#visa exemption

[shivangeasyvisa]

(via Everything You Need to Know About the EU Visa Waiver Scheme)

[raedas]

APPARENTLY WE ARE TRYING TO GET MY GRANDPARENTS TO COME TO THE US?

[npzlawyersforimmigration]

Navigating the New Parole-in-Place Program: A Pathway for Undocumented Individuals in the U.S.

https://visaserve.com/navigating-the-new-parole-in-place-program-a-pathway-for-undocumented-individuals-in-the-u-s/

#ImmigrationNews #ParoleInPlace #USImmigration #DACA #Dreamers #LegalStatus #VisaOptions

[ingressimmigrations]

Ingress Immigration: Your Pathway to LMIA-Exempt Work Permits in Canada

In the intricate world of immigration, understanding work permits can be challenging, especially when it comes to the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) Exempt Work Permit in Canada. This permit allows certain foreign nationals to work in Canada without the need for an LMIA. With the help of Ingress Immigration, a trusted immigration consultancy, you can navigate this process with ease.

Demystifying LMIA and Its Exemptions

Usually, Canadian employers require an LMIA to hire temporary foreign workers. The LMIA confirms that there's a need for a foreign worker and that no Canadian worker is available for the job. However, there are several exemptions to this rule, which can simplify the process for both employers and prospective employees.

The LMIA-exempt work permit is issued under specific circumstances, including self-employed engineers, technical workers, creative and performing artists, and more. These exemptions are based on Canada's international agreements or the wider cultural or economic benefits they bring to the country.

Eligibility for LMIA-Exempt Work Permits

Not everyone is eligible for an LMIA-exempt work permit. Foreign nationals who wish to work for themselves or manage their own business temporarily in Canada must prove that their business will significantly benefit Canadians.

Private entrepreneurs intending to start or operate a business in Canada may also qualify for an LMIA-exempt work permit, provided they meet certain eligibility criteria. It's important to note that while LMIA-exempt individuals still need to obtain a work permit to work in Canada, meeting the eligibility criteria under an LMIA-exemption category means the applicant does not need an LMIA for their application to be processed.

Ingress Immigration: Navigating LMIA-Exempt Work Permits

Navigating the complexities of immigration law can be daunting, but with Ingress Immigration, you're in good hands. We specialize in helping individuals understand and apply for LMIA-exempt work permits.

Our services include assessing your eligibility, guiding you through the application process, and providing expert advice to increase the chances of a successful outcome.

We recognize that every client's situation is unique, so we tailor our approach to meet your specific needs. With our client-centric approach, you can be confident that your immigration matters are being handled with the utmost care and expertise.

Why Choose Ingress Immigration?

At Ingress Immigration, we bring a wealth of experience and deep understanding of Canadian immigration laws. Our team of dedicated professionals is committed to providing you with accurate, timely information and effective solutions for your immigration needs.

We pride ourselves on our transparent communication, ensuring you are informed at every stage of your application process. Moreover, our commitment extends beyond securing your work permit—we offer ongoing support to ensure your smooth transition into your new role in Canada.

In conclusion, if you're considering applying for an LMIA-exempt work permit in Canada, Ingress Immigration is your trusted partner. Our mission is to make your immigration journey as smooth and stress-free as possible. Contact us today, and let's embark on your Canadian journey together!

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Craig Harrington at MMFA:

The economic policy provisions outlined by Project 2025 — the extreme right-wing agenda for the next Republican administration — are overwhelmingly catered toward benefiting wealthier Americans and corporate interests at the expense of average workers and taxpayers. Project 2025 prioritizes redoubling Republican efforts to expand “trickle-down” tax cuts for the wealthy and deregulation across the economy. The authors of the effort’s policy book, Mandate for Leadership: A Conservative Promise, recommend putting key government agencies responsible for oversight of large sectors of the economy under direct right-wing political control and empowering those agencies to prioritize right-wing agendas in dealing with everything from consumer protections to organized labor activity. [...]

