Saturday, February 18, 2012
5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Margaret W. Wong & Associates
3150 Chester Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44114

*Light refreshments will be served. Donations will be accepted at the door for the non-partisan Ohio Asian Civic Engagement Fund to send seniors, youth and others to the 2012 Asian American Legislative Day at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus.

Congresswoman Dr. Judy Chu was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for California's 32nd District in July 2009. She immediately got to work representing the interests of her constituents, voting on several environmental bills and working through the night on her first day in office, during a marathon debate on important healthcare reform legislation as part of her first assignment on the House Education and Labor Committee, where she served on the Subcommittees on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education and Healthy Families and Communities.

In the 112th Congress, Rep. Chu serves on the House Judiciary Committee, where she is a member of the Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security and the Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet subcommittees. She is also a member of the House Small Business Committee, where she is leading the Contracting and Workforce Subcommittee as the Ranking Democrat and serves on the Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access and Agriculture, Energy and Trade Subcommittees. In 2011, she was elected as the Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC).

Co-Sponsored by: APIA Vote, Asian Services in Action, Cleveland Chinese Women Association, Cleveland Contemporary Chinese Culture Association, Chinese Professionals and Entrepreneurs Association, and MotivAsians for Cleveland

Join us for a discussion of the variety of issues relating to immigration and employment for foreign born workers and students in the United States once their studies are complete. We will examine the optimum ways to go about hiring a foreign born worker that best fit your organization's needs, including what questions employers are allowed to ask in the interview process. We will outline further details of the hiring process such as what should be included in the job offer, how to complete the I-9, and how to navigate the E-verify process.

Significantly, we will also talk about ways to retain an employee in a long term permanent position who had been in a temporary employment status.

We will also discuss the range of non-immigrant visas that foreign students seeking employment in the United States may pursue - including the H, L, TN, O and J categories. Furthermore, we will review the steps and procedures needed for an organization to hire a foreign student or foreign born workers from another institution.

Our Presenter:
Lori A. Pinjuh is a Senior Attorney at Margaret Wong & Associates, holding a B.S. from Vanderbilt University and a J.D. from Syracuse University, College of Law . Her professional memberships include the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), where she was Ohio Chapter Secretary (2003-2005), the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, and the Maryland State Bar Association. Ms. Pinjuh serves on the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association Grievance Committee, has served as the Co-Chair for the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee (2007-08), and has been nominated to Chair Immigration Law Section for 2008-2010.

Additionally, Ms. Pinjuh has previously co-Chaired immigration, naturalization and employment related seminars and events for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and the two former Cleveland bar associations which merged in Spring 2008, the Cuyahoga County Bar Association and Cleveland Bar Association.

Ms. Pinjuh has participated in volunteer activities for MDA Fundraisers, Battered Women's shelters, AILA Ohio Citizenship Day 2008 and 2009, and continues to volunteer at the Legal Aid Society for the pro-bono immigration legal services program.

Ms. Pinjuh has been named an Ohio Super Lawyers Rising Star by Cincinnati Magazine 2005 and voted 2008 The Best Lawyers in America in Immigration Law. Ms. Pinjuh has been practicing immigration law for thirteen years, first in the DC metropolitan area with an immigration boutique firm and thereafter commencing with Margaret Wong & Assoc., Co., LPA in July 1998.

During her academic career, Ms. Pinjuh was honored with awards such as induction into the Order of Barristers (1 of 10), the LFE Goldie Memorial Award (International Legal interests), the Legislative Research Service Award (journal), and the Robert W. Miller Award (Moot Court Board).

Ms. Pinjuh has made numerous immigration presentations for the Federal Bar Association, Cleveland Bar Association, Cuyahoga County Bar Association, American Immigration Lawyer's Association, NAPABA, Hispanic Bar Association, area universities and colleges, the Northeast Ohio Regional SHRM Conference, and the SHRM Global Forum. She is licensed to practice in Maryland and Ohio.

