Come on it is global village now..

My full sympathies with Mr. Garcia.. but in my view he shouldn't be worried or asking about California's license. World is too big and at the same time too small.. He should rather be focused on his abilities and building knowledge and gain wide experience. If he is talented and hard worker, it doesn't matter if he practices law in California or Mexico or India or anywhere else.. He should go and practice where he can according to laws of the land. If he is good and he has great education and experience to support, very soon California will call him and give him license to practice law.

In my view his views are way to myopic and he is wasting time.. he needs to focus on something else.. He should thank his fortune that he got great education which will enable him to be better citizen of world.. just focus on building experience and knowledge and as I said very soon, California (figuratively speaking) will call him and give him license to practice here..

Either way, all the best!!!


This law school graduate passed the bar exam on his first try. But he is an undocumented immigrant. Should he be licensed to practice law in California?

A simple dream, a complex debate

Aspiring attorney’s boyhood goal in hands of state Supreme Court

By Howard Mintz

hmintz@mercurynews.com 

DURHAM — The endless rows of almond orchards dotting the landscape in this ranch town just outside Chico meant a future for Sergio Garcia’s family.

His father, a Mexican immigrant, harvested the cash crop, shaking the trees for bounty 12 hours a day through hot summer months. As a teenager, Sergio Garcia worked alongside his father, helping out when he wasn’t rising to the top of his high school class and positioning himself for college and, later, law school.

But the nation’s wrenching debate over illegal immigration has now engulfed Garcia’s path to success. He is at the center of an unprecedented California Supreme Court case that will determine whether the state bar can grant an undocumented immigrant a card to practice law in California.

“This is an effort to eliminate the last vestige of the (difference) in people who are here illegally and people who are here legally.”

— Ira Mehlman, Federation for American Immigration Reform

“I hope the California Supreme Court will let me move on with my life.”

— Sergio Garcia

---

PATRICK TEHAN/STAFF

As a teenager, Sergio Garcia helped his father harvest almonds in the orchards near Chico.

The 35-year-old Garcia earned his law degree three years ago and passed the bar exam on the first try. But he must pursue the right to a lawyer’s license because of his immigration status, in flux since 1994 when he returned from Mexico to rejoin his family and finish high school. On a recent June afternoon, Garcia described his plight in his small living room, where he keeps a folder of court papers and a scrapbook of business cards of journalists from as far away as China to someday show his children. 

Garcia has wanted to be a lawyer since he was 10 and never imagined that simple dream would be so complicated. “I hope the California Supreme Court will let me move on with my life,” Garcia told this newspaper during a day of interviews around his hometown. 

Florida case 

With the Florida Supreme Court recently taking up a nearly identical case, the issue has inflamed both sides of the immigration conflict and may draw the Obama administration into the fray. Among other legal questions, the California Supreme Court has asked the U.S. Justice Department to address whether federal law precludes the state from granting a professional license to an illegal immigrant. The federal government and state Attorney General Kamala Harris are expected to file their legal opinions this week. 

To immigration rights advocates, Garcia is the prototype of an immigrant who should be free to remain in the country and contribute. He has spent most of his life here, his father and most of his siblings are citizens, but the bogged-down federal visa process, particularly for Mexican immigrants, has slowed his quest for legal status. 

The State Board of Bar Examiners agrees, urging the state Supreme Court to give Garcia his law license. (Florida’s board recommended against licensing Jose Godinez-Samperio, a 25-year-old Tampa law school graduate.) California, “which has expressed a desire to invest in the education of undocumented students, should be able to benefit from the contributions of these individuals as professionals, both economically and otherwise,” the board wrote in a brief. 

But critics of illegal immigration see Garcia as an example of a system that’s too permissive. 

“People in the country illegally should not be practicing law,” said Ira Mehlman, media director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform. “This is an effort to eliminate the last vestige of the (difference) in people who are here illegally and people who are here legally.” 

