The Baayfalls

The mural The Baayfalls on the High Line is a double portrait of a sister and brother that the artist, Jordan Casteel, painted while at an artist residency at The Studio Museum in Harlem. Casteel, known for her vibrant portraiture, painted Fallou, who designs and sells hats, and her brother, Baaye Demba Sow. The title is a references to Baye Fall, a sect of the Sufi brotherhood Mouride, which Fallou’s brother belongs to, and the hand gesture Fallou is making signifies Allah among members of Baye Fall. With her portraiture, Casteel “adds deeply nuanced expressions of human experience to the expanding collection of images we see every day.” Which is just what we need in these trying times.

Forbes: "Judge Slaps Down USCIS In Significant H-1B Visa Court Case"

US Magistrate Judge L. Patrick Auld has ruled that US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) improperly denied an H-1B petition after USCIS claimed the position did not qualify as a “specialty occupation.” Stuart Anderson, senior contributor at Forbes, writes that this ruling is the “first known case where a federal judge has analyzed whether the USCIS interpretation of its H-1B regulation is entitled to deference under the recent Supreme Court Kisor decision — and the judge determined the USCIS interpretation was not entitled to deference.” In the ruling, the judge rejected USCIS’s assertion that the agency could deny an H-1B petition because the position did not require a degree in a specific subspecialty and that position could be filled by an individual with a degree in more than one discipline.

“USCIS uses a convoluted, nearly indecipherable rationale to define the word ‘degree’ to mean ‘not just a degree,’ but a degree in a specific specialty,” Bradley Banias, a partner with Wasden Banias, LLC who argued the case for the plaintiff, told Anderson in an interview. “Based on this rationale, the agency would find if the position could be filled by someone with a mechanical engineering degree or an electrical engineering degree, USCIS would say that position is not a specialty occupation because it does not require a lone type of degree in a specific specialty.” Banias praised the ruling: “For years, USCIS has used nonsensical distinctions to deny H-1Bs. This opinion will allow employers to push back hard.”

The Joys of Using the New H-1B Registration System

The H-1B cap is officially here! Beginning March 1, 2020, we can submit H-1B electronic registrations for H-1B cap applicants for the first time. This year is notable since it is the first time that US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) is using the H-1B electronic registration system on USCIS.gov. The H-1B electronic registration process requires employers seeking to file H-1B cap cases, including master’s cap cases, to first register online and pay a $10 registration fee in order to enter the H-1B lottery. If a case is selected in the lottery, employers will then be permitted to file full H-1B petitions during a filing period of at least ninety days, likely beginning in April. The initial H-1B cap registration period will run from noon on March 1 until noon on March 20, 2020. While there have been some glitches, we have been excitedly (but carefully) entering H-1B electronic registrations all week. It’s okay, Liz, you can take a break now!

CNN: "1 in 10 eligible voters in 2020 are immigrants. That's a record high"

As voters go to the polls today to vote in the “Super Tuesday” democratic presidential primary, many of those voters could be immigrants. More than 23 million US immigrants will be eligible to vote in the 2020 presidential election, a record high, according to a Pew Research Center report based on Census Bureau data. The report, released last Wednesday, notes that the size of the immigrant electorate has nearly doubled since 2000 with immigrants making up roughly 10% of the nation’s overall electorate. The report notes that most immigrant eligible voters are either Hispanic or Asian with immigrants from Mexico making up the single largest group with sixteen percent of foreign-born voters.

The increase in immigrant voting population coincides at a time when immigration policy issues are a key consideration for many voters. "Many of the administration's proposed policy changes, such as expanding the U.S.-Mexico border wall and limiting legal immigration, have generated strong, polarized reactions from the public," the Pew Research Center says. "These proposals may also affect how immigrants see their place in America and the potential role they could play in the 2020 presidential election.”

Tower of London at Night

Although it’s one of the most iconic structures in London, for those who see it often the Tower of London can be easy to take for granted. Sure, when William the Conqueror built this stone tower at the center of his London fortress in the 1070s, defeated Londoners must have been impressed, as the site Historic Royal Palaces notes. But compared to the Gherkin and the Walkie-Talkie, is the Tower really that special? We were reminded of the beauty and history of this structure as we walked along the Thames one night this week. We especially like the stories of the ghosts that haunt the Tower. Anne Boleyn reportedly stalks Tower Green where she was executed. Arbella Stuart, the cousin of Elizabeth I, who starved while imprisoned for marrying without royal permission, reportedly appears at the Queen’s House. Two smaller ghosts are named the “Princes in the Tower,” and reportedly a huge ghost bear occasionally appears to frighten visitors to death. We’ll just stay on this side of the river, thank you very much.