Project 2025 would chill labor unions' abilities to engage in political activity. Project 2025 suggests that the National Labor Relations Board change its enforcement priorities regarding what it describes as unions using “members' resources on left-wing culture-war issues.” The authors encourage allowing employees to accuse union leadership of violating their “duty of fair representation” by having “political conflicts of interest” if the union engages in political activity that the employee disagrees with. [Project 2025, Mandate for Leadership, 2023; National Labor Relations Board, accessed 7/8/24]

Project 2025 would make it easier for employers to classify workers as “independent contractors.” The authors recommended reinstating policies governing the classification of independent contractors that the NLRB implemented during the Trump administration. Those Trump-era NLRB regulations were amended in 2023, expanding workplace and labor organizing protections to previously exempt American workers. [Project 2025, Mandate for Leadership, 2023; The National Law Review, 6/19/23; National Labor Relations Board, 6/13/23]

Project 2025 would reduce base overtime pay for workers. The authors recommend changing overtime protections to remove nonwage compensatory and other workplace benefits from calculations of their “regular” pay rate, which forms the basis for overtime formulations. If that change is enacted, every worker currently given overtime protections could be subject to a slight reduction in the value of their overtime pay, which the authors claim will encourage employers to provide nonwage benefits but would effectively just amount to a pay cut. The authors also propose other changes to the way overtime is calculated and enforced, which could result in reduced compensation for workers. Overtime protections have long been a focus of right-wing media campaigns to reduce protections afforded to American workers. [Project 2025, Mandate for Leadership, 2023, Media Matters, 7/9/24]

Project 2025 proposes capping and phasing out visa programs for migrant workers. Project 2025’s authors propose capping and eventually eliminating the H-2A and H-2B temporary work visa programs, which are available for seasonal agricultural and nonagricultural workers, respectively. Even the Project 2025 authors admit that these proposals could threaten many businesses that rely on migrant workers and could result in higher prices for consumers. [Project 2025, Mandate for Leadership, 2023]

Project 2025 recommends institutionalizing the “Judeo-Christian tradition” of the Sabbath. Under the guise of creating a “communal day of rest,” Project 2025 includes a policy proposal amending the Fair Labor Standards Act to require paying workers who currently receive overtime protections “time and a half for hours worked on the Sabbath,” which it said “would default to Sunday.” Ostensibly a policy that increases wages, the proposal is specifically meant to disincentivize employers from providing services on Sundays as an explicitly religious overture. [Project 2025, Mandate for Leadership, 2023]

[...]

International Trade

Project 2025 contains a lengthy debate between diametrically opposed perspectives on international trade and commerce.Over the course of 31 pages, disgraced former Trump adviser and current federal inmate Peter Navarro outlines various proposals to fundamentally transform American international commercial and domestic industrial policy in opposition to China, primarily by using tariffs. He dedicates well over a dozen pages to obsessing over America’s trade deficit with China, even though Trump’s trade war with China was a failure and as he focused on China, the overall U.S. trade deficit exploded. Much of the rest of Navarro’s section is economic saber-rattling against “Communist China’s economic aggression and quest for world domination.”In response, Kent Lassman of the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute promotes a return to free trade orthodoxy that was previously pursued by the Republican Party but has fallen out of favor during the Trump era.

The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 agenda would be a boon for the wealthy and a disaster for the working class folk.

See Also:

MMFA: Project 2025’s dystopian approach to taxes

[soon-palestine]

The report, “Handcuffed like dangerous criminals”: Arbitrary detention and forced returns of Sudanese refugees in Egypt, reveals how Sudanese refugees are rounded up and unlawfully deported to Sudan – an active conflict zone – without due process or opportunity to claim asylum in flagrant violation of international law. Evidence indicates that thousands of Sudanese refugees have been arbitrarily arrested and subsequently collectively expelled with the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) estimating that 3,000 people were deported to Sudan from Egypt in September 2023 alone.

“It is unfathomable that Sudanese women, men and children fleeing the armed conflict in their country and seeking safety across the border into Egypt, are being rounded up en masse and arbitrarily detained in deplorable and inhumane conditions before being unlawfully deported,” said Sara Hashash, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

“Egyptian authorities must immediately end this virulent campaign of mass arrests and collective expulsions. They must abide by their obligations under international human rights and refugee law to provide those fleeing the conflict in Sudan with safe and dignified passage to Egypt and unrestricted access to asylum procedures.”

