Immigration Official Convicted of Accepting Bribes
Jesus Figueroa, a former senior officer at USCIS, was found guilty by a U.S. District Court in Santa Ana of one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and to impede the lawful function of government immigration agencies. He was also convicted of four counts of accepting bribes, and three counts of fraudulently misusing his official USCIS seal.
The bribes came from an attorney in Rancho Cucamonga named Kwang Man “John” Lee, who was pleaded guilty last year to three counts of bribing a public official.
Figueroa and Lee had worked together overseeing immigration benefits at the Immigration and Naturalization Service before it changed its name to USCIS. Even though Lee left to become a private practice attorney in 1999, he told foreign nationals that he could obtain benefits such as permanent resident status in exchange for fees as high as $50,000.
Lee also arranged sham marriages for people wishing to obtain legal permanent residence. Figueroa knew these marriages were not legitimate but because he had taken bribes from Lee, he approved the applications anyway.
Lee will be sentenced this September. Figueroa could receive up to 80 years in prison for his crimes.
DHS Releases 2016 Poverty Guidelines For Use in Completion of Form I-864, Affidavit of Support
The Department of Homeland Security recently released the 2016 poverty guidelines for use in completing form I-864. The guidelines outline the minimum income requirements and apply to the 48 contiguous states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. They are effective beginning March 1, 2016.
To view the guidelines, please click here.
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Extended for Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone
Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson has extended TPS for Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone for six months. While conditions have improved in these countries, the effects of the Ebola outbreak and the continued recovery challenges in these countries have indicated that nationals could benefit from extended TPS designation.
The extended designation goes into effect on May 22, 2016 and will continue through November 21, 2016.
Current TPS Guinea, Liberia, or Sierra Leone beneficiaries seeking to extend their TPS must re-register during a 60-day period that runs from March 22, 2016 through May 23, 2016.
TPS beneficiaries who re-register during the 60-day period are eligible to apply for new employment authorization documents (EADs). Those beneficiaries who choose to take advantage of this will receive new EADs with an expiration date of November 21, 2016. USCIS is aware that some re-registrants may not receive their new EADs until after the current one expires. Therefore, USCIS is automatically extending current TPS Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone EADs bearing a May 21, 2016 expiration date for six months. These existing EADs are not valid through November 21, 2016.
For more information about this extension and for instructions regarding re-registration, please click here.
USCIS Reaches H-2B Cap for the First Half of 2016
USCIS has received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the congressionally mandated H-2B cap for the first half of Fiscal Year 2016. March 15, 2016 was the final receipt date for new H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date before April 1 2016.
With the exception of special petitions that are exempt from the H-2B cap, USCIS will reject any applications received after the March 15th deadline for any H-2B petitions requesting an employment start date before April 1.
For more information and a complete list of petitions that are exempt from the H-2B cap, please click here.
Immigrants Play a Key Role in Creating Billion-Dollar Start-Ups
As immigration continues to be a key issue on the presidential campaign trail, many Americans are looking for a clear answer as to the impact of immigrants on our nation’s economy. While there has been a vast amount of rhetoric surrounding skilled worker immigration, some highly negative, some much more positive, new research has come to light that will hopefully add to the discussion.
According to a 2016 study released by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), immigrants have started 44 of America’s 87 billion-dollar start-up companies. That’s 51 percent. Moreover, they are key members of management and product development teams in over 70 percent of these companies, most commonly in roles such as Chief Technology Officer, CEO, and Vice President of Engineering.
In addition to the key role that immigrants play in the development of these companies, the study found that start-ups with immigrant founders excel at job creation. SpaceX, a company that aims to enable Americans to travel to Mars, is the leading example with 4,000 employees. It is closely followed by Mu Sigma, a start-up that helps other U.S. companies maintain strong and competitive IT systems, with 3,500 employees.
Like SpaceX and Mu Sigma, many of these billion-dollar start-ups provide useful products and services to benefit American consumers and enhance productivity for many American companies. Some of these include Uber, a start-up that has transformed urban transportation, Gusto, a company that makes it easier for employers to administer payroll to their employees, ZocDoc, a service that allows patients to find local, in-network physicians and enables them to book appointments online, and Stripe, a company that facilitates online payments for businesses and their customers.
Given the critical role that immigrants play in the start-up industry, it is possible that new immigration restrictions could prevent many innovative start-ups from being established in the future. Given how some of these companies have transformed the American market and the American way of life, NFAP hopes that this new study will inform future immigration policy.
To read the full report, click here.
Disclaimer: This newsletter is provided as a public service and not intended to establish an attorney client relationship. Any reliance on information contained herein is taken at your own risk.