Garcia is quick to say he has not lived in the shadows. He was first brought to California as a 1-yearold, living here until he was 8 before returning to Mexico. He was 17 when he came back to stay, and his father immediately sought a visa. He has been waiting ever since. 

Garcia jokes that he’s just missed every possible break and deadline that would have spared him this court battle. He was born in Mexico just before his parents came here and he’s too old to capitalize on President Barack Obama’s recent policy changes offering reprieves and work permits to people brought here as children. 

As he strolls the bland campus of Durham High School, where he was “a brown kid in a white world,” Garcia speaks softly of how he spent recesses studying. His grades drew scholarship offers, which drifted away when schools discovered his immigration status. 

The only hint of bitterness he shows is when people use “illegal” instead of “undocumented” to describe him, a distinction he said fuels “extreme views.” Legal experts say Garcia’s case puts the state Supreme Court in uncharted territory, mainly because California has no clear law on the topic. The State Bar didn’t even ask about immigration status until 2008. 

Federal law bars local and state agencies from giving “public benefits” to illegal immigrants. The key question is whether that forbids California from licensing Garcia. 

Mixed opinions 

Critics of illegal immigration say Garcia should be denied a license under federal law, but some law professors disagree. “He has already lived, been educated and successfully passed the bar exam in California,” said Pratheepan Gulasekaram, a Santa Clara University law professor who specializes in immigration law. “It seems silly to think of him as a person to whom (the federal law) was directed.” Even if the Supreme Court sides with Garcia, legal fog surrounds whether he can practice law without a green card. Federal law bars employers from hiring undocumented workers, but Garcia insists he would hang up his own shingle as an independent contractor. Experts say the law does not require clients to check his immigration status. Meanwhile, Garcia waits. Some of his legal work, helping area law firms with Spanish-speaking clients, has dried up as a result of publicity about his plight. But he is ready to take his case to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.

“They picked the wrong guy,” he said. “I’m stubborn. Either kick me out of the country or give me my law license.” 

Howard Mintz covers legal affairs. Contact him at 408-286-0236. Follow him at Twitter.com/hmintz. 




PATRICK TEHAN/STAFF 

Sergio Garcia’s grades as a student at Durham High School elicited scholarship offers, but they disappeared once colleges learned of his immigration status. 

Another Strategic win for Silicon Valley

There are natural checks and balances.. and this one is for China's super growth.. despite all the growth and money who so ever can afford to migrate to US is doing so. Obviously, easy choice for them is best of best.. i.e. Silicon Valley or our San Jose Bay Area..

This shows clearly and loudly.. there is no price for true freedom. If we evaluate properly, China is still gaining from this process.. though China's gain is long term as their population spreads out and invests more into outside business and brings back better and diverse business experience... where as US' gain is short term and long term. Biggest winner of all is Silicon Valley which keeps on growing exponential rates ;-)

I am sure US is going to renew this Visa category as it is simply no brainer. It is like selling your infrastructure but at the same time keeping it or even getting more in return. I believe, very few countries can afford this type of premium for immigration growth. US has been country of immigrants and there is no doubt that immigrants in US enjoy freedom much more than most of the natives in their own country outside of US. Whatever may be said about racism or ethnicity based discrimination in US, it is stil far less than the different kind of discriminations people suffer in their own country.

These kind of independence and freedom is the key for programs like that and there is no doubt that Silicon Valley is a great place and will continue to be leader in attracting investments and job growths like these. So all my multi millionaire friends, if you want to move to Silicon valley use this and come over.

Here is the link for the details:


http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_20334626/wealthy-chinese-seek-special-visas-relocate-bay-area?

DRAWN TO BAY AREA

China’s wealthy invest in shot at green card

Millionaires finance U.S.

projects to qualify for visa

By John Boudreau

jboudreau@mercurynews.com 

Even as China emerges as a super power, many of those who have benefited most from the country’s economic rise are heading for the exits. And many are relocating to the Bay Area, whose large Asian population, good schools and comfortable lifestyle are powerful draws for Chinese multimillionaires concerned about the future of their homeland and seeking the own American dream.

