On Tuesday, Judge William Alsup of the Federal District Court in San Francisco issued a nationwide injunction ordering the Trump administration to partially resume the DACA program. The judge said the Trump administration’s decision to discontinue the program was improper and wrote that the administration must “maintain the DACA program on a nationwide basis” as legal challenges go forward in court. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was set to end on March 5, 2018, and this week lawmakers and the Trump administration have been negotiating the program’s continuation.
Read moreReuters: “Fewer family visas approved as Trump toughens vetting of immigrants”
As the Trump administration campaigns against “chain migration”—where US citizens or Green Card holders petition for extended family members to immigrate to the US—approvals of family-based visas have dropped dramatically in the 2017 fiscal year despite no changes to law. Within the first nine months of 2017, the number of I-130 approvals dropped to 406,000, compared to the 530,000 approvals from the same time period in 2016, despite a similar amount of applications, a Reuters review of US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) figures show.
Read moreThe Most Diverse Population
Bomb Cyclone 2018
The so-called "bomb cyclone" (also known as Winter Storm Grayson) hit New York City this week dumping over a foot of snow and creating fierce gusts of wind. While the rest of us were working remotely yesterday, and Governor Andrew M. Cuomo declared a state of emergency for New York City as well as Long Island and Westchester, the storm didn't stop Protima from going to the office and making sure everything was still standing. (Don't worry, it is.) A "bomb cyclone" is when a cyclone, which is a low-pressure rotating storm system, has a sharp and quick drop in atmospheric pressure, a process called bombogenesis. Bomb cyclones can draw cold air in from the North, which in our case will result in extremely cold temperatures for the next few days. Yay, something to look forward to this weekend!
Something Entirely Different
Bryant Park Winter Village
With the cold snap covering the East Coast in freezing temperatures, it seemed appropriate to embrace the weather by going to Bryant Park's Winter Village, also known as "Midtown Manhattan’s winter wonderland." The Winter Village includes artisanal boutiques selling unique apparel and decorative goods, local food vendors, a rinkside eatery, and New York City’s only free admission ice skating rink. This 17,000 square foot rink offers high quality rental skates and features free skating shows and special events. Most importantly, there's plenty of room for me to perfect my triple salchow. (Pretty sure I still have time to qualify for the Winter Olympics.) What else am I going to do in this cold!
Not All That Different
Holiday Tree at Washington Square Park
While the holiday tree at Rockefeller Center seems to get all the attention, the tree at Washington Square Park has some serious holiday spirit as well. The forty-five foot Vermont tree stands south of the arch and is lit up beautifully between the hours of 4pm and 1am. The Washington Square Association, founded in 1906, is one of the city’s oldest community organizations, and invites those with sufficient holiday cheer to sing yuletide carols this Christmas Eve at 5pm. For ninety-three years, this association has sponsored carol singing under the arch, and carolers this year will be joined by the Rob Susman Brass Quartet. The association will helpfully distribute a songbook to the singers but, as they point out, "many will know them by heart."
Evening Standard: “A first look inside the new £750m US embassy on banks of Thames”
After more than fifty years in the iconic London Chancery Building in Grosvenor Square, the US Embassy in London is moving to the south bank of the River Thames. The new cube-shaped Embassy, the most expensive in the world at $1 billion USD, has taken four years to complete and features a state-of-the-art architectural design, modern security measures, and environmentally friendly features. Last week, Robert “Woody” Johnson, the US ambassador to the UK (and owner of the New York Jets football team), invited the media to tour the 518,000-square foot, twelve story building at 33 Nine Elms Lane. Ambassador Johnson explained to the media that the newly built US Embassy “is a signal to the world that this special relationship [with the UK] that we have is stronger and is going to grow and get better.”
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