#Green Card Lawyer in New York and New Jersey | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

tabloidtoc · 4 years ago

Text

In Touch, April 26

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Duchess Kate's revenge on Meghan Markle

Page 1: Contents

Page 2: Spring Cleaning -- it's that time of year again, and these products can help -- Nina Dobrev cleaning her floor

Page 4: Introducing Real Housewives All-Stars -- the most beloved table-flipping, drink-tossing, backstabbing stars from Real Housewives NYC, New Jersey, Atlanta and Beverly Hills casts are uniting for an all-star series on the streaming service Peacock and since everyone knows group trips make for the wildest episodes, the show will be filmed for two weeks at a Caribbean resort

Page 5: Angelina Jolie seems to be turning into quite the social butterfly as just weeks after her casual dinner with Ellen Pompeo then DJ Diplo posted an Instagram video with a woman who looks an awful lot like Angie, Number of the Week -- 2.25 million dollars fetched for Tom Brady's rookie football card, Gratitude of the Week -- Lena Dunham explaining how Glenn Close once cut her out of a too-tight corset at a black-tie event, Wife of the Week -- Megan Mullally on introducing her husband Nick Offerman to society, Makeover of the Week -- Iggy Azalea revealed bright green locks

Page 6: Crib of the Week -- Jerry Seinfeld's Colorado hideway in Telluride for sale, Winner of the Week -- Pete Davidson finally moves out of his mom's house on Staten Island and gets his own pad, Loser of the Week -- Bridgerton fans because Rege-Jean Page who plays the Duke of Hastings has confirmed he will not return next season

Page 8: Up Close -- Lady Gaga in a wedding dress playing Black Widow Patrizia Reggiani on the set of House of Gucci

Page 10: Brioni house ambassador Brad Pitt strikes a pose for the brand's Spring/Summer 2021 campaign, Nicole Kidman who will play Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos shares a cheeky on-set pic, Kate Beckinsale straps her cat Clive to her chest in a carrier

Page 12: Planet Hollywood -- stars give back for Earth Day -- Zac Efron shows how bees are affected by pollution on his show Down to Earth with Zac Efron, Gisele Bundchen picks some herbs, Kelis working in the garden

Page 13: Nikki Reed and her chicken, Bella Hadid gets down and dirty sowing 1500 lavender plants at her family's farm in Pennsylvania, Jenna Fischer and her new orange tree

Page 16: Dwayne Johnson shows off the fruits of his labor in the gym, Christopher Meloni joked that he's a big boy after fans notice his ample behind on the set of Law & Order: Organized Crime, Madonna and daughter Lourdes Leon pose for a selfie, Katy Perry standing on a toilet in the American Idol bathroom

Page 20: Kim Kardashian has officially become a billionaire, but not everyone in her family is congratulating her, as sister Kylie Jenner is annoyed because Kim is being so smug about it -- Kylie is proud of her makeup line, and she thinks Kim basically just copied her business model with KKW Beauty and Skims -- meanwhile Kim never misses the chance to point out to her whole family that none of them would be rich or famous without her, they'd be nobodies -- when Kim found out Kylie might be a billionaire, she made it her mission to do the same because she's famously competitive and Kim didn't just set out to best Kylie in business, she wants to destroy all of her sisters and this is natural sibling rivalry but of course Kim is acting like it's war

Page 21: Rapper and actor DMX, real name Earl Simmons, died at age 50 after being on life-support for a week following a heart attack at his New York home -- the father of 15 had long struggled with substance abuse, which reportedly triggered his cardiac arrest -- he showed few signs of trouble in his final days: his fiancee Desiree Lindstrom shared a video of the healthy looking and upbeat star jamming to a Michael Jackson tune, and his final single X Moves was released the day he died, but secretly, he was struggling

Page 22: Cover Story -- Meghan Markle snubbed by the royal family -- Meghan was banned from Prince Philip's funeral as her husband Prince Harry returns to the U.K. for the first time since Megxit -- the royals truly are hoping to heal the rift with Harry, but the chances of that happening are slim if Meghan is around because the family just doesn't trust Meghan anymore

Page 24: Prince Philip's life in pictures

Page 28: Is Tiger Woods hiding something? The investigation into the golfer's horrific car crash is concluded, but questions linger

Page 30: True Crime -- Till Death Do Us Part? San Diego mom May "Maya" Millete vanishes after making an appointment with a divorce lawyer

Page 32: The Big Interview -- Margaret Josephs of The Real Housewives of New Jersey

Page 36: And the Oscar goes to...these must-haves for that virtual soiree you're hosting on Hollywood's biggest night -- Lady Gaga with her Oscar

Page 38: Fashion -- Long Live Tie-Dye -- this psychedelic print is still going strong -- Addison Rae, Kourtney Kardashian

Page 40: Animal Overload -- my dog looks Hoda Kotb

Page 46: Horoscope -- Taurus Renee Zellweger turned 52 on April 25

Page 48: Last Laughs

7 notes · View notes

creepingsharia · 5 years ago

Text

New Jersey: Syrian Muslim mayor who declared sanctuary for illegals, claims searching international travelers violates Constitutional

The irony.

Mohamed Khairullah, the longtime mayor of Prospect Park, said he was held for three hours at JFK International Airport in New York last month, questioned about whether he knew any terrorists and forced to hand over his phone.