“The rich people are trying to get green cards,” said Ta-lin Hsu, founder and chairman of Palo Alto-based venture capital firm H&Q Asia Pacific, who spends a lot of time in Asia. He is frequently asked by business associates about how to immigrate to the United States.

“The main reason is, they still worry about the future stability of China,” Hsu said. “The U.S. is a democracy, there is freedom and it’s a safer place.” 

The exit door for many of these wealthy Chinese is opened by the fast-track visas America offers for well-heeled immigrants. Known as the EB-5, the visa requires applicants to invest $500,000 in projects in economically struggling regions or $1 million in a commercial venture in other locations. The investments must create or preserve 10 jobs for two years. If successful, the applicants and their families — spouses and children younger than 21 — are awarded permanent residency. 

The foreign money is a welcome source of funding for many projects. Oakland city officials, for example, have eyed the program to help pay for a project that includes hotels, a convention center, shops and new facilities for the Raiders and Warriors and possibly a new A’s ballpark. 

In recent years, as the number of China’s millionaires has grown, interest in the program from across the Pacific has soared. 

Between 1992 and 2011, the number of applications for investor visas jumped 700percent, from 474 to 3,805, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. In the past two years alone, the number applicants has nearly quadrupled. More applications by far come from China than any other country. Last year, 77 percent of all of those who applied for these visas were Chinese. 

“They are standing inline,” said Scott Bachman, CEO of San Mateo-based eBee5. His company helps pair large development projects with wealthy Chinese looking to invest in the United States. 

“When I go to China, I get a Chinese cellphone and I am constantly bombarded with EB-5 (advertising) text messages,” said Kevin Wright, a consultant with offices in the United States and China. 

A survey of 980 Chinese millionaires published last fall by the Bank of China and the Hurun Report, which tracks the country’s wealthy, revealed that 46 percent of them were thinking about leaving China, while an additional 14 percent were filling out immigration paperwork or had already left the country. 

“The Chinese government is definitely worried,” said one successful EB-5 applicant, who relocated his family from Beijing to Los Altos Hills after initially moving to Texas, where he invested in a metal processing factory. The man, who asked that he only be identified as Mr. Zhang, did not want to reveal his full identity because he still does business in China and does not want to upset powerful government officials. 

Indeed, most Chinese who come to the United States on these visas strive to remain under-the-radar, particularly those doing business in China, whose laws forbid transferring more than $50,000 a year out of the country. 

Many Americans, bruised by the long recession and its painful aftermath, worry about the United States being eclipsed by China. But many successful Chinese complain about China’s pervasive corruption, polluted air, contaminated food and educational system that stresses memorization over creative thinking. “The United States looks like a pretty good option to them,” said San Francisco immigration attorney Robert Gaffney, a specialist in EB-5 visas who is fluent in Mandarin. “It’s a quality of life decision for them. They are voting with their pocketbook: They’d rather be here than in their own country.” 

The money of these deeppocket immigrants is highly valued in this country at a time investment funds can still be tough to acquire for some development projects. 

“Local financing is just not available, or it’s very hard to come by, especially for construction,” said Katie Yao with Sand Hill Property, a Redwood City developer that is planning to build a hotel across the street from the yet-to-be-built new Apple campus in Cupertino. 

So far, the company has found one Chinese investor interested in backing the project with a $1 million stake, with the hope of getting an EB-5 visa. 

“We are only trying to raise $20 million — that means 20 (Chinese) families,” she said. “We offer 6 percent returns and profit-sharing.” 

By China’s boom-time standards — which often reward investors with returns of 100 percent or more — the Cupertino hotel project hardly seems worth their interest, she admitted. However, Yao added, “People want to find a shelter for their money, someplace safe.” 

