent of the US/Mexico border surge and crisis last year.

Italian rescuer Vincenzo Bonomo told La Repubblica: "'It was a sight that broke the hearts of even men of the sea like us. I saw children’s shoes, clothing, backpacks floating in the water. Every time we saw a shoe or a bag, any sign of life, we thought we might have found a survivor. But every time we were disappointed. It was heart-breaking[.]'"

In response, the European Union agreed after emergency meetings to launch military operations against the networks of smugglers in Libya deemed responsible for sending thousands of people to their deaths in the Mediterranean in addition to increasing maritime patrols as well as naval search-and-rescue missions. Anas el-Gomati, a researcher at the Sadeq Institute, a Libyan think-tank, questioned the effectiveness of the European response: "'Military action is a deterrent; it’s not a substitute for a coherent and robust policy...It will do nothing to stop the flow of migrants coming from sub-Saharan Africa and address the reasons as to why they choose to take a perilous route such as the western coast of Libya.'"

Nigerian refugee Hakim Bello, who previously survived the dangerous sea voyage and now lives in Berlin, called the Mediterranean Sea "the deadliest border in the world" and tried to explain what motivates migrants to undertake the dangerous journey: "We all have different reasons for doing it: some people think they’ll find a better life in Europe, others just want to get away from a war zone. But everyone feels they have no other option."

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of Malta said: "'What happened on Sunday was a game changer...There is a new realization that if Europe doesn’t act as a team, history will judge it very harshly, as it did when it closed its eyes to stories of genocide—horrible stories—not long ago.'"