“It was definitely a hurtful moment where I’m thinking in my mind that this is not the America that I know,” said Khairullah, a public school administrator. “I am very familiar with our laws and Constitution, and everything that was going on there was a violation.”

A violation of what? Mohamed also claims he is very familiar with the Constitution. Yet he is the same mayor who declared Prospect Park, NJ a sanctuary city for illegal aliens. Read post here.

Khairullah, his wife and four children, ages 1, 2, 9 and 10, visited relatives in Turkey who are Syrians displaced by war. They visited a beach, historic sites around Istanbul and a mosque. Khairullah met with mayors of different towns to talk about government and business.

Why would a New Jersey mayor be meeting with Turkish or Syrian mayors about government (sharia) and business? Was he on official mayoral business? Are New Jersey taxpayers funding trips for the mayor and his family?

According to Khairullah, CBP officers who were at the gate Aug. 2 when Khairullah exited the plane told him they were doing a random stop. During the screening, he said, they asked him what he studied in college, where he works, his mother’s name, his nicknames and where he traveled.

Khairullah said they asked whether he'd visited any towns with terrorist cells and whether he personally met with any terrorists.

“It’s flat-out insulting,” he said. “It’s flat-out stereotyping of Muslims and Arabs.”

Is it stereotyping or does the U.S. government know exactly who Mohamed Khairulah is and whom he has met with in the past?

It has been reported that the mayor has made numerous trips to Syria and met with Syrian “rebels” (aka al Qaeda and ISIS). Read post here. Also see link at the end of this post.

At the agents’ request, he said, he gave them access to his phone, which contained private emails and family photos, among other information. The phone was taken to another room. Khairullah said he called an attorney as he grew increasingly uncomfortable and said he no longer consented to the search of his phone.

He didn’t call any attorney, he called the terrorist-linked, terror-listed CAIR. Despite being mentioned by name several times in the article, author Hannan Adely of the North Jersey Record - never once lets readers know of the notorious group CAIR’s nefarious background.

Agents told him they’d have to keep the phone, Khairullah said. They held it for 12 days until a lawyer from the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations intervened and helped get it back.

Khairullah’s family fled persecution in Syria in 1980 and lived in Saudi Arabia before moving to the USA in 1991 when he was a teenager. Khairullah, 44, an education supervisor at Passaic County Technical Institute, does humanitarian work, having visited refugee camps in Syria and Turkey, as well as a Rohingya refugee camp, to raise money and awareness and deliver supplies.

Given his background, Khairullah said he feels a heightened sense of appreciation for freedoms in the USA, which led him to want to serve his community. A former volunteer firefighter, he was elected to the Prospect Park council in 2001 and has been mayor since 2006.

Citizens and returning green card holders can't be denied entry for refusing to enter their password but may be detained or have their device seized.

The CBP spokesperson said all international travelers arriving in the USA are subject to inspection, and the agency is monitoring compliance with hundreds of U.S. laws.

If there is reasonable suspicion, officers can do an advanced search using equipment to review, copy or analyze contents of a device.

“CBP believes they can do what they want at the border, but even their own policies say there needs to be reasonable suspicion to do an intrusive search of the phone,” Mohamed said, referring to a 2018 directive on border searches of electronic devices.

--------END---------

Mohamed Khairullah and his Syrian rebel friends are as suspicious as they come. He’s also friendly with the Hamas imam who has had deportation orders for a decade or longer. More on the illegal sanctuary city mayor here.

#Immigration #Sharia #Legal #News #Politics #Islam #Jihad

45 notes · View notes

npzlawyersforimmigration · 2 years ago

Text

US Immigration: Tips for Acing Your N-400 Interview for US Citizenship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2KKBtSc49w

#USCitizenship #N400Interview #USCIS #immigration #N400 #N400application #uscis

2 notes · View notes

iamswagggg · 1 year ago

Text

Adjusting Status: From K-1 Visa to Permanent Resident

Navigating the Path to Permanent Residency through K-1 Visa Adjustment

In the complex world of U.S. immigration, the journey from a K-1 visa holder to a permanent resident can be both challenging and rewarding. This comprehensive guide, authored by an experienced immigration and criminal defense attorney practicing in New York and New Jersey, will provide you with the essential information you need to understand the process of adjusting your status from a K-1 visa holder to a permanent resident.

Understanding the Basics

At the outset, let's clarify the foundational concepts:

Definition of K-1 Visa: A K-1 visa, also known as a fiancé(e) visa, allows the foreign fiancé(e) of a U.S. citizen to enter the United States for the purpose of getting married.

Green Card (Permanent Residency): A Green Card grants you permanent resident status in the United States, allowing you to live and work here indefinitely.

The Adjustment of Status Process

The adjustment of status process involves transitioning from a K-1 visa holder to a permanent resident within the United States. Here are the key steps:

Marriage and Filing Form I-485: Upon marrying your U.S. citizen fiancé(e), you must file Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.

Biometrics Appointment: Attend a biometrics appointment to provide fingerprints, photographs, and a signature.

Interview: Prepare for an interview with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to assess the bona fides of your marriage.

Medical Examination: Undergo a medical examination by an approved civil surgeon and submit Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record.

Affidavit of Support: Your U.S. citizen spouse must submit Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, to demonstrate financial sponsorship.

