A Monthly Bulletin from Immigration Compliance Group -- May 2009
Working with Immigration Compliance Group
Immigration Compliance Group’ strategic partnering approach with its clients, has earned them a reputation that speaks clearly to the necessity in today's global marketplace of delivering sound immigration legal counsel coupled with proactive business insight. This practical, focused approach enables our clients to concentrate on the core competencies of operating their business and produces rewarding and productive win-win results all the way around. They will design a fairly-priced immigration program that works for you, whether it’s providing immigration consulting, working with you on employer compliance issues or handling your immigration case filings. Their creative and flexible approach has won them many accolades.
Contact us now for more information!
Article Six - In Focus - Avoiding Your Political Blindspots
Article Seven - Why Work with Immigration Compliance Group?
Immigration Compliance Group Podcast
Our May 2009 edition podcast is ready! Sorry for the delay, please feel free to listen to the Podcast here.
Will We See Comprehensive Immigration Reform Anytime Soon?
Full Steam Ahead: All Signs Point Toward Immigration Reform
Music to our ears to hear Obama state on his 100th day in office that he was moving “full steam ahead on all fronts” on immigration reform. He told Telemundo reporter that he hopes to convene working groups to start building a framework for how immigration legislation might be shaped. He further stated yesterday that Congress and DHS are aligning their priorities to focus on the root causes of undocumented immigration. Obama stated at his 100th day news conference yesterday:
“We want to move this process. We can’t continue with a broken immigration system. It’s not good for anybody. It’s not good for American workers. It’s dangerous for Mexican would-be workers to cross a dangerous border."
For more information on this story: Read it here at Immigration Impact
Listen NOW to a Webcast and see the list of witness testimony of the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary 4/30/09 hearing on “Comprehensive Immigration Reform in 2009– Can we do it and How?
We need an Immigration Stimulus A Recession is Exactly When We Want Innovative Outsiders
A Wall Street Journal opinion piece points out that an infusion of innovators is even more needed in a recession. Companies founded by immigrants include Yahoo, eBay and Google. Half of Silicon Valley start-ups were founded by immigrants, up from 25% a decade ago. Some 40% of patents in the US are awarded to immigrants. A recent study by the Kauffman Foundation found that immigrants are 50% likelier to start businesses than natives. Immigrant-founded technology firms employ 450,000 workers in the US.
For more information on Immigration Stimulus: Read this story from the Wall Street Journal
The United States depends on a secure Southwest border in order to ensure the safety of its citizens and those of Mexico, facilitate legal trade and transit, support lawful immigration and prevent illegal smuggling of guns, drugs, money, and people. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues to meet recent increases of cartel violence in Mexico with strong action and solidified coordination with federal, state, local, tribal and Mexican authorities.
DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano announced at the White House last month a major set of Southwest border initiatives designed to support Mexico’s campaign against violent drug cartels by limiting the flow of firearms and cash from the United States to Mexico. These initiatives bring more personnel to the Southwest border and place additional technology at strategic locations in order to crack down on the illegal activities that fuel the drug war in Mexico.
Release of Illegal Aliens in Washington State Signals Major Shift in Worksite Enforcement
Immigration Compliance Group stressed in its I-9 audio conference the shift away from penalizing the illegal and undocumented and the government’s movement toward employers unfairly bearing the brunt of the nation’s desire to stem illegal immigration. Many are asking, “what are we to do – be immigration cops!” Today’s answer is “yes” - employers are to police their workforce or face sanctions and monetary penalties. We encourage you to be diligent in the establishment of an Employer Compliance Program – something that sets forth your company’s policies and procedures and to properly train designated staff members on the handling of your I-9 program with ongoing training and “pre-audit” audits.
Please review our employer compliance services and solutions for more information
Employers that hire unauthorized workers, whether knowingly or not, face a range of harsh penalties. Even employers whose employees are all authorized to work but whose I-9s are not in order face significant civil fines because of document errors of up to $1,100 per worker. An employer with 10 employees that has not properly maintained I-9 records could face civil fines of $11,000. Employers cannot simply disavow knowledge of their employees’ immigration status. They may be found to have "constructive knowledge" of the status.
Here’s an example: Twenty-eight illegal alien workers recently arrested during an ICE worksite enforcement effort at the Yamato Engine Specialist plant in Bellingham, Wash., have just been released and granted work authorization. This event -- the most revealing in a recent series of actions signaling a major shift in policy -- now confirms that the Obama Administration has abandoned meaningful immigration enforcement in the
workplace.
Instead of expanding immigration enforcement at the workplace against all those who have broken U.S. laws, the administration has indicated it will focus its efforts only against the employers. The Bellingham illegal alien release highlights the administration's decision to affirmatively dismantle worksite enforcement and undermines the rule of law. It also sends a clear message to illegal aliens that there are no penalties for getting caught,
possibly even rewards in the form of work authorization.
For more information:
Read this story from Reuters.com
April 30, 2009 – ICE Office of Investigations Releases Worksite Enforcement Overview
ICE released an overview of its new worksite enforcement strategy outlining the agency’s priorities in resuming worksite enforcement. The Press Release answers questions such as:
Why is workplace enforcement important?
What’s the harm in illegal aliens working in the USA?
How do businesses and communities suffer?
How does ICE determine which employers to investigate?
Why aren’t more employers arrested and charged?
What types of industries does ICE target?
The U.S. Department of Labor reports a New Jersey-based information technology company has agreed to pay more than a half-million dollars in back wages to workers it hired under a temporary visa program that allows companies to hire foreign-born professionals.
