Friday, August 21, 2009
HOCKEY COACH DITCHES JOB OFFER DUE TO IMMIGRATION CONCERNS
From the Des Moines Register:
Dave Allison's attempt to move from professional to amateur hockey has been derailed by immigration issues, leaving the Des Moines Buccaneers scrambling for a new coach two weeks before training camp is to open. Allison, who coached the Iowa Stars for three seasons, was hired by the Bucs on June 30. But the resident of Canada resigned last week to take a job as a scout with the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins because it was unclear whether he would qualify for the proper work permit if he stayed with the Bucs.
"Because it's an amateur team, you have to show an extraordinary ability" in your profession to get a work permit, Allison said Wednesday. "It's for sort of obscure vocations. I love coaching, but I have a huge responsibility to my family. (The Penguins job) allows me to stay in Des Moines and stay in hockey." Allison has a P-1 work permit typically issued to professional athletes and those working for pro sports leagues. But he was told he needed to get an O-1 work permit to coach the U.S. Hockey League team. The O-1 is for someone with "extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or extraordinary achievements in the motion picture and television field, who have received 'sustained national or international acclaim,' " according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
That process can take up to a month, and Allison said as time dragged on, he became less certain that he would be granted the O-1. With a job offer from the Penguins, he eventually felt compelled to act. "He came in and said, 'I can't wait any longer,' " Bucs general manager J.P. Parise said. "Needless to say, I almost had a heart attack. That is not what I wanted to hear. I was so counting on him. He was a good coach." Parise said he has two coaching candidates, and he plans to name a successor Friday. Training camp begins Sept. 9.
"It's a little stressful, but we will fix it," Parise said. "I promised the fans and our management that we'd clean up and start fresh (after finishing last in the division three consecutive seasons). And we will do that." Allison's new job includes scouting USHL players. "I was looking forward to coaching the Bucs, and I wish them well," he said. "I still think they will get things turned around and have a terrific season."
# posted by Greg Siskind @ 12:36 AM
Monday, August 17, 2009
FOREIGN BASEBALL PLAYERS HAVING BIG IMPACT ON MINORS
The Wall Street Journal reports that foreign ball players are having a big impact on baseball's minor leagues:
Recent changes in U.S. immigration law and growing competition in baseball for raw talent have allowed the minor-league farm system to flourish with imported players. It has been a home run for globalization, but bad news for U.S.-born players, who suddenly have much more competition. Across the minor and major leagues, the total number of foreign-born players is growing fast, to almost 3,500 of the 8,532 players under contract this summer, from 2,964 three years ago.
***
This summer's crop of foreign players in the minors includes baseball's first-ever pros from India, two of them on the Pittsburgh Pirates' Gulf Coast league team. That league's rosters include players from Honduras, Haiti, Russia and the Czech Republic.
Eight teams have minor leaguers from Brazil, including Fábio Murakami, an outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies' Williamsport, Pa., minor-league team, the Crosscutters. Mr. Murakami is one of several South Americans of Japanese descent in the minors, a list that includes Claudio Fukunaga and Lucas Nakandakare, both from Argentina and under contract to Tampa Bay.
One Red Sox farm team boasts an even more exotic tandem: the brothers Crew Tipene Moanaroa, called "Boss," and Hohua Moanaroa, called "Moko." Born in New South Wales, Australia, the Moanaroas are believed to be the first members of New Zealand's Maori tribe to play baseball professionally in the U.S. "Boss" is a first baseman. "Moko" plays outfield.
New Zealand's representative in the minors is Scott Campbell. He plays third base for the Blue Jays' Eastern League affiliate, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.
According to experts, the changes in 2007 to the P-1 category have made it easier for minor league teams to file visa petitions for foreign players.
# posted by Greg Siskind @ 4:21 PM
FALLOUT CONTINUES OVER CBP TREATMENT OF BOLLYWOOD STAR
The New York Times reports on reactions to the secondary inspection of Shahrukh Khan.
# posted by Greg Siskind @ 10:23 AM
Saturday, August 15, 2009
CBP INTERROGATION OF BOLLYWOOD STAR CAUSES OUTRAGE
Shah Rukh Khan, one of India's top film actors, was detained when he arrived at Newark airport. According to Reuters, the incident is causing an uproar among his fans:
Khan, 43, one of India's best known actors, was enroute to Chicago for a parade to mark the Indian independence day on Saturday when he was pulled aside at Newark airport Friday, he said.
"I was really hassled perhaps because of my name being Khan. These guys just wouldn't let me through," he said in a text message to reporters in India.
After a couple of hours' interrogation, he was allowed to make a call, he said, and he got in touch with the Indian consulate who vouched for him and secured his release.
"Absolutely uncalled for, I think. I felt angry and humiliated," said Khan, who had just finished a month-long shoot in the United States for his upcoming film "My Name is Khan," which is about a Muslim man's experience with racial profiling.
A U.S. consul official in India told a television channel they were inquiring into the matter.
As news of Khan's detention broke on Indian television channels, which have played up attacks in Australia on Indian students, fans and actors began posting angry comments on the Internet.
# posted by Greg Siskind @ 7:05 PM
Sunday, August 9, 2009
BASEBALL PLAYER, HORSE GROOMER FACE DEPORTATION OVER CRIMINAL CHARGES
While American citizen athletes seem to get in to criminal trouble all the time, foreign-born athletes face the ominous risk of deportation if they get into even minor trouble with the law. Consider these two cases:
- A Guatemalan horse groomer was turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement after illegally hitting a bird with a slingshot.