Conditional Permanent Residency: If your marriage is less than two years old at the time of approval, you will receive conditional permanent residency.

Removal of Conditions: After two years, you must jointly file Form I-751 to remove the conditions on your permanent residency.

Forms of Relief from Deportation

Understanding your rights and options in the immigration process is crucial. Here are several forms of relief from deportation that you may be eligible for:

Cancellation of Removal: A discretionary form of relief available to certain non-permanent residents facing deportation.

Asylum and Withholding of Removal: Protection for individuals fearing persecution in their home country.

Temporary Protected Status (TPS): A status granted to individuals from countries facing crises such as armed conflict or natural disasters.

U Visa: For victims of certain crimes who cooperate with law enforcement.

Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Relief: Available to individuals who have suffered abuse by a U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse or parent.

Expert Legal Guidance

Navigating the immigration process can be complex and daunting. An experienced immigration attorney can provide invaluable guidance, helping you avoid common pitfalls and ensure your application is thorough and accurate.

Related Article Ideas

"Maintaining Your Permanent Residency: Rights and Responsibilities"

"Navigating the Adjustment of Status Interview with USCIS"

"Conditional Permanent Residency: What You Need to Know"

"Deportation Defense Strategies: Understanding Relief Options"

"The Role of an Immigration Attorney: Why Legal Representation Matters"

External Links

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

Department of State - Visa Information

American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)

Immigration Policy Center

The New York Times - Immigration Section

0 notes

miamiduilawyers · 1 year ago

Text

Employment-Based Adjustment of Status: Pursuing Your Career Goals in America.

Introduction

Welcome to a comprehensive guide on "Employment-Based Adjustment of Status: Pursuing Your Career Goals in America." In this article, we will delve into the intricate world of immigration law, focusing on how you can achieve your career aspirations while legally residing in the United States. Our experienced immigration and criminal defense attorney in New York and New Jersey will provide you with expert insights and guidance throughout the journey.

Understanding Adjustment of Status

Before we dive into the specifics, let's define the concept of "Adjustment of Status." This legal process allows certain individuals, including employment-based visa holders, to change their nonimmigrant status to that of a lawful permanent resident, commonly known as a Green Card holder. This pivotal step opens up a world of opportunities for career growth and personal development.

Key Definitions

To navigate the employment-based adjustment of status successfully, it's essential to understand some key terms:

Nonimmigrant Status: Temporary visa status granted to individuals for specific purposes, such as work, study, or tourism.

Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR): A Green Card holder who has the legal right to live and work in the United States indefinitely.

Immigration and Nationality Act (INA): The federal law governing U.S. immigration policies and procedures.

Employment-Based Adjustment Options

Now that we have a solid foundation, let's explore the various relief options available for individuals seeking to adjust their status while pursuing their career goals.

1. Employment-Based Preference Categories

The INA provides five employment-based preference categories (EB-1 to EB-5) that cater to individuals with different qualifications and backgrounds. Each category has specific criteria and annual visa quotas. Understanding which category aligns with your qualifications is crucial.

2. Employment-Based Adjustment Process

The process of adjusting your status typically involves the following steps:

a. Labor Certification (if applicable)

For some employment-based categories, employers must first obtain a labor certification from the Department of Labor to demonstrate that there are no qualified U.S. workers available for the position.

b. Form I-485 Application

You'll need to file Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, along with supporting documentation to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

c. Interview and Medical Examination

Applicants may be required to attend an interview and undergo a medical examination as part of the adjustment process.

3. Key Considerations

There are several crucial factors to consider when pursuing employment-based adjustment of status:

Maintaining legal status while the application is pending.

Adhering to visa bulletin updates and priority dates.

Understanding the impact of employment changes on your status.

1 note · View note

tyylerjohn · 6 years ago

Text

Immigration Attorney in New York and New Jersey October 01, 2018 at 10:56AM

In the United States federal criminal code, crimes are divided into two main categories: misdemeanors and felonies. The distinction is one of maximum punishment. A misdemeanor, according to federal law, […] The post Can a misdemeanor affect my immigration status? appeared first on Immigration Lawyers in US. October 01, 2018 at 10:42AM http://blog.lawyersinus.com/ https://www.facebook.com/yourGreenCard/ from Immigration Attorney in New York and New Jersey http://www.facebook.com/pages/p/2217534265132341 via Green Card Lawyer in New York and New Jersey

#Green Card Lawyer in New York and New Jersey #FacebookPages

0 notes

moonwalkertrance · 6 years ago

Link

‘My whole town practically lived there’: From Costa Rica to New Jersey, a pipeline of illegal workers for Trump goes back years

At his home on the misty slope of Costa Rica’s tallest mountain, Dario Angulo keeps a set of photographs from the years he tended the rolling fairways and clipped greens of a faraway American golf resort.

Angulo learned to drive backhoes and bulldozers, carving water hazards and tee boxes out of former horse pastures in Bedminster, N.J., where a famous New Yorker was building a world-class course. Angulo earned $8 an hour, a fraction of what a state-licensed heavy equipment operator would make, with no benefits or overtime pay. But he stayed seven years on the grounds crew, saving enough for a small piece of land and some cattle back home.

Now the 34-year-old lives with his wife and daughters in a sturdy house built by “Trump money,” as he put it, with a porch to watch the sun go down.

It’s a common story in this small town.