The investor visa, which began in 1992, will expire in September unless Congress reauthorizes it, but experts expect that to happen. 

“It has enjoyed bipartisan support,” said Peter Joseph, executive director for the Association to Invest In the USA, a trade group that lobbies Congress. “It’s about creating jobs without spending anything from the public purse.” 

Indeed, the risks are borne by the immigrant investors, San Jose immigration attorney Acton Yang said. 

“The EB-5 requires a risky investment,” he said. “It can’t be investing in a security. You can’t just buy a house. It has to be a risky investment that will generate employment in the United States.” 

And if investors put money in something that fails — say, a shopping center in a troubled neighborhood — they stand to lose more than their cash, noted consultant Bachman. “If the business is dead, they not only lose their money, they lose their visas,” he said. 

Still, many wealthy Chinese are willing to place such bets if they trust those they are doing business with, said Zhang, whose wife and two children live in their gated Los Altos Hills home while he splits his time between China and Silicon Valley. 

The number of people in China who can make a $1 million investment “is huge,” he said. “I am the captain of my golf team, 40 people. More than half of them can make a $1 million investment just like that. 

“The Chinese have full confidence in the United States,” he added. “It will come back. That’s why, from an investment perspective, there are a lot of opportunities here. At least a dozen people around me want to come here. They have the economic power. They have the means.” 

Contact John Boudreau at 408-278-3496. Follow him at Twitter.com/svwriter. 

Push to redefine green card rules rooted in valley

Another major win on policy reforms coming out of the Heart of Silicon Valley!! Way to Go!!

This should have been done long time back.. In-fact for some time during 2005-2007 (pardon my memory), INS (aka USCIS) had relaxed rules and allowed using of unused Quota from different countries.. but remember.. it was unused Quota.. also this was discontinued later on and in-fact regressed or something like that resulting in even longer wait times for Green Cards.. Pathetic system.. Mainly designed to let employers/business (Isn't business biggest contributor for all political parties??)  take advantage of it and let their employees work as Bonded Labor as long as their Green Card is pending..

I hope it will be fixed now.. All the best!!!
Here are details from San Jose Mercury News!!!

IMMIGRATION POLICY

Push to redefine green card rules rooted in valley

By Matt O’Brien

mattobrien@bayareanewsgroup.com 

Who in the world gets to be an American?

Family connections and job credentials permit hundreds of thousands of foreigners to legally immigrate to the United States each year. But for others from India, China, Mexico and the Philippines, their place of birth makes it harder for them to get a green card because of long-standing U.S. restrictions.

Anand Sundaram, hindered by the rules, didn’t think they were fair. So the 36-year-old San Jose tech worker boarded a plane, flew to Washington, D.C., and began knocking on doors inside the U.S. Capitol.

Sundaram is not a professional lobbyist. He can’t even vote. But in a feat that has stunned more jaded political observers, he and other Indian immigrants with little electoral power have helped bring a divided, hyperpartisan Congress to the brink of a rare accord.

Indian immigrants must wait years longer for employment-based visas than other immigrants with similar credentials because of decades-old limits on how many people can settle in the United States from any one country each year. A bill working through Congress would eliminate the nationality- based ceilings, reducing the long lines for people from countries with the highest demand for green cards. 

“It’s a modern version of ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Wash-ington,’” said Aman Kapoor, one of the founders of Santa Clara-based Immigration Voice. 

The group that began as an online network of frustrated Indian guest workers in Silicon Valley has transformed into a persistent lobbying force of thousands who write emails, call and visit politicians, tweet their cause and raise money. 

All in hopes of making the long lines for “green cards,” which allow permanent residency in the United States, less dependent on what country a person is from. 

“It’s a question of fairness,” Kapoor said. 

Their appeals finally worked. 

The House of Representatives voted 389-15 on Nov. 29 to approve the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, which could end some of the last vestiges of a quota system that once regulated U.S. immigration based on country of origin. 