For decades, Egypt was home to millions of Sudanese people studying, working, investing or receiving healthcare in the country, with Sudanese women and girls, as well as boys under 16, and men over 49 exempt from entry requirements. Around 500,000 Sudanese refugees are estimated to have fled to Egypt after the armed conflict erupted in Sudan in April 2023. However, in the following month, the Egyptian government introduced a visa entry requirement for all Sudanese nationals, leaving those fleeing with little choice but to escape through irregular border crossings.

The report documents in detail the ordeals of 27 Sudanese refugees who were arbitrarily arrested with about 260 others between October 2023 and March 2024 by Egypt’s Border Guard Forces operating under the Ministry of Defence, as well as police operating under the Ministry of Interior. It further documents how the authorities forcibly returned an estimated 800 Sudanese detainees between January and March 2024 who were all denied the possibility to claim asylum, including by accessing UNHCR, or to challenge deportation decisions.

The report is based on interviews with detained refugees, their relatives, community leaders, lawyers and a medical professional; as well as a review of official statements and documents and audiovisual evidence. The Egyptian ministries of defence and interior did not respond to Amnesty International’s letters sharing its documentation and recommendations, while the Egyptian National Council of Human Rights, the national human rights institution, rejected the findings claiming that authorities comply by their international obligations.

The spike in mass arrests and expulsions came after a prime ministerial decree issued in August 2023 requiring foreign nationals in Egypt to regularize their status. This was accompanied by a rise in xenophobic and racist sentiments both online and in the media as well as statements by government officials criticizing the economic “burden” of hosting “millions” of refugees.

It has also taken place against the backdrop of increased EU cooperation with Egypt on migration and border control, despite the country’s grim human rights record and well-documented abuses against migrants and refugees.

In October 2022, the EU and Egypt signed an €80 million cooperation agreement, which included building up the capacity of Egyptian Border Guard Forces to curb irregular migration and human trafficking across Egypt’s border. The agreement purports to apply “rights-based, protection oriented and gender sensitive approaches”. Yet, Amnesty International’s new report documents the involvement of the Border Guard Forces in violations against Sudanese refugees.

A further aid and investment package, under which migration is a key pillar, was agreed in March 2024 as part of the newly announced strategic and comprehensive partnership between the EU and Egypt.

“By cooperating with Egypt in the migration field without rigorous human rights safeguards, the EU risks complicity in Egypt’s human rights violations. The EU must press Egyptian authorities to adopt concrete measures to protect refugees and migrants,” said Sara Hashash.

“The EU must also carry out rigorous human rights risk assessments before implementing any migration cooperation and put in place independent monitoring mechanisms with clear human rights benchmarks. Cooperation must be halted or suspended immediately if there are risks or reports of abuses.” Arbitrary arrests from streets and hospitals

The mass arrests have mostly taken place in Greater Cairo (encompassing Cairo and Giza) and in the border areas in the governorate of Aswan or inside Aswan city. In Cairo and Giza, police have conducted mass stops and identity checks targeting Black individuals, spreading fear within the refugee community leaving many afraid to leave their homes.

Following arrest by police in Aswan, Sudanese refugees are transferred to police stations or the Central Security Forces camp, an unofficial detention place, in Shallal region. Those arrested by Border Guard Forces in Aswan governorate are detained in makeshift detention facilities including warehouses inside a military site in Abu Simbel and a horse stable inside another military site near Nagaa Al Karur before being forced into buses and vans and driven to the Sudanese border.

Conditions in these detention facilities are cruel and inhumane, with overcrowding, lack of access to toilets and sanitation facilities, substandard and insufficient food, and denial of adequate healthcare.

Amnesty International also documented the arrest of at least 14 refugees from public hospitals in Aswan, where they were receiving treatment for serious injuries sustained during road accidents on their journeys from Sudan to Egypt. Authorities transferred them – against medical advice and before they had fully recovered – to detention, where they were forced to sleep on the ground after surgery.