Other former employees of President Trump’s company live nearby: men who once raked the sand traps and pushed mowers through thick heat on Trump’s prized golf property — the “Summer White House,” as aides have called it — where his daughter Ivanka got married and where he wants to build a family cemetery.

“Many of us helped him get what he has today,” Angulo said. “This golf course was built by illegals.”

Dario Angulo at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. (Courtesy of Dario Angulo)

Dario Angulo with his cattle in Santa Teresa de Cajon. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

The Washington Post spoke with 16 men and women from Costa Rica and other Latin American countries, including six in Santa Teresa de Cajon, who said they were employed at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster. All of them said that they worked for Trump without legal status — and that their managers knew.

The former employees who still live in New Jersey provided pay slips documenting their work at the Bedminster club. They identified friends and relatives in Costa Rica who also were employed at the course. In Costa Rica, The Post located former workers in two regions who provided detailed accounts of their time at the Bedminster property and shared memorabilia they had kept, such as Trump-branded golf tees, as well as photos of themselves at the club.

The brightly painted homes that line the road in Santa Teresa de Cajon, many paid for by wages earned 4,000 miles away, are the fruits of a long-running pipeline of illegal workers to the president’s course, one that carried far more than a few unauthorized employees who slipped through the cracks.

Soon after Trump broke ground at Bedminster in 2002 with a golden shovel, this village emerged as a wellspring of low-paid labor for the private club, which charges tens of thousands of dollars to join. Over the years, dozens of workers from Costa Rica went north to fill jobs as groundskeepers, housekeepers and dishwashers at Bedminster, former employees said. The club hired others from El Salvador, Mexico and Guatemala who spoke to The Post. Many ended up in the blue-collar borough of Bound Brook, N.J., piling into vans before dawn to head to the course each morning.

Their descriptions of Bedminster’s long reliance on illegal workers are bolstered by a newly obtained police report showing that the club’s head of security was told in 2011 about an employee suspected of using false identification papers — the first known documentation of a warning to the Trump Organization about the legal status of a worker.

Other supervisors received similar flags over the years. A worker from Ecuador said she told Bedminster’s general manager several years ago that she entered the country illegally.

Eric Trump, a son of the president who runs the Trump Organization along with his brother Donald Trump Jr., declined to comment on the accounts by the former workers. Bedminster managers did not return requests for comment.

The company’s recent purge of unauthorized workers from at least five Trump properties contributes to mounting evidence that the president benefited for years from the work of illegal laborers he now vilifies.

[Trump’s golf course employed undocumented workers — and then fired them amid showdown over border wall]

It remains unclear what measures Trump or his company took to avoid hiring such workers, even after he launched a White House bid built on the threat he says they pose to Americans.

Amid Trump’s push for a border wall, there has been little public discussion of how U.S. employers — including the president himself — have generated demand for unlawful workers.

White House officials did not respond to requests for comment.

Eric Trump has said he and other senior Trump Organization executives did not know the company hired illegal workers, noting that the employees used falsified documents.

“We have tens of thousands of employees across our properties and have very strict hiring practices,” the company said in a statement in December. “If any employee submitted false documentation in an attempt to circumvent the law, they will be terminated immediately. We take this issue very seriously.”

Trump speaks during a meeting with business leaders at the Bedminster club in August.

'It's been a very open secret'

Over the years, the network from Costa Rica to Bedminster expanded as workers recruited friends and relatives, some flying to the United States on tourist visas and others paying smugglers thousands of dollars to help them cross the U.S.-Mexico border, former employees said. New hires needed little more than a crudely printed phony green card and a fake Social Security number to land a job, they said.

Some workers described Bedminster as their launchpad to buy homes and start businesses. Others remembered it as grueling labor under bosses who were demanding, even bigoted — and who at times used the workers’ illegal status against them.

After the New York Times in December reported about two housekeepers without legal status who worked at Bedminster, the Trump Organization fired at least 18 employees at five golf courses in New York and New Jersey, part of what Eric Trump has said is “a broad effort” to identify unauthorized workers. An additional undisclosed number were fired from Bedminster, former employees said.

[Purge of undocumented workers by the president’s company spreads to at least 5 Trump golf courses]

“Our employees are like family, but when presented with fake documents, an employer has little choice,” Eric Trump told The Post last month.

“This situation is not unique to Trump Organization — it is one that all companies face,” he added. “It demonstrates that our immigration system is severely broken and needs to be fixed immediately.”

As president, his father has repeatedly called for a crackdown on illegal immigration.

“No issue better illustrates the divide between America’s working class and America’s political class than illegal immigration,” Trump said during his State of the Union address Tuesday. “Tolerance for illegal immigration is not compassionate — it is cruel.”

But the lax hiring practices at Bedminster and other Trump properties described by former employees — including some who said their supervisors discussed their fake documents — stand in sharp contrast with Trump’s rhetoric.

While other top-tier U.S. golf courses adopted the federal government’s E-Verify system to check the immigration status of potential hires, the Trump Organization is only now planning to implement it throughout its properties — even though then-candidate Donald Trump claimed in 2016 he was using it across his company.

Of 12 Trump golf courses in the United States, three of them — in North Carolina, Southern California and Doral, Fla. — are enrolled in the E-Verify system, according to a federal database. Eric Trump said that “a few” other clubs, including a Trump course in the Bronx, use a private vendor to screen new applicants.