Location: The Plain Dealer Building (1801 Superior Ave - Downtown Cleveland)

Time:
8:00 AM - 10:00 AM - Program

This program is pending review by HRCI for recertification credits.
WHEN
Wednesday, February 29, 2012 7:30 AM - 10:00 AM
WHERE
The Plain Dealer
1801 Superior Ave., Cleveland, OH 44115
FEE
Event Registration
Cleveland SHRM Member $25.00
Nonmembers/Guests $35.00
Professionals in Transition $15.00

Alternative Moves
February 17, 2012 8:00 pm l Breen Center for the Performing Arts l Get Directions

Two World Premieres & A Company Premiere!
The West meets the East in an evening of ritual, tradition, and Alternative Moves. First, to Taiwan to experience the mystery and love between Princess Baleng and the Hundred-pace Snake deity through the masterful choreography of Chung-Fu Chang in the World Premiere, The Lily. Dedicated to Margaret Wong, longtime Northeast Ohio immigration lawyer & community builder. Go back in time in America and be rocked by the religious pioneers The Shakers (1931), by modern dance pioneer Doris Humphrey, performed in honor of Shaker Heights' centennial. Then, head to Argentina for the drama and rebellion during the time of Peron with a tango in Troy McCarty's newest dance, Otra Luna. Join Verb as Dances Tell Our Stories!
Get Tickets: verbballets.org or 216.397.3757
$28 Preferred Section, $20 General Admission, $10 Students

Dinner-Show Package
February 17, 2012 5:30 pm
The Flying Fig 2523 Market Ave., Ohio City
Join arts supporters to meet choreographer Chung-Fu Chang and immigration honor Margaret Wong, longtime Northeast Ohio lawyer & community builder. VIP Guest Chang will be dedicating his new work to Wong at the critically-acclaimed Ohio City restaurant The Flying Fig before Verb Ballets' performance. Then, witness the world premiere of The Lily through the masterful choreography of Chang at the Breen Center for the Performing Arts.
Tickets: $78/person and includes a reception, dinner and ticket for the show. Call 216.397.3757 to RSVP

 From the Plain Dealer:

Natalya Bobryvets, 37, is a Ukrainian national seeking political asylum in the United States. Her husband, Oleksandr (Alex) Sharykin, 44, also a Ukrainian national, recently received asylum. They are parents of two girls, Angela Jane, 5, and Victoria Alice, 3 -- both born here and who are American citizens.

In a news conference Thursday at Kucinich's office in Lakewood, Bobryvets said she learned shortly before Thanksgiving that the Department of Homeland Security would not grant her asylum and that she needed to buy a one-way ticket back to Ukraine and leave the United States by Jan. 30.

The couple had been living in the United States the past 12 years and were married in 2006 at St. Vladimir's Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral.

"I was told to purchase my ticket by Dec. 29," Bobryvets said. "I still have it, a nonrefundable one-way ticket back to Ukraine. I was so afraid I would be sent home without our kids, never to see them again. I thought I was in a hopeless situation."

The family had two strong advocates in Margaret Wong, a Cleveland immigration attorney who had helped Sharykin get asylum, and the Rev. John Nakonachny, their pastor at St. Vladimir's. Both wrote Kucinich seeking help for Bobryvets. Another attorney had worked on Bobryvets' asylum request.

Kucinich said he fired off a letter Wednesday to the U.S. Department of Immigration to intervene on her behalf.

"Alex could not go back to his home country because of the political asylum he was granted," Kucinich said. "If Natalya is deported, her husband could not petition for her and she would never be able to come back again and her safety would be in question."

Immigration policies must not break up families, Kucinich said. Two young girls would have been separated from their mother, he said, "and we should be working to keep families together. This case really tugged at my heart."

The congressman got good news Thursday when the Department of Homeland Security stayed its deportation order pending a review that Kucinich requested. The review could take up to a year. Afterward, Bbobryvets would then either be deported or be allowed to stay.

Bobryvets repeatedly thanked Kucinich and Wong for their help, saying neither of her daughters understood that she might have had to leave them forever.

Wong said their case needed special consideration by government officials for humanitarian reasons. She said this was a family in which deportation would have been "unconscionable."

"Now that we got the help we needed, we'll be able to keep Natalya here permanently," Wong said.

Kucinich said one more task remained -- to call the airlines and get a refund for Bobryvets' nonrefundable airline ticket.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2012/01/kucinich_intervention_helps_ke.html