Amira, a 32-year-old Sudanese woman who fled Khartoum with her mother was receiving treatment at an Aswan hospital following a car crash on 29 October 2023 that left her with fractures to the neck and the back. Nora, a relative of Amira, told the organization that the doctors told her she would need three months of medical care, but after just 18 days police transferred her to a police station in Aswan where she was forced to sleep on the ground for around 10 days. Cold and rat-infested detention facilities before collective expulsions

Amnesty International’s Evidence Lab reviewed photos and verified videos from January 2024 of women and children sitting on dirty floors amidst rubbish in a warehouse controlled by Egyptian border guards. The former detainees said the warehouses were infested by rats and pigeon nests and those detained endured cold nights with no appropriate clothing or blankets. Men’s warehouse conditions were overcrowded, with over a hundred men crammed together and limited access to overflowing toilets, forcing them to urinate in plastic bottles at night.

At least 11 children, some under the age of four, were detained with their mothers at these sites.

Israa, who has asthma, told Amnesty International that guards at the overcrowded horse stable near Nagaa Al Karur village ignored her request for an inhaler, even when she asked to buy one at her own expense.

After periods of detention ranging from a few days six weeks, police and Border Guard Forces handcuffed males and drove all detainees to the Qustul-Ashkeet border crossing and handed them to Sudanese authorities, without individualised assessment of risk of serious human rights violations if returned. None was given the opportunity to claim asylum even when they had registration appointments with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), asked to speak to UNHCR or pleaded not to be sent back. Such forced returns violate Egypt’s international obligations under human rights and refugee law, including the principle of non-refoulement.

Border Guard Forces expelled Ahmed, his wife and two-year-old child together with a group of roughly 200 detainees, on 26 February 2024, after detaining them for six days in Abu Simbel military site.

Since the conflict in Sudan began, Egyptian authorities have failed to provide statistics or acknowledge their policy of deportations.

[girlactionfigure]

🟣 Thu morning  - ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

▪️MIN. OF HOUSING BOOTS UNRWA.. The Ministry of Housing has been ignoring UNRWA failing to pay for use of their Jerusalem facility as well as making illegal changes to the property.  The Ministry, at instruction of Minister GoldKnopf, has now given UNRWA 30 days to vacate the premises as well as demanding back payments of over NIS 7 million.

▪️AUSTRALIA VOTES AGAINST PALESTINIAN STATE.. recognition, 80 to 5.

▪️AFTER THE BAT HEFER SHOOTING.. the IDF informed the mayor of a reduction in the reserve force of the standby-alert squad for the town.  The IDF similarly has been reducing the size of the reserves in standby squads in near-Gaza towns.  ???

▪️TULKARM TERRORISTS SAY THEY INFILTRATED AND TRIED TO KILL AN OFFICER.. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Battalions of the Fatah in Tulkarm claim in a proclamation: “Our operatives infiltrated a house in the settlement of Bat Hefer with the aim of eliminating an officer.”  But nicely didn’t slaughter the wife and children when the officer wasn’t found (their words, more or less).

IDF: there was no intrusion into Bat Hefer.

▪️AID LIES.. Samantha Power, head of the US Agency for International Development USAID: Our humanitarian partners working in Gaza tell us that conditions are worse now than ever before. (( And you, of course, believed them and repeat their words with no evidence because JOOOOOOS bad? ))

▪️TRAVEL TO ISRAEL - THE NEW AUTHORIZATION THING..

Israel introduces a new electronic travel authorization (ETA) system for visitors from visa-exempt countries, similar to the US ESTA. 

Visitors from countries that do not require visas to enter Israel will be required to obtain an ETA before boarding a flight to Israel. An ETA will be valid for two years, and allows the holder to enter Israel multiple times. Fee: NIS 25 (approx. US $7).

Israeli citizens, non-citizens with a Teudat Zehut (Israeli ID), and student visa holders are exempt.

Starts June 1 for US & German passport holders.  Mandatory after Aug. 1.

Issued within 72 hours, though it may arrive in a few hours. 

A person can apply any time, you don’t have to be traveling right now.

Apply here -> https://israel-entry.piba.gov.il/

▪️3 HERO SOLDIERS HAVE FALLEN.. two from an attack in Samaria, one in combat in Gaza.  Yedidya Azugi, 21, from Revava, Eliya Hilel, 20, from Tel Tziyon, and Diego Shvisha Harsaj, from Tel Aviv.  May their families be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem, and may G-d avenge their blood!