[Trump’s company plans to expand check of employees’ legal status following report that it hired undocumented workers for years]

The government has offered employers electronic verification services since 1997 and introduced the E-Verify system in 2007 to allow companies to screen new hires online. Nearly 750,000 U.S. employers are enrolled in the program, according to the latest government figures.

ClubCorp, the nation’s largest operator of private golf and country clubs, has used E-Verify for all new hires since 2012, according to company executives.

Trump last year proposed making the E-Verify program mandatory nationwide, calling it one of his immigration policy priorities.

Employers have an obligation to verify an employee’s eligibility to work in the United States and can face a range of civil and criminal penalties for hiring illegal workers, according to immigration lawyers. When an employee submits documents such as a permanent resident card or Social Security card, employers have a responsibility to examine those documents.

If an employer pays payroll taxes for an employee whose name does not match their Social Security number, the Internal Revenue Service or the Social Security Administration may send the employer what’s called a “no-match” letter.

Such a letter does not trigger any immigration proceedings or require the employer to fire the employee. Instead, it alerts the employer to ask the employee to resolve the problem by correcting the government record, said Anastasia Tonello, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

In Bound Brook, a majority-Hispanic town where many of the area’s blue-collar workers live, the presence of illegal workers on Trump’s staff was widely known, according to people in the community.

“It was far more systematic than two or three housekeepers,” said Joyce Phipps, executive director of Casa de Esperanza, a legal aid organization for immigrants, who said she has had several clients who were Bedminster employees. “It’s been a very open secret.”

Costa Rica native Marco Gamboa Fallas, during his time as a groundskeeper at the Bedminster club. (Courtesy of Marco Gamboa Fallas)

Marco Gamboa Fallas stands in front of his home in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Answering the call

Santa Teresa de Cajon is little more than a ribbon of road set amid coffee farms and cattle pastures on the flank of 12,500-foot Mount Chirripo. Young men zip along on dirt bikes, running errands up and down the mountain.

For those growing up here, as elsewhere in Central America, the risky trip north to the United States can mean seed money for a decent life.

Juan Carlos Zuñiga left Santa Teresa to make that journey in 2002. At the U.S.-Mexico border, he said, he scaled a 10-foot fence and jumped into Nogales, Ariz. He bought his first fake documents in Las Vegas — adopting the name Juan Lara — and hopped on a flight to New Jersey.

Zuñiga had a cousin who worked on a horse farm in genteel Bedminster Township. A nearby property needed workers, his cousin told him.

Trump had purchased the 520-acre Lamington Farm, with its brick manor house and rolling horse pastures. The estate was once owned by John DeLorean, an automobile engineer who invented the namesake sports car.

“This is a special place,” Trump told a crowd of some 100 people gathered in October 2002 for the groundbreaking ceremony, according to the Courier News.

At the time, the Newark Star-Ledger reported that Trump was lavishing money on the project, “flying in masons, carpenters, landscapers and bulldozer operators from around the world and housing them on-site.”

Some of the first Costa Ricans hired to build Trump National Golf Club Bedminster — Zuñiga, Angulo, and their Santa Teresa neighbor Abel Mora, among others — remember it as punishing work. They labored from dawn until late evening, seven days a week, raking and hauling mountains of earth moved by heavy machinery and shaping it into golf holes.

Construction is in progress at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster. (Courtesy of Juan Carlos Zuñiga)

The clubhouse of Trump National Golf Club Bedminster on Nov. 18, 2016.

“It was rake, rake, rake, the whole day,” Zuñiga said.

There was also seeding, watering, mowing, building the sand traps and driving bulldozers, mini-excavators and loaders — all while they earned about $10 an hour or less, they said.

Around that time, a licensed heavy equipment operator in central New Jersey would have received an average of $51 to $55 per hour in wages and benefits, according to union officials at the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 825 in the nearby town of Springfield.

As the golf course took shape, more hands were needed. Bosses told Zuñiga and his friends to bring workers. The town of Santa Teresa answered the call.

Donald Trump wields a golden shovel at the 2002 groundbreaking of Trump National Golf Club Bedminster. (Zuma Press/Alamy)

Mariano Quesada, an early greenskeeper at the club from the village, rented out a duplex in Bound Brook to several other Costa Ricans. His wife, Angela, said she would wake up before dawn to cook breakfasts and lunches for as many as 22 people on the Bedminster maintenance staff.

The laborers were coming not only from Santa Teresa de Cajon, but also from other parts of Costa Rica and around Latin America. Before long, so many were working on the course — more than 100, by workers’ estimates — that Zuñiga’s cousin began charging workers for rides to Bedminster. He had two vans in circulation morning and night. When that wasn’t enough, he bought a used school bus, Zuñiga said.

“For me, moving to the U.S. wasn’t a very drastic change,” said Mauricio Garro, 36, who worked in maintenance at the golf course for five years until he returned to Santa Teresa in 2010. “My whole town practically lived there.”

To get a job at Trump National, the Costa Ricans — as well as Guatemalans, Salvadorans and Mexicans who were employed by the club — would purchase fake green cards and Social Security numbers in Bound Brook and neighboring towns.

