QUAKE IN HAITI CAUSES RUMBLE IN U.S. as Debate Heats Up as Illegals Line Up for Work Status (Alka Bahal is in EST)

QUAKE IN HAITI CAUSES RUMBLE IN U.S. as Debate Heats Up as Illegals Line Up for Work Status (Alka Bahal is in EST)

In the literal aftershock of the recent earthquake in Haiti, the rumbling debate over immigration reform has shifted from its usual epicenter in Latin America to the new problem created by the devastated Caribbean nation.

As a result of the living conditions turned upside-down in Haiti following the quake, the federal government is allowing illegal Haitian immigrants currently in America to apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) which would grant them an 18-month period of slack, so to speak, to live and work in the U.S. legally.

Available for interviews to discuss the wisdom in the decision is esteemed immigration attorney, Alka Bahal, with the law office of Fox Rothschild, a firm with one thousand employees and more than 400 attorneys. Her particular expertise in how immigration integrates with the business world enables Bahal to provide your audience a unique perspective on the economic impact of TPS—especially in light of what many Americans find so troubling about this issue.

First, there is the matter of the volume of applicants. Before President Bush turned the White House over to Barack Obama, his administration had ordered the repatriation of some 30,000 undocumented Haitians. But just a day after the TPS application process began, experts now expect, not 30,000, but some 200,000 Haitians to emerge and apply.

Problem is, that’s a sudden and significant influx of low-wage labor into the U.S. job market already suffering double-digit unemployment among its own citizens.

Further, there is the cynicism toward amnesty right now—TPS or otherwise—that is founded in the history of America’s largely pathetic immigration reform efforts to this point. Many Americans are already anticipating an extension after 18 months, then another and another, until there is nothing “temporary” about TPS.

So, is this the right move? What kind of impact might it have on the issue of immigration reform baring down on us in the coming year? Will it push the debate into the public spotlight even faster? Call Special Guests today so that your audience may better understand the impact of the decision to grant Temporary Protected Status to what may be an influx of more than 100,000 Haitian citizens. Ask for an interview with Alka Bahal.

ABOUT ALKA BAHAL:

Alka Bahal is a partner and co-chair of Fox Rothschild’s Corporate Immigration Practice Group and is resident in the firm’s Roseland, New Jersey, office. Bahal has a national practice involving corporate immigration and employee compliance. She has extensive experience in IRCA, specifically I-9 issues pertaining to training and internal private audits, as well as experience in helping clients prepare for and survive DOL investigations and audits, and RAIDs and other surprise scenarios that may arise. Bahal’s broad client base ranges from Fortune 500 clients to small, privately held corporations and health care and nonprofit organizations.

Bahal is well versed in, and can discuss the following immigration-related topics:

-IRCA: I-9s (training/internal private audits/etc.) DOL investigations (preparing/surviving audit/etc.) RAIDs/other surprise scenarios

-Social Security mismatch issues (history of legislation/currently in a state of flux - employers don't know what to do)

-Topics related to business visas (Bs, Es, Fs, Hs, Js, Ls, Os, Ps and Qs)
-B business visas (short term entry)
-E Treaty Trader/Investor Visas
-F Student Visas
-H-1 Specialty Occupation Visas
-H-2B temporary worker
-H-3 Training Visas
-J-1 Exchange Visitor Visas
-L-1 intracompany transferee
-O-1 and O-2 aliens of extraordinary ability or achievement
-P-1, P-2, and P-3 athletes and entertainers
-Q-1 international cultural exchange aliens
-TN NAFTA professionals

-Topics related to permanent residence via employment (PERM Labor Certification, I-140s, Adjustment of Status)

-Experience with a large number of real world cases, timelines, typical requirements, typical challenges for ees and ers, actual complexities involved, specific requirements and their interplay in the real world, etc. (it’s usually more, not less, expensive to employ a foreign national)

-Impact of economy on ability to succeed in labor certification (where one must prove no qualified U.S. Workers)

-H-1B site visits (new/hot topic)

-E-Verify (for federal contractors and others)

-General Immigration Strategy/issues/impact on companies (large and small, multinational – domestic) in terms of hiring, available workers, etc.

Throughout the course of her legal career, Bahal has filed more than 7,000 petitions relating to the employment of non-immigrants and the acquisition of permanent residence and has advised on matters related to PERM Labor Certification, I-140s and Adjustment Status. She has experience with real world cases, timelines, typical requirements and typical challenges for both employees and employers, actual complexities involved and specific requirements and their interplay in the real world. In instances where one must prove no qualified U.S. workers, Bahal has extensive knowledge into the impact of the economy on the ability to succeed in labor certification.

Bahal is also knowledgeable in the current topics of H-1B site visits and E-Verify for federal contractors and others. She also has experience in general immigration strategy and issues and their impact on large and small multinational and domestic companies in connection to the hiring and availability of workers, among other concerns. She is permitted to represent immigration clients in every U.S. jurisdiction and all Consulates worldwide.

Bahal is the chair of the Immigration Law Committee of the Essex County Bar Association and is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyer’s Association. A frequent lecturer, Bahal speaks and hosts seminars on immigration compliance and strategic planning and is the author of several articles on IRCA, I-9 matters and visa-related topics.

To schedule an interview with ALKA BAHAL, call: 630-848-0750.