//picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf
On May 22, at New York Law School, AABANY together with the Asian American Arts Alliance (a4) and the Museum of Chinese in America, co-produced “Revisiting Vincent: The Legacy of the Vincent Chin Case 30 Years Later.” The slideshow above contains photos taken by Corky Lee who also shared with us at the event original photos from 1983 when the Asian American community erupted in protest in Detroit over the lenient sentence given to Vincent Chin’s murderers.
In addition to the performance, from a script based on the original trial transcripts, the Hon. Denny Chin and Dean Frank Wu provided a historical, legal and social context for the case during an engaging and lively talkback session following the performance. After that, audience members were invited to stay for a reception, at which Community Presenters OCA-NY, CAAAV and POV were available to engage in dialogue about how their current work is informed by and connected to the legacy of the Vincent Chin case.
Rio Guerrero: “Summer Vacation Travel Tips for Foreign Workers”
Rio Guerrero: “Summer Vacation Travel Tips for Foreign Workers”
Summer is here and employees are taking their well-deserved vacations. Workers are focused on enjoyment, relaxation and recharging. But human resources departments and foreign workers employed in the U.S. should execute the steps needed to ensure the employee can return to work once their vacation is complete.
Generally, all persons who have an approved U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services petition to extend an existing, or change to an entirely new, non-immigrant visa status (e.g.; H, E, L, O, etc.), if traveling abroad, must procure the actual visa at a U.S. Consulate before returning to work in the U.S. Also, for any employee returning to the U.S., it is “best practice” to carry a letter wherein the employer states the employee’s travel dates and purpose, and that employment will continue upon return.
During the U.S. summer months, U.S. Consulates abroad are not always open when expected. Remember, Consulates respect the host country’s business holidays and employees may take vacation pursuant to local custom. For example, in August, U.S. Consulates in Europe may operate with reduced staff – affecting visa processing times.
Well before – sometimes months in advance of – making arrangements for a foreign worker to secure their visa abroad, an employer and its counsel should consider the intended travel dates, U.S. Consular procedures, and visa interview appointment availability. You do not want to approve a ten-business-day international vacation for an employee, and have flights and hotel accommodations booked, only to find out later that a Consular visa appointment slot is unavailable for another three weeks – in effect, losing that employee’s services for over a month.
Another common scenario to be aware of involves certain F-1 visa foreign students who secured post-graduate employment in the U.S. pursuant to optional practical training (OPT) and filed a petition to change to H-1B visa status. While employment remains authorized past OPT expiration – to resolve the employment authorization “gap” otherwise created after OPT status ends until H-1B visa status begins – travel abroad may pose significant risk. Specifically, the April 23, 2010 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “Cap Gap” advisory memorandum warns that those persons with expired OPT who travel abroad, may be deemed to have abandoned a pending petition to change to H-1B visa status. To avoid this problem, an employer may file for premium processing and secure H-1B visa petition approval before travel or – with enough foresight – would have, instead, filed the H-1B visa petition seeking consular processing abroad to coincide with the employee’s intended travel dates.
There are many scenarios affecting visa procedures, employment authorization, employee compensation and other issues, apart from the ones discussed generally above, that arise when foreign employees vacation outside the U.S. Look ahead and plan well in advance of any travel abroad.
Rio M. Guerrero is a partner with the immigration law firm Guerrero Yee LLP in New York City. [rio@guerreroyee.com] He is also Co-Chair of the AABANY Immigration and Nationality Law Committee and an Adjunct Professor of immigration law at the CUNY School of Professional Studies in Manhattan.[Rio Guerrero’s LinkedIn]
AALDEF Volunteer Opportunity – Voter Registration Drives
The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), founded in 1974, is a national organization that protects and promotes the civil rights of Asian Americans. This summer, AALDEF will be conducting a series of street-based voter registration drives in various neighborhoods in New York City and East Brunswick, New Jersey. We need your help to register Asian Americans to vote. Volunteers with Chinese, Korean, Bengali, Hindi, or Punjabi language skills are especially helpful, though not necessary.
All volunteers must be non-partisan during the time that they help. There will be a short training for all volunteers on rules to know when conducting voter registration drives. If your organization is interested in participating in one or more registration drives this summer, please contact AALDEF Voting Rights Organizer, Chi-Ser Tran, immediately at ctran@aaldef.org with the date(s) of choice and the number of volunteers your organization will be able to provide. Please direct all questions to Chi-Ser.