These were easy to come by. Sandra Diaz, a housekeeper from Poas de Aserri, Costa Rica, got photos taken at Walgreens and paid a friend of hers $50 for fake papers. Ana Vasquez, an immigrant from El Salvador who bused tables in the club’s restaurant, went to neighboring Plainfield to buy her phony Social Security card alias, “Yohana Pineda.”

Before going to her interview, Vasquez asked a friend if the club would hire people who used fake documents.

“I thought, ‘This is a place with a very famous owner,’ ” she recalled. “My friend said there was nothing to worry about. She told me, ‘They don’t care.’ ”

'We don't have good papers'

Several former workers said that managers in housekeeping and maintenance were well aware their documents were fraudulent — but hired them anyway. Housekeeper Gilberta Dominguez said her manager filled out her application in 2016 because she didn’t speak English.

“And I said, ‘Listen, we don’t have good papers,’ ” Dominguez, of Oaxaca, Mexico, recalled telling her manager. “She said, ‘It doesn’t matter; don’t talk about that.’ ”

In 2005, Zuñiga said, he decided that it was better to be working at Bedminster under his own name in case he got hurt on the job. He purchased new fake documents and turned those in to his supervisors. Juan Lara was suddenly Juan Carlos Zuñiga. His bosses didn’t flinch, he said.

“They were making jokes about the Social Security cards in the office, because they looked so fake,” he recalled. “They would joke that my name was Juan Lara at the beginning.”

In 2011, Hank Protinsky, then the club’s head of security, was warned by local police that an employee could be using fake papers, according to a police report obtained by The Post through a public records request.

The worker’s status was discovered when the Bedminster Township Police Department investigated a hit-and-run accident on the course and questioned a man identified as the driver: a club employee working under the name Reinaldo Villareal.

When Officer Thomas Polito spoke to Villareal, he “told me that his real name was Fredis Otero and that he was working under a false name and social security numbers,” Polito wrote.

Otero, a native of Colombia, told police that he had arrived in the United States as a cabin steward on a cruise ship and walked off the ship when it docked in Miami in 2010. He obtained a three-month vacation visa, then bought a fake Social Security card and U.S. permanent resident card and used them to get hired at Trump’s course, according to the report.

Polito wrote in the police report that he told Protinsky his employee “may be using a false name and government documentation.”

The head of security gave the police officer a copy of Villareal’s employment application, which showed that while his resident card listed his first name as “Reynaldo,” his application spelled it “Reinaldo,” the report said.

Police arrested Otero and contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement about his case. ICE confirmed Friday that it took custody of Otero and that he left the United States in August 2011.

The Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment. Protinsky — who has since left the course — declined to comment.

Other former workers said their jobs at Bedminster, along with Trump’s popularity with local law enforcement agencies, afforded them a degree of protection despite their immigration status.

One former kitchen staffer from Ecuador still carries an ID card with her name and photo that says she is a “supporter” of a foundation that provides scholarships to the children of New Jersey State Police. She said she got the card at a golf tournament the charity held at Bedminster. The foundation did not respond to a request for comment.

Mariano Quesada, then a greenskeeper, drives at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster. (Courtesy of Mariano Quesada)

Quesada poses for a portrait near Santa Teresa de Cajon in January. (Dalton Bennett/The Washington Post)

At times, rifts between legal employees and those without papers were occasionally laid bare in front of the managers.

Emma Torres, a housekeeper from Ecuador, said that in mid-2015, she complained to the club’s general manager, David Schutzenhofer, about a supervisor who blocked her from taking a lunch break and frequently berated her for not speaking English.

During the meeting, she said Schutzenhofer asked her if she was going to file a complaint with the state labor department. Torres told him that would be impossible.

“I told him no, because I didn’t have papers,” she said.

Trump had recently launched his presidential campaign, vowing to build a border wall. Torres said she asked Schutzenhofer why Trump spoke so harshly about immigrants.

“This is just politics,” he said.

Torres stayed at the club but was reassigned to the kitchen.

The Post contacted Schutzenhofer and two dozen current and former managers at Bedminster — including those identified by the workers as their supervisors — and asked if they were aware that the club employed people without legal status. Most either declined to comment or did not respond.

One former groundskeeping manager responded only by sending The Post an animated image of Trump saying, “I have great relationships with the Mexican people.”

Another former manager, who confirmed working closely with both Zuñiga and Garro, said, “I think everyone was in the dark. We all assumed they were legal.” That manager spoke on the condition of anonymity to preserve relationships in the golf industry.

Ed Russo, an environmental consultant who worked on the Bedminster project and was remembered by one of the Costa Ricans as a supervisor, declined to address whether he was aware illegal workers were hired for the project.

“Are you documented?” Russo asked a reporter. “You’re not going to get anything from me.”

Over the years, Trump family members have emphasized their deep involvement in properties that carry their name.

“People think of Trump as being just a face, just a brand,” Eric Trump said in a 2011 promotional video about the company’s golf courses. “We design every single tee, every fairway. . . . We pick the carpets. We pick the chandeliers. There is not one element of these clubhouses which we don’t know about it. You name it — we’re involved.”

Franklin Mora, who said he worked without legal status at the Bedminster club, poses for a portrait near Santa Teresa de Cajon in January. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

A hat worn by a former worker at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster is displayed in a home in San Jose, Costa Rica. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

A former Bedminster worker in San Jose, Costa Rica, holds golf tees from the club. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

Abel Mora, a former greenskeeper, is pictured in Santa Teresa de Cajon. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

'We had to be invisible'

Donald Trump himself was an imperious but mostly distant figure for the illegal workers, who in the early years at Bedminster would be told to make themselves scarce when “the big boss” would arrive by helicopter.

