While we were enjoying a walk in St James’s Park on a delightful fall day, we came across these pelicans enjoying their own stroll. Pelicans were first introduced to the park in 1664 as a gift from the Russian ambassador, and now over forty live here. Current pelican residents include Isla, Tiffany, and Gargi, and recent additions include Sun, Moon, and Star. They all enjoy sunning on their favorites rocks and being fed fresh fish between 2:30pm and 3:00pm every day (though during the pandemic staff feed them away from public view). While the pelicans are free to roam they rarely go far from the lake. Which is probably just as well. Because, you know, social distancing and all. And, don’t worry, pelicans, we're not going to eat you. Sorry, turkeys.
Happy Thanksgiving from St James's Park!
USCIS Announces Revised Naturalization Civics Test Effective December 1, 2020
US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced plans to implement a revised version of the naturalization civics test that will be effective for those who apply for naturalization on and after December 1, 2020. The civics test is one of the statutory requirements for naturalization. The revised test includes “more questions that test the applicant’s understanding of U.S. history and civics, in line with the statutory requirements, and covers a variety of topics that provide the applicant with more opportunities to learn about the United States as part of the test preparation process.”
Read moreGroundswell at Houston Bowery Wall
Ecuadorian artist Raúl Ayala collaborated with young student artists on the latest mural featured at the historic Houston Bowery Mall in downtown Manhattan. The mural honors Groundswell, an organization that encourages youth, artists, and community organizations to use art for social change. The mural, featuring surrealistic touches, reflects on the difficult times we are living in amid the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests against police violence and systemic racism and the global COVID-19 pandemic. Ayala describes the mural as “opening a portal” and is meant to have viewers think about “how we exist in relationship to each other, how we hold and take care of our individual, social, and cultural essence.” He adds: “For me, building imagination and sharing knowledge alongside a younger generation of artists is a great manifestation of the fruits of this shift. With this mural, we are also bringing intergenerational participation into a future that honors our past while actively creating a different path of existence.”
President-Elect Joe Biden & Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris
Last Saturday, major news organizations projected that former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris would win the 2020 presidential election. Their election comes after the Trump administration’s unrelenting attacks against immigrants, refugees, and the US immigration system over the last four years. In the coming days, we will be posting more about what changes to US immigration policy and law we might expect under a Biden/Harris administration. In the meantime, many Americans are celebrating this historic victory. Vice President-Elect Harris, the daughter of two immigrants, will be the first woman, the first African American woman, the first Indian American, and the first Asian American to hold the office of Vice President. In her victory speech last Saturday, Vice President-Elect Harris spoke of her mother: “When she came here from India at the age of 19, maybe she didn’t quite imagine this moment. But she believed so deeply in an America where a moment like this is possible. So, I'm thinking about her and about the generations of women — Black women, Asian, White, Latina, and Native American women throughout our nation's history who have paved the way for this moment tonight.”
This Is Us
As we draw closer to the final tally for the 2020 presidential election and reflect on how our fellow Americans voted, it’s an opportune time to revisit Dr. Eddie Glaude, the Chair of the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University, speaking about President Donald Trump and racism in the United States. Stay safe, everyone.
Asylum: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
With only a few days left until the conclusion of the 2020 election, John Oliver discusses how the Trump administration has handled asylum seekers over the past four years, noting how the administration has been in this area “truly disciplined about being truly evil.” Oliver discuss how asylum is supposed to work and how the Trump administration has subverted it. He focuses in particular on the so-called “Migrant Protection Protocols” that the administration instituted that have led to asylum seekers living in makeshift camps in dangerous conditions where migrants face kidnappings and violence and how the administration has “all but shut off the pathway for many asylum seekers to enter the country.” Oliver says: “[T]he asylum process has never been easy, but this administration has made it absolute hell.”
King Nyani
On a trip to Uganda, artists Gillie and Marc Schattner were able to observe a family of critically endangered mountain gorillas in the wild and were moved by what they saw. Their sculpture, King Nyani, is based on the dominant silverback gorilla, the head of the family that they observed. King Nyani, Swahili for gorilla, is the largest bronze gorilla statue in the world. How large? His hand is large enough to fit two to three people, or an outstretched child. Visitors can view King Nyani in person through May 2021 at the Bella Abzug Park in Hudson Yards, just across from the Vessel. What else can you do before or after seeing the gorilla? You can vote! Early voting in New York City starts this Saturday, October 24!
Judge Issues Preliminary Injunction Halting Proclamation Suspending Entry of H-1B, H-2B, J-1, and L-1 Workers for Plaintiffs
In early October, Judge Jeffrey S. White of the US District Court for the Northern District of California temporarily blocked further implementation of section 2 of the June 22 presidential proclamation (PP 10052) that suspended entry into the US for H-1B highly-skilled workers, H-2B nonagricultural workers, J-1 exchange visitors including interns, trainees, teachers, camp counselors, and au pairs, and L international intracompany transfers, and all their dependents. This injunction is not nationwide and only applies to plaintiffs and members of the plaintiff groups. In his opinion, Judge White criticized the June 22 presidential proclamation noting it did not address the issue it was supposed to fix, namely helping the domestic economy by providing more job opportunities for Americans. “[T]he Proclamation completely disregards both economic reality and the pre-existing statutory framework. Furthermore, without any consideration of the impact on American firms and their business planning, the Proclamation abruptly changed the scope of immigration policy in the United States.”
Read moreDHS and DOL Make Key Changes to the H-1B Program and Permanent Labor Certifications and Labor Condition Applications
Earlier this month the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Labor (DOL) published two interim final rules that make key changes to the H-1B visa program and permanent labor condition and labor condition application process. The rules, “Strengthening the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Classification Program” and “Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Aliens in the United States”, were both published on October 8, 2020.
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