The voter registration drive schedule is:
____Thursday, June 28, 2012: Elmhurst, Queens (5-6:30 pm)
____Friday, June 29, 2012: Richmond Hill, Queens (5-6:30 pm)
____Saturday, June 30, 2012: East Brunswick, New Jersey (11-3pm)
____Tuesday, July 3, 2012: Flushing, Queens (5-6:30 pm)
Thank you! We look forward to working with you this summer!
“On the Menu for Asian Pacific Heritage Month: Two Career Perspectives and Tables of Delicious Fare”
In honor of May as Asian Pacific Heritage Month, the Diversity Committee hosted a dialogue and lunch reception last week with Peggy Kuo, General Counsel for the City’s Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, and Alan Chang, Deputy General Counsel and Vice President of Legal Affairs for the New York Yankees.
Mr. Chang, who grew up in Queens, began his legal career as a litigator in Los Angeles before joining cable sports giant ESPN. A longtime Yankees fan, he recalled telling his wife that ESPN was his “number two dream job,” with the Yankees occupying the top spot. Two years into his role at ESPN, Mr. Chang learned that the Yankees were seeking an attorney with cable sports news experience. He had just bought a home and was feeling settled, but the job was an opportunity he felt he couldn’t pass up.
“And 13 years later, they can’t trade me,” he joked. “I feel like I found my dream job.” When he joined the team, Mr. Chang was one of just four Asian-American attorneys in Major League Baseball (one of whom worked for the Mets). He has done significant work on a Yankees cable television venture and the team’s new Bronx stadium. “It’s never boring,” he said.
Ms. Kuo cited the importance of her City roots. Her father, an immigrant from Taiwan in the 1960s, worked for the Department of Environmental Protection for 44 years, where he designed sewers for the City, and Ms. Kuo was a product of the City’s public school system. Unlike her father, however, she was eager to explore many different careers.
“I have a curious mind, a restless spirit, and no aversion to risk taking,” she said. “Opportunities come up, and you have to be ready to take them.”
Following law school, she pursued trial work with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. “It’s a job I would have done for free,” she said. Years later, she was getting settled into Washington, D.C. and about to buy a home, when she learned of the chance to prosecute crimes stemming from the war in Yugoslavia. Ms. Kuo journeyed to The Hague, where she prosecuted the only mass-rape case in Bosnia, as well as a torture and murder case against a camp commander.
Her return to New York four years later felt like a homecoming. “I always think of the City like a family,” she said. After work in private practice and with the New York Stock Exchange, she took her present role at OATH (which involved an interview with the Corp. Counsel.)
During the Q&A, Mr. Chang and Ms. Kuo were asked what qualities they feel their cultural and ethnic backgrounds contribute to their respective legal careers.
Mr. Chang said that he felt his background lent him an increased sense of cultural sensitivity and understanding that could be applied to the Yankees’ diverse fanbase.
Ms. Kuo noted, “I can see things from more than one viewpoint. My mom struggles with English, and when I was making arguments to the jury, I’d, in my mind, be making those arguments to my mom. I’d say, ‘Would my mom understand this?’”
Editor’s Note: The discussion was complemented by two tables of delicious food. Thanks to the Asian American Bar Association of New York, the South Asian Bar Association of New York, and the Korean American Bar Association of Greater New York, which graciously provided the refreshments.
Thanks also to Andrea Chan, William Ng, Tanisha Byron, Stuart Smith, Michael Wasser, and Raju Sundaran of the Diversity Committee – and Lisa Forrester-Campos, Stephen Kim, Keith Miloscia, Connie Pankratz, Madhu Parthasarathy, Liza Sohn, Peter Tsai, and Gloria Yi.
-NYC Law Department, HEARSAY
– reprinted with permission from NYC Law Dept
AALDEF seeking Nepali Volunteer Interpreter
NEPALI VOLUNTEER INTERPRETER OPPORTUNITY
Founded in 1974, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) is a national organization that protects and promotes the civil rights of Asian Americans. By combining litigation, advocacy, education, and organizing, AALDEF works with Asian American communities across the country to secure human rights for all.
For Summer 2012 and Fall 2012, AALDEF seeks undergraduate or graduate volunteers who are fluent in both Nepali and English to participate in client legal meetings as interpreters. Volunteers will gain valuable experience working alongside AALDEF attorneys in client advocacy and community education, and receive close supervision in a legal environment. A minimum time commitment of 5 hours per week is highly desired.
Interested volunteers should contact AALDEF staff attorney Shirley Lin at slin@aaldef.org by June 18 (Summer 2012) or July 31 (Fall 2012).