The department's Wage and Hour Division says Teaneck-based Cognizant Technology Solutions has agreed to pay the money to 67 computer professionals hired on H-1B visas.
The department says the company didn't pay proper wages or offer them equal benefits, and failed to maintain required records. A department official says the company immediately responded to correct the violations and promised future compliance.
For more information on the NJ firm: Read this story from the San Francisco Chronicle
Note: For those of you who missed our I-9 audio conference, we have uploaded the Podcast to our Recent News page on our website.
Click here to listen
Federal Funds Poised to Support Nursing Education
It’s been several weeks since President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law, and now the nursing community eagerly awaits this coveted funding to be put into action.
Charges Dropped Against Sentosa Nurses
The “Sentosa 10” were given “a clean bill of health” and found new employment in nursing homes and in a hospital after their criminal charges of conspiracy and patient endangerment were dropped, according to their lawyer James Druker.
The 10 nurses, hired while still in the Philippines to work in U.S. nursing homes managed by Sentosa Care, LLC, found working and living conditions different from what they’d been promised, according to the January 13 decision by the New York State Supreme Court’s appellate division. Their attorney at the time, Felix Vinluan, advised them that, under the circumstances, they could legally resign. After the 10 nurses’ joint resignation, they and Vinluan were prosecuted. 2007). In January, the court determined that, contrary to Sentosa Care’s accusations, the nurses didn’t leave their posts in midshift or abandon their patients, who included children as well as adults.
For more information on this story: Read this from CGFNS
Remade in America – Tech Recruiting Clashes with Immigration Rules
Where’s Sanjay?
The question comes form one of the dozens of engineers around a crowded conference table at Google. They have gathered to discuss how to build easy-to-use maps that could turn hundreds of millions of mobile phones into digital Sherpas – guiding travelers to businesses, restaurants and landmarks.
“His plane gets in at 9:30,” the group’s manager responds.
Google is based in Silicon Valley, but Sanjay G. Mavinkurve, one of the key engineers on this project is not.
Mr. Mavinkurve, a 28-year old Indian immigrant who helped lay the foundation for Facebook while a student at Harvard, instead works out of a Google sales office in Toronto, a lone engineer among marketers. He has a visa to work in the US, but his wife, Samvita Padukone, also born in India, does not. So, he moved to Canada.
Home health-care devices help patients stay out of the hospital
How it works: Various technologies enable patients to exchange health information with caregivers. Patients use the Intel Health Guide system to video conference with health-care professionals and receive videos about diet and exercise. Patients can also attach a blood pressure cuff or other devices using a Bluetooth wireless link and relay vital signs to a nurse. T+ Medical offers more targeted products, such as a diabetes management program that runs on a cell phone and helps patients track and report blood glucose levels. Read more information on this story at Computerworld.com
IT Pros Get Meager Raises as Median Pay Hits $80,000,
Information Week Survey
The annual salary survey finds big differences based on regions, industries, and skills. Median manager pay reaches $105,000.
It's long been true that there isn't one monolithic IT job market, but this recession is causing more fragmentation than usual, our annual U.S. IT Salary Survey shows. Skills have always separated the highest paid from the lowest. This year, salaries and raises reveal sharper shifts based on the industries and regions in which IT pros work. Around Detroit, Los Angeles, and New York, the typical IT staffer didn't get any raise, while in Washington the median increase was a solid 2.9%. In investment banking, the typical IT manager in our survey makes $12,000 less this year, as bonuses shrink. In biotech, IT pay is growing.
To close out our IT news this month, we are offering a motivating video that was used in the introduction to Sony’s recent companywide conference. Please Enjoy!
6. "In Focus" On Organizational Savvy - Political Blind Spots
"In Focus” on Organizational Savvy
Avoiding your Political Blind Spots
Despite excellent intentions, many corporate employees, managers, and executives are too narrowly focused on their own facts, logic, and analysis. Assuming our results will speak for themselves, we may become the victims of other behind-the-scenes forces operating in our organizations.
We may not build enough support for our ideas, or be blind to hidden agendas, power relationships, and the politics with which decisions are sometimes made. We could be short-changing ourselves out of career opportunities or diminishing our influence and impact. We may not receive proper credit or recognition, and may even be vulnerable to sabotage by other more power-driven colleagues or bosses.
The below link to the Brandon Partners training module will help you to adjust your attitudes about power and politics, confront your own naiveté about organizational dynamics that are often swept under the carpet, and recognize tip-offs that you may be vulnerable. The presentation will help to prevent you from being passed over, under-estimated, rendered expendable, or even purposely blocked from implementing your ideas or being promoted. It provides an overview of various Political Styles within organizations, as well as practical strategies for protecting yourself from over-political colleagues or bosses. You will leave empowered with Ethical Politics for greater organizational impact, more strategic influence and visibility, and increased career movement, while holding onto your integrity.
Immigration Compliance Group’ strategic partnering approach with its clients, has earned them a reputation that speaks clearly to the necessity in today's global marketplace of delivering sound immigration legal counsel coupled with proactive business insight. This practical, focused approach enables our clients to concentrate on the core competencies of operating their business and produces rewarding and productive win-win results all the way around. They will design a fairly-priced immigration program that works for you, whether it’s providing immigration consulting, working with you on employer compliance issues or handling your immigration case filings. Their creative and flexible approach has won them many accolades.
Immigration Compliance Group continues to be at the cutting edge of developments in business immigration. We are dedicated to providing our clients with the solutions required today to circumvent the complexities of immigration law. We understand the challenges that you deal with on a daily basis and design practical and strategic business models to answer your needs. This focused approach produces win-win results for everyone! We look forward to hearing from you. Contact us at info@immigrationcompliancegroup.com
