Official blog of the Asian American Bar Association of New York
WH Blog: A New Front Door for Immigrant Entrepreneurs
From USCIS we recently learned of a new initiative to encourage immigration from entrepreneurs as a way to help invigorate the US economy. Read more via the link above to the White House blog. To learn more about the USCIS Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR) program click here.
Dear friends,
We hope this e-mail finds you well; our thoughts are with everyone who experienced Hurricane Sandy and are dealing with its impact.
Given current conditions throughout the area, including lack of email and phone service at the NYIC, we are postponing NYIC events scheduled for the next few days, including:
TRAINING on Special Immigrant Juvenile Status—scheduled for Wednesday, October 31, 2012 from 2:00pm – 4:00pm: postponed till further notice
TRAINING on Battered Spouse Waivers & VAWA Self-Petitions —scheduled for Thursday, November 1, 2012 from 10:00am – 1:00pm: postponed till further notice
TRAINING on Immigration Consequences of Criminal Dispositions —scheduled for Friday, November 2, 2012 from 2:00pm – 5:00pm: postponed till further notice
DACA Clinic: Scheduled for November 1st, 6PM: postponed till further notice
MEXICAN Consulate ID Event: Scheduled for October 31 to November 4th, 9am to 2pm at PS 24 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn: The start date is postponed; we will know in the next day or two whether or not it will happen at all at this time or whether it will be postponed entirely to a later date.
While our lack of phone and email service makes communication difficult, we do have an email address that you can write to us to for urgent matters: [email protected]. We will check this address two to three times a day until our regular email service is up and running.
If you sent an email to NYIC staff anytime after 7 p.m. Monday, October 29th, we likely did not receive it. If it is urgent, you can forward it to the gmail address above. Otherwise, we will send out a notification once we’re back online and have full communications capacity again.
Thank you; and again, our best wishes to everyone as we recover from this storm.
Chung-Wha Hong
Executive Director
The New York Immigration Coalition
On May 22, 2012, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) launched the first phase of our new electronic immigration system, known as USCIS ELIS. This new system brings the agency closer to realizing the web-based future of immigration services. Currently, USCIS ELIS is available for individuals who need to file a stand-alone Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status (Form I-539). Future releases will add form types and functions to the system, gradually expanding to cover all USCIS immigration benefits. More information about USCIS ELIS is available at www.uscis.gov/uscis-elis.
USCIS welcomes feedback from customers and stakeholders on USCIS ELIS and is hosting a series of engagements to share updates and discuss users’ experiences with the system. The conversation at each engagement will focus upon the following topics:
· An overview of USCIS ELIS and recent updates;
· How to electronically file a benefit request using USCIS ELIS; and
· Customer feedback regarding their experiences with USCIS ELIS
The schedule for the USCIS ELIS engagements is as follows:
Location Date/Time
USCIS Washington Field Office Thursday, Oct 5
2675 Prosperity Avenue 10:30 am – 12:00 pm (Eastern
Fairfax, VA 20598
USCIS New York District Office Friday, Nov 2
26 Federal Plaza, Third Floor, 10:00 am – 11:30 am (Eastern)
Room 3-300
New York, NY 10278
USCIS Los Angeles District Office Thursday, Nov 8
300 N. Los Angeles St., Room 1001 1:00 – 2:30 pm (Pacific)
Los Angeles, CA 90012
To Participate in a Session:
These engagements are in person only. If you wish to attend, please email the Public Engagement Division at [email protected] no later than the day before the session. In the subject line of your email, please reference the following:
· For the Oct 25 engagement, reference USCIS ELIS – DC
· For the Nov 2 engagement, reference USCIS ELIS – NYC
· For the Nov 6 engagement, please reference USCIS ELIS – LA
Please include your full name and the organization you represent in the body of the email. Following your registration, we will provide an email confirmation. Also, be sure to bring government-issued photo identification and plan to arrive at least 15 minutes early to complete the security process.
