Archive for the Skilled immigrants Category.

June 14th, 2011

Dear Immigrants: We want your business! Sincerely, Michigan

Lara S. Pierce

Much to my delight (and I’m sure to the delight of immigration attorneys across Michigan) Governor Snyder spoke about the positive contributions immigrants make during his State of the State speech in January.  It was a surprise to hear the newly elected Governor speak positively about immigration, an issue that has unfortunately become and increasingly political issue and dogmatic tool. Thankfully, Governor Snyder “gets it.” He understands the tremendous value immigrants contribute directly to our economy. Governor Snyder has publicly stated he opposes Arizona-like (SB-1070) anti-immigration legislation (many thanks to AIR of Michigan for its efforts on this front) and has taken pragmatic steps to increase the appeal of Michigan to foreign business.

Among other actions taken, Governor Snyder has called for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) to take an active role in the development of pro-immigration business policy. This is a wonderful step in the right direction. Michigan should be investing its resources not only into bringing tourists here, i.e. the Pure Michigan campaign, but also on attracting and welcoming business investors and employers.

Based on the experience of our clients, the simple step of proactively reaching out to potential and new businesses already committed to Michigan from Square One would be most welcome, and welcoming, to foreign investors. A point of contact should be readily able to guide them through our laws, regulations, cultural norms, and myriad logistical challenges, to anticipate what those challenges may be and equip the business leadership with knowledge and resources that will better enable them to open and oeprate their business successfully, and should be available should an obstacle arise. Of course countless other obstacles and solutions already exist and need to be explored.

Moving beyond the walls of the office, it is imperative that Michigan consider the lives of foreign workers and their families as residents. When an immigrant comes to live and work in the U.S. for a period of a year, or a few years, or several years, it is important to remember that he or she is not just a visa number, or an employee. Rather, he or she is a resident and citizen (small “c”) of Michigan, eager to explore the beauty and culture of our State and Country. This is an aspect of immigration that, I believe, has been overlooked. We should make it as easy as possible not only to get here, but to live here.Yet simple aspects of daily life that Michiganders take for granted are unecessarily challenging for immigrants. Thankfully, solutions are apparent and accessible. For starters, it should be simpler and easier for foreign workers and their families in Michigan to obtain a driver’s license, qualify for in-state college tuition, and understand tax responsibilities.

Currently, the Secretary of State has in place an internal policy to automatically deny any B1/B2 visa holders a license. This is more restrictive than the federal laws and regulations, needlessly. A visitor in this status can be present for up to 18 months – denying him or her the ability to drive, upon paying fees and passing the required tests, makes no sense. How else are they to get around in Michigan, where mass transit is undeniably limited. Assuming he or she can prove legal status, current residence in Michigan, and identity, he or she should be able to obtain a license. This could impact potential foreign investors visiting Michigan for a long period as they explore business investment opportunities and/or family members visiting.

Additionally, for other visa holders, like those in TN, H, E, and L status, the process should be seamless. Yet, the staff at Secretary of State (SOS) branch offices regularly fail to recognize the meaning of documents issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), improperly questioning the validity of a visa or a person’s status. Any single discrepancy between the SOS and DHS record of names, including an obvious typo cleared up by a passport and other identity documents, results in denial of a driver’s license. SOS staff regularly instruct immigrants they must fix the error with DHS before a license can be issued. Obtaining a new document from DHS for name correction can take months and can be quite expensive. Similarly, immigrants from Latin America and the Middle East treat last names differently from the U.S., in a well-known and predictable manner. For example, an TN visa holder from Mexico will technically have two last names, the last name of her father followed by the last name of her mother. This is simply how it is done in that culture. However, it is extremely common for Latin Americans to use only one of those last names on a regular basis. Despite this widespread, commonplace, predictable practice, SOS branch offices regularly require applicants to provide documentation that matches the SOS system, even if her passport, work authorization card, and birth certificate all evidence her full name. Again, she will be told to rectify the name difference via DHS or Social Security. This is overly restrictive at worst, highly inconvenient at best.

Many foreign workers, their spouses, and children, who are eligible to attend school in Michigan are constructively prevented from doing so due to cost. Although they are residents of Michigan, and are often times home owners, qualifying for “resident” for purposes of receiving in-state tuition rates is burdensome. For those who can even qualify for in-state tuition at all, they must first show payment of Michigan taxes for at least a year. Instead of doing so, or paying extremely high international rates, they simply do not attend at all. Colleges that could be benefitting from their enrollment at any rate, lose out altogether, as does the larger economy to which they could contribute their increased knowledge and skill.