▪️SWEARING IN.. of the latest Paratrooper trainees at the Kotel last night.  Did you know that included a charedi paratrooper combat brigade?

▪️IRAN LEADER TO US STUDENTS.. at US universities: "Now you are part of the resistance front. You have inspired the rest of the world to act against Israel.”

▪️POLICE STOPPED STOLEN WATERMELONS?  An overloaded vehicle was stopped by Emek Ma’aina, filled to overflowing with watermelons.  Resident of Nazareth suspected of theft of watermelons worth approx. NIS 3,000 (about $815) along with severely unsafe overloaded vehicle.  Mass watermelon theft, who knew?

▪️JERUSALEM PRIDE PARADE.. today at 15:30, expect city traffic disruptions.  Refocused on theme “Born to be free” with a call for return of the hostages.

⭕ HAMAS Rockets at Nirim.

⭕ HEZBOLLAH Suicide Drones at south Golan: Avnei Eitan, Eliad, Afik, Bnei Yehuda and Givat Yoav, Gshur, Haspin, Kfar Haruv, Mevo Hama, Metzar, Neot Golan, Nov, Natur, Ramat Magshimim, Bnei Yehuda Industrial Zone 

⭕ HOUTHI RED SEA ACTIVITY.. US Central Command reported the US navy successfully destroyed two missile launchers of the Houthis. In addition, the forces destroyed two UAVs over the Red Sea. At the same time, the Houthis launched two ballistic missiles against ships.

[saintmeghanmarkle]

DM EXCLUSIVE: Judge demands Biden's DHS must hand over Prince Harry's immigration papers so he can decide whether to release them publicly by u/Von_und_zu_

DM EXCLUSIVE: Judge demands Biden's DHS must hand over Prince Harry's immigration papers so he can decide whether to release them publicly This is a significant development in my opinion. The Judge is taking this seriously.Judge Carl Nichols has told the Department of Homeland Security he wants to look at Harry's immigration file He will review it privately before deciding whether to release it publicly The Heritage Foundation believes Harry's admitted drug use could mean he should be banned from living in the US if he lied about it on his application Judge Carl Nichols told DHS that its arguments so far were ‘insufficiently detailed’ for him to make a decision. [This sounds serious.]He asked the agency, which oversees immigration, to give him declarations explaining the ‘particular harm’ that would arise from the disclosure of the Duke of Sussex’s visa application.***In an order filed to the court in Washington, Judge Nichols stated that the Freedom of Information law authorized him to review ‘declarations and/or contested records in camera’.Doing so would help him to determine whether any exemptions preventing the documents from being made public apply.Such a review is appropriate when ‘agency affidavits are insufficiently detailed to permit meaningful review of exemption claims….when the number of withheld documents is relatively small, and when the dispute turns on the contents of the withheld documents, and not the parties’ interpretations of those documents’, the order said.Judge Nichols said: ‘Having reviewed the parties’ written submissions and heard oral argument on the motions, the court concludes that in camera review is necessary to determine whether the records in dispute come within the scope of the claimed exemptions’.Judge Nichols gave DHS until March 21 to submit declarations that detail ‘the records it is withholding and the particular harm that would arise from public disclosure of them’, his order said.The review will be conducted in camera, meaning it would be done by the judge in private.https://ift.tt/y47o8Ba to add the Order: In reading this, the Court has asked for Declarations that describe the documents withheld, but has not asked for the documents themselves. Heritage Foundation is allowed to submit more too.​https://preview.redd.it/8m6ynfic3zmc1.png?width=2304&format=png&auto=webp&s=756c557ffa58d3a896311b16cad1d1480394dfd0​ post link: https://ift.tt/k0fm6qS author: Von_und_zu_ submitted: March 07, 2024 at 09:24PM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit Disclaimer: All views + opinions expressed by the author of this post, as well as any comments or reblogs, are solely the author's own; they do not necessarily reflect the views of the administrator of this Tumblr blog. For entertainment only.

[blackwoolncrown]

💜SUPPORT NEEDED💜 I’m Black (+autistic) and you know what month it is!✊🏾

🌈Hi- as some of you know I was forced to leave my home in the US due to socioeconomic/disability factors + the FL housing crisis.