Kind Regards,
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
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On Wednesday, October 10, at Brooklyn Law School, the Asian American Bar Association of New York through five of its Committees – Women’s, Government and Public Sector, Immigration and Nationality Law, Pro Bono and Community Service and Prosecutors – together with Brooklaw Apalsa presented an excellent CLE program on Exploring Sex Trafficking Cases: Criminal Justice, Immigration and Social Perspectives.
Town Hall Meeting on
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
Learn more about Deferred Action and where to get help with your application
11:00 – 12:30, Sunday, October 7, 2012
LaGuardia Community College
31-10 Thomson Avenue
(Enter Community Entrance on Van Dam Street & 47th Avenue)
Long Island City, New York
Please Join Host
Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney
and her special guest:
Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez
Along with Representatives of
American Immigration Lawyers Association
CUNY Citizenship Now
New York Immigration Coalition
& United States Citizen and Immigration Service
To view the flyer please click here.
From our friends at the New York Immigration Coalition:
Dear Members and Friends,
I would like to recommend a very powerful film about Latinos in America – Harvest of the Empire – opening at the Quad New York City next Friday, September 28th. The film is based on a book by Juan Gonzalez, a good friend of the NYIC and a renowned journalist. I believe the film will contribute significantly to the public’s understanding of the immigration issue by shedding very much needed light on some of the factors that spur immigration from Latin America. The film has some incredibly moving stories, gripping and rare historical footage and much more. Please see below for more information.
Chung-Wha Hong Executive Director New York Immigration Coalition
Friday, September 28th through October 4th
Quad Cinema NYC
34 West 13th St. New York, NY
Showtimes:1:00 // 2:50 // 4:40 // 6:30 // 8:20 // 10:20 pm
www.harvestofempiremovie.com
Rosemary Yu, Co-Director of the New York County DA’s Immigrant Affairs Office (and AABANY member), shares the following press release about the ongoing efforts of her office to stop immigration fraud which has victimized our immigrant communities:
DISTRICT ATTORNEY VANCE ANNOUNCES INDICTMENT OF GARAGE ATTENDANT FOR DEFRAUDING IMMIGRANT CO-WORKERS
Case Referred by Caller to DA’s Immigrant Affairs Program Hotline: 212-335-3600
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., announced today the indictment of JOSE DELVALLE, 32, for stealing approximately $6,000 from immigrants by promising to obtain labor certifications and green cards for them, and falsely claiming that he had a contact who worked for immigration authorities capable of helping them. The defendant is charged in New York State Supreme Court with Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Third Degree, Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, and Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree. The District Attorney’s Office launched an investigation into the defendant’s criminal activity when the victims contacted the Office’s Immigrant Affairs Program.
“More than half of the 2,400 calls to my Office’s Immigrant Affairs Program Hotline over the years relate to scams involving individuals claiming to offer legitimate immigration services, when, in fact, they do not,” said District Attorney Vance. “The circumstances of each crime vary – sometimes, the defendants represent themselves to be attorneys. Other times, the defendants target members of their own immigrant community. However, these crimes all share one thing: a willingness on the part of the defendants to take advantage of people who are new to this country, not fluent in the language, and struggling to navigate a complex legal and social services system. I encourage anyone who feels he or she may be the victim of an immigration scam to call my Office’s Immigrant Affairs Program Hotline at 212-335-3600, regardless of immigration status.”
According to documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court, the defendant worked with the victims – two Ecuadorean immigrants – at a parking garage in Northern Manhattan. Between October and November 2010, DELVALLE is accused of befriending the two victims, telling them that he had a contact who worked in what he termed “immigration,” and promising to get them their labor certifications and green cards if they paid him $6,000 apiece: $3,000 up front, with the remainder to be paid after they received the documents. The defendant allegedly told his victims that it could take them anywhere from six months to one year for the cards to arrive. When they did not receive them, they contacted the defendant, who soon stopped taking their calls. It was at that point that the victims reported the scheme to the District Attorney’s Office.
