Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg recently spoke at a naturalization ceremony in the rotunda of Washington D.C.’s National Archives where thirty-one men and women become new citizens. As she’s done before, Justice Ginsburg shared her own immigration story: "My own father arrived in this land at age 13 with no fortune and speaking no English,” she said. “My mother was born four months after her parents—with several children in tow—came by ship to Ellis Island. My father and my grandparents reached, as you do, for the American dream." She asked the attendees: “What is the difference between a bookkeeper in New York City's Garment District and a Supreme Court Justice? One generation.”
Read moreOnly Immigration Stories
Birthdays, Presents, and Parties!
This week was a whirlwind at the firm. We celebrated four December birthdays (happy birthday to Briana, Ashley, Gaby, and Adrianna!), exchanged gifts with our “Secret Holiday Friends,” and held our annual DLG Holiday Party at the Institute of Culinary Education where we made some delicious herb and cheese raviolis, New York strip steak with twice-fried frites and charred broccoli, and a lovely pumpkin tart with a ginger cookie crumb crust and caramel whipped cream. (Okay, we had a few drinks too.) It was a lot of activity but totally worth it. Now we just need a nap. And an eggnog.
ProPublica: “A Defendant Shows Up in Immigration Court by Himself. He’s 6.”
Wilder Hilario Maldonado Cabrera, a Salvadoran boy, was the youngest defendant on the juvenile docket in immigration court in San Antonio, Texas shortly before Thanksgiving this year. Wilder, six years old, was one of the last children affected by the administration’s zero-tolerance policy. He was separated from his father on June 6 after they crossed the US/Mexico border to seek asylum. Wilder’s father was detained separately, while Wilder’s mother remained in El Salvador.
Read moreMigrant Is a Misnomer
Rose III
Rose III by German artist Isa Genzken was permanently installed earlier this fall at Zuccotti Park in downtown Manhattan. Weighing 1,000 pounds and standing over twenty-six feet tall, the yellow rose is forged from painted steel and is based on an actual rose that the artist herself picked, according to ArtNet. The sculpture was developed for production at her foundry Kunstgeisserei in St. Gallen, Switzerland. For Genzken, who has worked in various mediums, giant flowers have been a recurring theme for her. Laura Hoptman, executive director of the Drawing Center, tells ArtNet: “The Rose is both an homage to a city that Genzken knows and loves, and a strong statement for unity and equality that every passerby in this city of millions can enjoy.”
DHS Proposes Changes to the H‑1B Visa Lottery Process
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced last week a notice of proposed rulemaking that would require petitioners seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions to first electronically register with US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) during a designated registration period. Under this proposed rule, USCIS would also reverse the order by which USCIS selects H-1B petitions under the H-1B regular cap and the advanced degree exemption, a move the agency says would result in “a more meritorious selection of beneficiaries” by increasing the number of individuals with a master’s or higher degree from a US institution of higher education selected in the H-1B cap lottery.
Read moreIf We Love Our Countries
The Dubai Fountain Show
The Dubai Fountain is the world’s tallest performing fountain. Located in Downtown Dubai, at the base of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, the fountain is over 900 feet in length (which is equivalent to over two soccer fields) and located on the thirty-acre Burj Lake. The fountain has a unique design consisting of five circles of varying sizes and two arcs, and features powerful nozzles that shoot water up to truly fantastic heights. With over 6,600 WET Superlights and twenty-five color projectors, the fountain has a visual spectrum of over 1,000 different “water expressions,” and fifty color projectors provide a full spectrum of color with a total output of 1.5 million lumens! The fountain shows are set to different songs and include everything from classical to contemporary Arabic to world music. (The one set to Michael Jackson’s Thriller is particularly memorable!) During the shows, the fountain can have over 22,000 gallons of water in the air at any given moment. Stay dry!
Bloomberg: “These Countries Are the Best in the World at Attracting Talent”
For the fifth year in a row, Switzerland lands the top spot on the World Talent Ranking, a report published by IMD Business School. This is based on the country’s ability to consistently and effectively develop, attract, and retain talent. The study consists of surveying over six thousand executives in sixty-three economies and the results are measured by various factors including investment/development on education, the country’s appeal to foreign workers (to include quality of life, taxes, and cost of living), and its ability to create new job opportunities. For some countries, especially in Asia and Latin America, missing one or two of these factors is enough to bump them off the top ranks, making countries like Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands vie for the top spots.
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