Groundskeepers would stay inside a converted horse barn used to store tools and machinery or go into the woods to wait, they said.

“When he arrived, we had to hide,” said Alan Mora, a former greenskeeper who helped build the driving range and who now works as a security guard at a resort hotel in Santa Teresa. “We had to be invisible.”

On days Trump dined in the club’s restaurant, Vasquez said she and five other Spanish-speaking women working illegally at the club in 2004 and 2005 were sent upstairs by their supervisor to fold napkins and buff the glassware, and kept out of sight.

“They would tell us it was because the restaurant was hosting an important event, and only the workers who could speak English could be there,” she said.

Trump was also known for his occasional largesse. The housekeepers who cleaned his villa noted neat stacks of $20, $50 and $100 bills on his bedside table, which Trump would dole out as tips as he golfed or strolled the grounds. He would sometimes warmly greet employees and compliment them as he inspected their work.

Trump’s election did not bring any added scrutiny to his workers’ immigration status, former employees said. Torres said superiors kept her name and those of other workers without legal status off a list of people to be vetted by the Secret Service before a Trump visit to the club in 2016.

Another former employee who arrived in the United States in 2018 on a tourist visa and worked as a groundskeeper said his manager only asked for his nationality in preparation for a Trump visit. He told him that he was from Costa Rica.

Groundskeepers were given a general warning not to bring drugs, weapons or explosives to work, a request he found amusing.

“It was very light security, very normal,” said the employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he hopes to return to the United States. “Here in Costa Rica, to enter someone’s home, they would ask for more. They want you to identify yourself. Over there, that didn’t happen.”

Many of the Bedminster workers from Costa Rica lived in Bound Brook, N.J., piling into vans each morning for the 30-minute drive to the course. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

A divided workforce

The long-standing presence of unauthorized workers at Bedminster created a culture in which employees were stratified by immigration status and English-language proficiency, former employees said.

At the top were the professional staff and senior managers who spoke little or no Spanish. Below them were mid-level supervisors who were often immigrants themselves and able to converse in both languages.

Many without legal status told The Post they did not receive health benefits, while they heard other colleagues did.

Groundskeepers would work through storms, snow and glaring sun with little protection.

One rainy day in 2007, Zuñiga said, he and other greenskeepers staged a one-day strike, refusing to leave a maintenance building until supervisors agreed to pay them for sick days.

The maintenance manager eventually conceded and offered rain jackets to the greenskeepers. Some of the longer-serving staff members were offered health insurance, too.

“This was the first protest by the Hispanics,” Zuñiga said.

Franklin Mora, who quit after a year on the grounds crew, said that his manager would mock his limited English and spoke harshly to the Hispanic employees. The manager required them to set their mowers at a pace that required them to jog to keep up in a fashion he viewed as humiliating.

“They treated us like slaves,” he said.

The experience left Mora so bitter he said he wouldn’t return to the United States even as a tourist.

Still, others remain hopeful they will get to go back to Bedminster as part of a seasonal workforce that swells every spring.

In Santa Teresa de Cajon, some former Trump workers recall their New Jersey years as a rite of passage — not unlike military service or leaving home for college. They learned to cook their own meals, clean up after themselves and endure freezing winters and homesickness.

“The golf course is the best thing that has happened in my life,” said Angulo, who now earns his living raising cattle.

He said he didn’t care much for Bound Brook or other U.S. cities he visited, but he loved tending to the golf course and dreams of going back one day to see the place “that taught me how to work hard.”

This time, he said, he would like to go as a tourist.

#Donald Trump #Immigration #Immigrants #Us/Mexico border #Politics #DonTheCon #TrumpLies #Hypocrite #politics and government #LatinAmerica #Latinos #Labour #spanish #Undocumented Immigrants #Latin America

1 note · View note

daloy-politsey · 6 years ago

Link

When Laurel was a child, before the current conflict began in Syria, his family moved to Saudi Arabia for his father’s work. The business thrived, but the boy did not. He says Saudi Arabia was not a welcoming place for a disabled foreigner who was prone to asking questions, and he felt that he was considered “a burden on society.” The word from the country he left was not encouraging, either: the family home had been broken into. Friends were killed. A cousin, forced to join the join the Syrian army, died in service. An uncle simply disappeared.

Despite not speaking a word of English, he applied to study the language in the U.S. He was granted a student visa on his third attempt. Laurel left Saudi Arabia alone, buying a ticket on borrowed cash, and flew to Los Angeles — a place he picked because he knew of it, and because he thought wrongly that Harvard, which he had heard described online as the best college in the U.S., must be nearby. He spent one night in a hotel and left his luggage in the lobby; he never returned for it, unable to find his way back, and began sleeping in a park instead.

...

Laurel began the process of applying for affirmative asylum, as opposed to a defensive application. In this situation, people who have come to the U.S. legally but temporarily bring their cases to the asylum office. They undergo a full background check, with fingerprinting, and then are thoroughly interviewed by officials about their claims. The process often takes months, depending on the backlog.