Thanks to you all I am safely in another country and now looking for a new home. In order to rent long term I need a visa, and in order to get my visa I must *double my monthly income*.

I know I can do this but I need *your help* in growing my businesses. Please support by donating, following, interacting w these accounts, sharing my work/this post and patronizing my services if you can.

🌙Tumblr blog to follow + share posts: @iamthatwhich

💜Please DONATE HERE if you can (this goes through my business account so it helps w the visa)

🌈JOIN MY PATREON I am working hard to produce content full time. Even if you don’t like my content consider joining at a low tier to support me as a Black Indigenous Femme especially if you yourself are racism exempt.

👁CHECK OUT MY YOUTUBE It would be SO helpful if you could like & subscribe if you enjoy my work.

✨If you are on IG, LIKE + SHARE my posts! This is my page. It’s also a great place to learn about the other things I offer and I’d appreciate a follow.

💎BOOK A SERVICE; I offer 1:1 consults on spiritual matters, chart reading, guided meditations and custom audio.

Your support helps me get my Visa- I am required to sustain the financial requirements for a MINIMUM 6 MONTHS- if I go under for 1 month the count starts over! If it takes me over a year to do this, the requirements will be EVEN HIGHER next year. In the name of reparations and solidarity, please take action on this post and also reblog. Thank you.

DO NOT TAG. NO ONE LIKES THAT AND IT DOES NOT HELP.

Thank You

[rainbowsky]

Hehe, GG's power to drive an economy! From Chongqing's International Media Center Twitter account:

Thailand's public TV reported on the mutual visa exemption between China and Thailand, and they surveyed Thai netizens on their dream destination post-exemption. Surprisingly, most said Chongqing! Reason? It's Xiao Zhan's hometown, and with his massive fan base in Thailand 🇹🇭, many are eager to visit! Love for a person extends to yearning for a city, indeed! 🌟

For those who are interested in Chongqing I recommend checking out the Twitter account. They post some really beautiful photos and video and interesting tidbits about the city. As some of you might already know, I have been somewhat obsessed and curious to go there someday. I've been following that account for a year or two now, and they do occasionally post about politics (which I don't like reading about), but mostly it is just about the city itself. If you are able to ignore the political content it's an interesting account.

[npzlawyersforimmigration]

Exploring the Advantages of the EB-5 Investor Program in 2024

https://visaserve.com/exploring-the-advantages-of-the-eb-5-investor-program-in-2024/

#EB5Visa #InvestmentImmigration #GreenCardByInvestment #USImmigration #EB5Program #InvestorVisas #ImmigrationLaw

[ayeforscotland]

Do you know if the new salary limit applies to the health and social care worker visa or just the skilled worker visa? Because if it’s just latter, health and care workers won’t be affected, since they have a different visa pathway from all the other skilled workers.

Health and social care workers are exempt however care workers will no longer be allowed to bring their dependants which is utterly ludicrous.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Canadian tourists looking to travel to Brazil will be required to have a visitor visa to enter the country starting October 1, 2023.

Brazil reinstated its visitor visa requirements for Canada — so did Australia, Japan and the US in March.

In 2019, former president Jair Bolsonaro stopped the visa requirements to encourage more tourism. However, the four countries continued to require visas from Brazilian tourists.

"The decision followed consultations with these four countries on the possibility of granting visa exemption to Brazilian nationals, in compliance with the principle of reciprocity," stated the Brazilian government in a release.

It added that the country "does not grant unilateral visitor visa exemption to other countries without reciprocity." [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[yumkatcakes]

sooo turns out you need to apply for visa exemption in canada even when only transiting. so that resulted in fun 10 minutes at the gate frantically filling the form in and hoping to god they approve it in time for me to board.

[shit-talk-turner]

Louise can't live permanently with Alex in the UK due to Brexit - Europeans no longer can live and work here without valid visas. Louise doesn't work and is not famous or talented enough to get special exemption visas (like in the US). If Alex really wanted her to stay permanently, they've could've easily got married or he could've arranged some sort of visa with all his money and connections. The fact that in 6 years this hasn't happened speaks volumes. This is a temporary stop. It's lasted longer because he's not in his early to mid 20s anymore and has probably settled for something that is easy and suits his situation. I'm not saying this is in a negative way, we've all probably been there but pointing to them being together longer meaning they're forever goals is ridiculous.