Lastly, foreigners must pay U.S. and Michigan taxes upon residing here for a certain period of time. Generally speaking, foreigners do properly file their taxes, but it is nonetheless a daunting system that may prevent others from paying, or from doing so easily. A section of the State of Michigan Treasury website devoted to immigrants, with simple tools to help determine whether they must file taxes could result in greatly increased tax revenue, and will at least be an attractive resource to foreign workers.

Overall, these are problems that appear minor but that dramatically frustrate the ease with which immigrants move to and integrate into life in Michigan. Yet, the solutions to solve these problems are relatively simple and are certainly easily achievable. Foreign investors are necessarily concerned with the quality of their employees’ lives, and consider the ease of living in a foreign place when selecting locations. Making the lives of investors, business owners, their employees and their families better, will indeed send the signal that not only is Michigan a wonderful place for foreigners to do business, it is a wonderful place for foreigners to live.

With Governor Snyder’s leadership and support, Michigan is poised to lead the 50 States toward an economy that encourages and embraces immigrants, countering the unproductive and misguided anti-immigration trend. Michigan has led the U.S. economy before, and by taking this new course, it will do it again. It is an exciting time to be a proponent of immigration in Michigan and I look forward to witnessing and contributing to the progress.

Posted in Bills & Laws, Recent Posts, Reform, Skilled immigrants, Uncategorized | Comments Off
June 25th, 2009

DHS: Department of Harassment Specialists

N. Peter Antone

If you think that DHS stands for “Department of Homeland Security,” you may wish to reconsider. I believe that it stands for “Department of Harassment Specialists.”

First, let me make something clear: there is no doubt that the majority of those who work at DHS believe in what they do and think it is for our country’s best interest. Their intentions are noble and they are proud to tell you that they are serving with good conscience. However, history is full of people who thought that they were doing wonderful deeds, but in retrospect we realize that what they did was at best a waste of effort and time, and at worst a cause of great and needless harm to others.

I suspect that many of those who enroll at DHS do so to, in their own minds, protect this country from undesirable aliens. I believe the same can be said of many employees at the State Department. I also suspect that many in the Labor Department who deal with immigration issues act from the point of view that they are protecting the U.S. Labor Force. It appears to me that in the last decade and a half, those well-intentioned Americans have had the misfortune of following leaders in the government, who executed policies which may have been politically expedient but are harmful to who we are as a nation. Fifteen years of the wrong foundation is sufficient to create a situation where a huge bureaucracy has substantially turned into a harassment machine.

I recently read a survey which states that in excess of 99% of DHS’s activities relate to immigration issues and less than 1% relate to security issues. Therefore, the designation of that department as a Homeland Security one is a misnomer. While the public may believe that new hires are taking care of security issues, many are channeled instead to immigration-related activities. Since by its nature, bureaucracy seeks its own justification, most of those spend their time nit-picking and pursuing issues against immigrants who should otherwise be allowed to settle in this country and live normally. The result is huge public expenditure of funds, a giant bureaucracy, and an incalculable waste of effort that involves, in reality, nothing other than harassment of individuals that should, under normal circumstances, be welcome in this country. Hence, you have the detention facilities that are housing good people that have, for whatever reason, overstayed in this country. You have gigantic volumes of paperwork seeking trivial data of people and businesses who should otherwise be allowed to have a better ability to do business in this country. I also believe that the same thing is happening at the State Department, hindering many bright and brilliant overseas students, talented workers, and intelligent people from visiting and enriching this country. I also suspect similar occurrences at the Department of Labor, where a huge bureaucracy is created under the disguise of protecting U.S. workers, when actually a freer trade of high skilled labor force would improve our country’s technology, productivity and efficiency.

In summary, I think that there is a vast number of public servants who are paid by the taxpayers and whose activities are counterproductive to the best interest of those taxpayers, but they simply do not know any better or have not had the right leadership to gear their activities to what is truly beneficial to our country.

With the new administrations intent to tackle immigration reform at this year’s end, and based on a new era of discussion of issues without the use of fear tactics, there may be some hope that this wasteful situation shall change for the better, after all.