The bipartisan bill, which still must pass the Senate, emerged quietly for a policy that could fundamentally change the rules of the game for so many aspiring immigrants. Immigration has been a politically toxic issue on which Republicans and Democrats rarely find common ground, but the strongest voices have been largely silent because the bill neither increases nor decreases immigration, just rearranges who can come in. 

“I’m neutral on this bill,” said UC Davis professor Norman Matloff, a critic of highskilled visa programs he says harm U.S. software workers. 

For many Indian and Chinese technology workers, getting permanent U.S. residency means nearing the end of a process that begins with coming to the United States on a provisional basis, either as a student or a guest worker hired by a company on a temporary H-1B visa. It’s the H-1B program that needs an overhaul, said Matloff, who added he has “no strong opinions” on the green card bill. 

The lack of strong opinions from those who usually have many has opened the doors for the “Fairness” bill’s proponents. 

Its chief provision would eliminate a per-country cap that prevents nationals from any one country from holding more than 7 percent of all employment-based green cards. In a second provision, the ceiling for family-based immigration would expand from 7 to 15percent per country. 

The national limits have made it harder for Indian and Chinese immigrants to get permanent U.S. residency because their populous home countries are “oversubscribed” in the work-based immigration backlog. The family limits have caused similar problems for Mexicans and Filipinos who face the longest lines to join family members in the United States. Some have been waiting 20 years or more. 

“The whole idea of the system is based on merit and need, the needs of the American economy. Where you’re born should have nothing to do with it,” said U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, a cosponsor. 

But under the current system, she said, “the number of visas for India, with a population of 1.4 billion, is the same as Iceland, with a population of 350,000.” 

Fixing that problem should be simple enough, said Lofgren, who with other supporters has downplayed the significance of the bill. 

“It’s better than current law but it’s a very tiny thing,” she said. 

However, since the total pool of 140,000 work-based visas and 226,000 family preference visas will not rise, a policy that levels the playing field for Indians, Chinese, Mexicans and Filipinos will lengthen the backlog by months and years for everyone else. 

“My Brazilian clients, my clients from Israel, my European clients, they’re going to lose out,” said San Jose immigration lawyer Indu Liladhar-Hathi. “The ideal solution, of course, would have been to increase the numbers but that would have had a lot of opposition.” 

Texas and Utah Republicans led the charge in passing the bill through the House, but Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has used a parliamentary maneuver to indefinitely halt the bill in the Senate, stating it will do nothing to help U.S. citizens looking for jobs. 

Sundaram traveled to the Senate last week with other activists to make a case for passage. He already won his own green card while fighting for the bill. His 5-year wait was longer than people from other countries with his work experience and education might face, but shorter than many Indians he knows because he fits into the “secondpreference” skills category, a faster track that requires an advance degree or extraordinary skills. 

He also had a U.S. job he really liked, which is important for H-1B workers because most cannot change jobs without permission as they await a chance for permanent residency, he said. 

“You spend your 20s doing the same thing. There’s no professional growth,” he said. 

Many also say they have refrained from buying a house or making other investments that could go to waste if forced back to India. Some limit travel in fear it will jeopardize their chances of staying. 

“People have not been able to go home for years, not been able to go to their parent’s funeral,” he said. Sundaram said he and other immigrants pushing for change are motivated by a shared frustration at the system, but also a shared admiration for what’s possible in this country. 

“Obviously they are trying to help themselves, but by helping themselves they’re helping the future generations and helping America by keeping it competitive,” Sundaram said of Immigration Voice’s army of volunteer lobbyists. “The political process allows the guy on the street to come to the Capitol to do this. Is it perfect? No. But it’s still the best in the world. We get kicked, dust off, go back doing the same thing again. We’ve been doing this for six years now.” 




JIM GENSHEIMER/STAFF 

Anand Sundaram, left, and Pratik Dakwala worked on the passage of the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act in the House. The bill is now stalled in the Senate.