^

[girlactionfigure]

The Fake Spaniard: Samuel Skornicki

His name was Santos Montero

Samuel Skornicki was a Jewish lawyer from Poland who became legal advisor to the Spanish Consul and saved hundreds of Jews and non-Jews from the Nazis.

Samuel was born in Poland in1899 to a family of secular intellectuals. He married Raizel Sliwinsky from Lodz, and they moved to Paris in 1923, where Samuel studied law and became a civil attorney. Their daughter Arlette later remembered, “My father wanted to live in France, the land of freedom and human rights.”

After the Germans occupied Paris in 1940, the Skornicki family moved to Toulouse. As the situation became more dangerous for Jews in France, Samuel and Raizel left Arnette with a Christian family where she would be safe.

Samuel had something everybody wanted – a valid passport and a visa to the United States, where his mother and siblings lived. Instead, Samuel chose to remain in France and help the resistance movement. In Toulouse, Samuel ran a textile factory and distributed anti-Nazi pamphlets and provided Jews with false documents. A master networker, Samuel made connections with important people in Toulouse.

He met with the Spanish Consul, who was overwhelmed with the amount of visa requests from Jews trying to leave France. With legal training and organizational skills, Samuel was well-positioned to help the Consul, and he was appointed legal advisor to the embassy in St. Etienne. Samuel and Raizel were given new identities as Spanish citizens: Santos and Rosa Montero. Neither one of them spoke any Spanish.

In 1942, the Consul returned to Spain and appointed Samuel/Santos as his replacement. Before leaving France, the Consul threw a lavish farewell party where the guests included top officials of the collaborationist Vichy Regime, German Army officers, and off-duty Gestapo storm troopers. The event featured an official swearing-in ceremony where “Santos Montero” was installed as acting Spanish Consul. The Nazis present didn’t realize they were celebrating the promotion of a Jew.

As the acting Consul, Samuel turned the Consulate into a center of the Resistance. He supervised the forging of documents and hiding of weapons, and provided refuge for Jews and members of the Resistance. Meanwhile, he was conducting diplomatic meetings with local Nazi officials, including Gestapo officers with lists of Jews scheduled for deportation on their desks. Samuel read the names upside down and memorized them so he could warn the people on the list.

Since Samuel didn’t speak Spanish, he relied on the Spanish Consulate staff to keep his secret. They were mostly Republican opponents of Spain’s ruler, the fascist Francisco Franco, who was allied with Hitler. As part of that alliance, Franco was sending thousands of Spanish citizens to Germany to provide labor. Samuel and his staff got exemptions for thousands of Spaniards.

In March 1944, the French Resistance attacked a German train near St. Etienne. Determined to catch the French perpetrators, German policemen conducted a house-to-house search. They reached the Spanish Consulate, and before they could even knock on the door Samuel burst out angrily and kicked a German police sergeant! He shouted at them, “Get out of here! I am the Spanish Consul!” The policemen were embarrassed and quickly left. That night, the German Police Chief of St. Etienne visited the Spanish Consulate to apologize in person, and to give Samuel a gun for protection against the dangerous Resistance. Samuel gave the gun to the fighters who’d attacked the train – and were hiding in his cellar!

France was liberated in 1944, and the Skornickis returned to Paris. Since he’d hosted Nazis at the Spanish Consulate, Samuel was suspected of being a collaborator, but people he’d saved wrote letters of thanks proving that he’d been a hero rather than a villain. One of the letters, by Itzkin Rubin, who was hidden in the Consulate, read, “How can I express my gratitude, and the gratitude of my family, for all we owe you? You didn’t hesitate to risk your life in order to save ours. Knowing that we were being hunted by the Gestapo and the (French) Militia, you hid us in your home in those pivotal months before the liberation. If we are fortunate enough to live in peace and to be free, it is thanks to your heroic goodness and your courage. At a time when so many of our friends were tormented or died in terrible physical and emotional suffering, while so many children were separated from their parents, I am blessed to be surrounded by my whole family.”

For saving hundreds of lives after boldly taking on a fake identity, we honor Samuel Sknornicki as this week’s Thursday Hero.