Posted in Immigration, security, and fear, Recent Posts, Skilled immigrants | Comments Off
May 24th, 2009

Immigration, the Recession, and our Demographics

N. Peter Antone

Several economists and financial experts believe that the current recession and financial crisis will be exacerbated by the changing demographics in our country. Starting in 2008, the baby-boomer generation, which numbers slightly fewer than 100 Million, will start to retire and eventually require substantial expenditures in social security and medical benefits, while at the same time reducing its contributions to tax and social security revenues. What makes this inevitable change more stark is that the baby boomer generation reached its prime earning power only a few years ago, significantly impacting the stock market during the boom years by making large investments in 401Ks and other pension plans, boosting the demands for stocks and related securities.

Furthermore, as the baby boomer generation retires, many of them will vacate their big homes for smaller, less expensive apartments and condos. This will immediately impact the housing market and, as they start to pass away, the supply of real estate in all categories will increase relative to the available demands.

While the United States is aging, emerging markets such as China and India are booming with younger generations that will create a new middle class. As the aging baby boomers in the United States increasingly need to finance their retirement needs, they will be selling their stocks in the U.S. industry to the middle class in the emerging markets, leading to a transfer of wealth and influence from the U.S. to overseas markets.

At such a time, the need to increase immigration admission levels to the United States has never been more acute. We need young professionals in their 20’s and 30’s to immigrate to the United States in large numbers to fill in the huge gap left by retiring, and aging baby boomers. We need them to add to our tax and social security base. We need them to continue the trend of innovation that has characterized our country. In the current economic and housing crises, a new flux of immigrants would also support the purchase of homes and help stabilize the economy. In addition, in pure economic terms, we also need the undocumented population so they can provide, for reasonable prices, services that many U.S. citizens are not willing or able to do. Their presence has helped us contain inflation. This is a better option than removing them to their countries, which is not only harmful to our economy, but also destroys their family unity and deprives them of the ability to support others back home.

Unfortunately, the public sentiment has been used and abused by many politicians in exactly the opposite direction. In recent years, in order to score easy political points, many politicians and others in the media seeking publicity, have utilized demagoguery to agitate the public by blaming all of our society’s ills on immigration. With the onset of the current severe recession and possible depression, a public enticed by emotions and hysteria will only make the anti-immigrant sentiments worse.

Therefore, despite the need to open the doors to young professionals for work visas and green cards, despite the need to make the process less expensive and quicker, and despite our need for those who have already resided among us to remain, the trend is to create obstacles to prevent immigration.

The basic argument that an immigrant takes an American’s job is at best a one sided view. For, while an immigrant may hold a job, he will also add to the consumer side of the equation. In other words, he will become part of the consuming public, occupying a home, renting an apartment, buying groceries, electronics and so on. Furthermore, if this immigrant has a family, they will also be consumers. Moreover, many of those immigrants, especially in the professional H-1B and green card category, come to this country well-educated, sparing this country the cost of having to educate a professional and to spend money on them. The average cost of raising a child through college in the United States is about $250,000.00. When we accept an immigrant who is already a professional, we are getting a member of society who is already able to add knowledge, to work, and to contribute to the tax and social security base with little or no investment on our part.

In addition to immigrants becoming part of the consuming public, many of them open new businesses and in the case of foreign students studying at universities, their innovations add new opportunities for new jobs. Therefore, when assessing whether an immigrant would be an asset or a burden to our economy, one needs to balance the cost versus the benefits, for example the “cost” of an immigrant taking a job versus the benefits the immigrant and his family will confer on society with their purchasing power. Most studies show that, on average, immigrants pay more taxes in their lifetime and contribute far more to society than they take out.

Therefore, we should make immigration easier and less costly. We should open the doors for foreign students to get green cards upon graduation with high degrees such as Master’s and Ph.Ds, and to allow foreign professionals to immigrate to the U.S and obtain work visas by substantially increasing the number of H-1B visas and employment-based green cards, or by removing limits from such categories.

It will be very difficult for U.S. policy makers to convince the U.S. public that in the current recession and loss of jobs that opening the door for numerous new immigrants might actually help. This is a challenge for an intelligent and enlightened administration. We hope that the new administration is able to rise to such a challenge.

Posted in Immigration, security, and fear, Recent Posts, Skilled immigrants, The undocumented | Comments Off