DELVALLE is not an authorized provider of immigration services, and no immigration filings were ever submitted on behalf of the two victims.
Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Gross of the Special Prosecutions Bureau is handling the prosecution of this case, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Rosemary Yu and Mayerling Rivera, Co-Directors of the Immigrant Affairs Program, and Thomas Wornom, Chief of the Special Prosecutions Bureau.
District Attorney Vance thanked the Office of Fraud Detection & National Security, within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, New York District, and the Executive Office for Immigration Review, within the United States Department of Justice, for their assistance in this investigation.
Defendant Information:
JOSE DELVALLE, D.O.B. 6/12/80
Bronx, NY
Charges:
- Criminal Possession of a Stolen Property in the Third, a class D felony, one count
- Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, a class E felony, one count
- Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony, two counts
An estimated 100,000 undocumented Asian immigrants are eligible for “Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals” (DACA). A new Department of Homeland Security directive, DACA gives eligible undocumented youth a two-year pause from the threat of deportation and an opportunity to secure a work permit. For many, this will be the first opportunity to legally work and live in this country.
Many of these immigrants are from the communities served by the various Asian bar associations of New York. Taking on a DACA case pro bono is a discrete way to learn basic immigration law and impact the life of undocumented youth.
The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) is seeking pro bono counsel to represent eligible young people applying for DACA. No prior legal experience is required, but pro bono counsel will be required to attend a training prior to taking a case. These cases will help support the work of AALDEF’s youth group for undocumented Asian Americans.
If you are interested in taking a DACA case through AALDEF, please join us for the training on:
Wednesday, September 5 from 6pm-7pm
at O’Melveny & Myers, 7 Times Square
To register for the training, please email AALDEF at: [email protected]
For more information about what this new directive means for Asian American communities, see our legal alert.
A message from Elena Mayer regarding the Immigrant Bridge Program:
Good morning,
My name is Elena Mayer; I work on the LINK pilot initiatives at the New York City Economic Development Corporation. This suite of programs, being launched this fall, aims to better connect low-income residents and neighborhoods to emerging opportunities in the New York City economy.
I’m writing specifically to let you know about two RFPs we released this week for a new pilot program called the Immigrant Bridge Program. The goal of the Program is to help high-skill, unemployed or underemployed immigrants in NYC to obtain gateway jobs in their field of expertise. Our classic example is the engineer from Belarus who is today stocking shelves at a grocery store, who for a variety of reasons is unable to attach to the labor market in a job that utilizes his engineering training. Our program model combines two pieces: first, a case management, career plan development, and soft-skills training component that will arm participants with the appropriate next steps and necessary job search capabilities–the “Workforce Program.” Second, we will connect participants to microloan opportunities from a partnered “Loan Fund,” to help them cover the cost of any necessary classes, accreditation fees, or general costs incurred as they pursue their career plan (e.g., childcare, transit, etc.). Our analysis suggests that these low-income immigrants stand to increase their annual incomes by $15-30K through successful completion of the program.
We welcome proposals for both of these two RFP opportunities. The links to download the RFP documents can be found here:
Immigrant Bridge Workforce Program RFP
Immigrant Bridge Loan Fund RFP
Below are some relevant dates to note:
Workforce Program
· Optional information session: Thursday, September 6that 2:30pm, NYCEDC, 110 William Street, Conference Room 4A/B
· RFP Submission Deadline: Friday, September 28thby 4:00pm
Loan Fund
· Optional information session: Tuesday, September 11that 9:30am, NYCEDC, 110 William Street, Conference Room 4A/B
· RFP Submission Deadline: Friday, September 28thby 4:00pm
If you have any questions broadly about the Immigrant Bridge program concept, please feel free to reach out to me ([email protected];212-312-3561). If you have any questions specific to the RFPs, please direct your inquiries to[email protected]or[email protected](respectively).
I look forward to your proposals, and to being in touch with you about this opportunity.
Best,
Elena