He remembers the immigration interview as terrifying. Though he had already written out his statement explaining why he could not return to Syria — detailing the abuse he had suffered for being different from others, the fear he felt about what would happen if he were forced to return to a war zone — he found that it was something else to speak those words in front of an interpreter, his lawyer and an immigration officer, knowing that more people were listening in on the phone.

...

By this point, Laurel had been living in a shelter for young people and attending a public high school in L.A. His English had become strong. But in the summer of 2015, he found himself in a bind: his educational assistance was contingent on having a permanent address, while the shelter he was in would not allow him to stay longer because he received social security benefits for his disability. So he decided to move to New York City. A new city would be nothing compared to moving to a new country, he thought.

Once again homeless, he was in Union Square during rush hour when, in what might be called the second serendipitous chapter of Laurel’s American life, a man named Steven McLaurin noticed a boy with a white cane being practically trampled by pedestrians. McLaurin offered to walk with him to his destination — which happened to be the Department of Education, so he could register for school and disability services.

...

His father’s business in Saudi Arabia had collapsed and the family was forced to move back to Syria in 2014, as the civil war ramped up.

There, Laurel’s oldest brother, who is also blind, was arrested for not having fulfilled his military service. The family paid to get their son released, but with another brother approaching his mandatory service age they knew they could not stay. Laurel’s mother and five siblings fled to Turkey. His father, with whom Laurel has had a distant and strained relationship, fled to the U.S. in the hopes of establishing a beachhead for the family. He successfully applied for asylum and became an Uber driver in New Jersey and New York.

...

Laurel received his green card in 2015 and is one step closer to becoming a citizen, a milestone for which he’ll be eligible in 2020. Since then, his mother and five siblings have joined him in the U.S., renting a home in New York City’s Staten Island. There, before Laurel moved out west, his mother stoically described what her son has been through as “a great adventure” — and she would know, having been through one of her own.

It was Jan. 27, 2017, when the family, in Istanbul, finally received the visas they had applied for in 2014 and that had been approved last summer. They were planning to come quickly, to see Laurel and his father for the first time in years. But on the same day the visas arrived, President Donald Trump signed his executive order on immigration, indefinitely suspending the admission of all refugees and immigrants from Syria. An email from the consulate informed Laurel’s family that their visas were no longer valid, they say, and officials at the airport in Turkey would not let them through security.

When a judge blocked the implementation of Trump’s order, the family rushed back to the airport, trying to secure a flight in the midst of the ensuing confusion. On Feb. 5, the six of them finally arrived at Kennedy Airport in New York. There have been some difficult adjustments since then — physical distance can sometimes disappear more quickly than emotional distance does — but you don’t need a visa to bridge the latter.

#syrian refugees #immigration #disablity #homelessness #death mention #violence mention

10 notes · View notes

npzlawyersforimmigration · 1 year ago

Text

NPZ Law Group - US and Canada Immigration and Nationality Lawyers - and the Teaneck International Film Festival - Always Great Together!

https://conta.cc/3MvuoQN

0 notes

miamiduilawyers · 1 year ago

Text

Adjustment of Status: Transitioning to Permanent Residency in the U.S.

Introduction

In the complex landscape of U.S. immigration, the path to permanent residency can be a challenging yet rewarding journey. One key route to achieving this status is through Adjustment of Status, a process that allows certain non-U.S. citizens to transition from temporary visas to permanent residency. As an experienced immigration and criminal defense attorney in New York and New Jersey, I've guided numerous clients through this process. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore Adjustment of Status, its intricacies, and the steps involved.

Understanding Adjustment of Status

What Is Adjustment of Status?

Adjustment of Status (AOS) refers to the legal process that permits eligible non-U.S. citizens to apply for and obtain permanent resident status, commonly known as a Green Card, without leaving the United States. It provides a pathway for individuals who are already in the U.S. to change their immigration status from nonimmigrant (temporary) to immigrant (permanent).

Eligibility for Adjustment of Status

To be eligible for AOS, individuals must meet specific criteria outlined by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). These criteria generally include:

Having an eligible family relationship or employment opportunity.

Having entered the U.S. legally with a valid visa.

Maintaining lawful status while in the U.S.

Not having committed certain criminal offenses or immigration violations.

The Adjustment Process

Key Steps in Adjustment of Status

The process of transitioning to permanent residency through Adjustment of Status typically involves the following steps:

Determine Eligibility: Consult with an immigration attorney or review INA requirements to confirm eligibility.

File Form I-485: Submit Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Biometrics Appointment: Attend a biometrics appointment to provide fingerprints, photographs, and other identifying information.

Attend an Interview: Some applicants are required to attend an interview with USCIS to discuss their application.

Receive Decision: USCIS reviews the application and issues a decision. If approved, you'll receive your Green Card.

Considerations and Resources

Important Considerations

It's crucial to note that the AOS process can be complex, and any errors or omissions in your application can lead to delays or denials. Therefore, seeking legal counsel from an experienced immigration attorney is highly recommended.

Useful Resources

USCIS Official AOS Page

INA Section on Adjustment of Status

Conclusion

Adjustment of Status is a vital pathway to permanent residency for many non-U.S. citizens residing in the United States. Understanding the process, eligibility criteria, and essential considerations is key to navigating this complex journey successfully. By seeking legal guidance and staying informed, you can take the first step towards securing your place as a permanent resident in the U.S.