- A minor league baseball player from the Dominican Republic faces deportation after an on-field melee led to a ball thrown at a fan.
# posted by Greg Siskind @ 11:56 PM
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Dave Allison's attempt to move from professional to amateur hockey has been derailed by immigration issues, leaving the Des Moines Buccaneers scrambling for a new coach two weeks before training camp is to open. Allison, who coached the Iowa Stars for three seasons, was hired by the Bucs on June 30. But the resident of Canada resigned last week to take a job as a scout with the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins because it was unclear whether he would qualify for the proper work permit if he stayed with the Bucs.
"Because it's an amateur team, you have to show an extraordinary ability" in your profession to get a work permit, Allison said Wednesday. "It's for sort of obscure vocations. I love coaching, but I have a huge responsibility to my family. (The Penguins job) allows me to stay in Des Moines and stay in hockey." Allison has a P-1 work permit typically issued to professional athletes and those working for pro sports leagues. But he was told he needed to get an O-1 work permit to coach the U.S. Hockey League team. The O-1 is for someone with "extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or extraordinary achievements in the motion picture and television field, who have received 'sustained national or international acclaim,' " according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
That process can take up to a month, and Allison said as time dragged on, he became less certain that he would be granted the O-1. With a job offer from the Penguins, he eventually felt compelled to act. "He came in and said, 'I can't wait any longer,' " Bucs general manager J.P. Parise said. "Needless to say, I almost had a heart attack. That is not what I wanted to hear. I was so counting on him. He was a good coach." Parise said he has two coaching candidates, and he plans to name a successor Friday. Training camp begins Sept. 9.
"It's a little stressful, but we will fix it," Parise said. "I promised the fans and our management that we'd clean up and start fresh (after finishing last in the division three consecutive seasons). And we will do that." Allison's new job includes scouting USHL players. "I was looking forward to coaching the Bucs, and I wish them well," he said. "I still think they will get things turned around and have a terrific season."
According to experts, the changes in 2007 to the P-1 category have made it easier for minor league teams to file visa petitions for foreign players.Recent changes in U.S. immigration law and growing competition in baseball for raw talent have allowed the minor-league farm system to flourish with imported players. It has been a home run for globalization, but bad news for U.S.-born players, who suddenly have much more competition. Across the minor and major leagues, the total number of foreign-born players is growing fast, to almost 3,500 of the 8,532 players under contract this summer, from 2,964 three years ago.
***
This summer's crop of foreign players in the minors includes baseball's first-ever pros from India, two of them on the Pittsburgh Pirates' Gulf Coast league team. That league's rosters include players from Honduras, Haiti, Russia and the Czech Republic.Eight teams have minor leaguers from Brazil, including Fábio Murakami, an outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies' Williamsport, Pa., minor-league team, the Crosscutters. Mr. Murakami is one of several South Americans of Japanese descent in the minors, a list that includes Claudio Fukunaga and Lucas Nakandakare, both from Argentina and under contract to Tampa Bay.
One Red Sox farm team boasts an even more exotic tandem: the brothers Crew Tipene Moanaroa, called "Boss," and Hohua Moanaroa, called "Moko." Born in New South Wales, Australia, the Moanaroas are believed to be the first members of New Zealand's Maori tribe to play baseball professionally in the U.S. "Boss" is a first baseman. "Moko" plays outfield.
New Zealand's representative in the minors is Scott Campbell. He plays third base for the Blue Jays' Eastern League affiliate, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.
FALLOUT CONTINUES OVER CBP TREATMENT OF BOLLYWOOD STAR
The New York Times reports on reactions to the secondary inspection of Shahrukh Khan.
# posted by Greg Siskind @ 10:23 AM
Saturday, August 15, 2009
CBP INTERROGATION OF BOLLYWOOD STAR CAUSES OUTRAGE
Shah Rukh Khan, one of India's top film actors, was detained when he arrived at Newark airport. According to Reuters, the incident is causing an uproar among his fans:
Khan, 43, one of India's best known actors, was enroute to Chicago for a parade to mark the Indian independence day on Saturday when he was pulled aside at Newark airport Friday, he said.
"I was really hassled perhaps because of my name being Khan. These guys just wouldn't let me through," he said in a text message to reporters in India.
After a couple of hours' interrogation, he was allowed to make a call, he said, and he got in touch with the Indian consulate who vouched for him and secured his release.
"Absolutely uncalled for, I think. I felt angry and humiliated," said Khan, who had just finished a month-long shoot in the United States for his upcoming film "My Name is Khan," which is about a Muslim man's experience with racial profiling.
A U.S. consul official in India told a television channel they were inquiring into the matter.
As news of Khan's detention broke on Indian television channels, which have played up attacks in Australia on Indian students, fans and actors began posting angry comments on the Internet.
# posted by Greg Siskind @ 7:05 PM
Sunday, August 9, 2009
BASEBALL PLAYER, HORSE GROOMER FACE DEPORTATION OVER CRIMINAL CHARGES
While American citizen athletes seem to get in to criminal trouble all the time, foreign-born athletes face the ominous risk of deportation if they get into even minor trouble with the law. Consider these two cases:
- A Guatemalan horse groomer was turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement after illegally hitting a bird with a slingshot.
- A minor league baseball player from the Dominican Republic faces deportation after an on-field melee led to a ball thrown at a fan.
# posted by Greg Siskind @ 11:56 PM
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Khan, 43, one of India's best known actors, was enroute to Chicago for a parade to mark the Indian independence day on Saturday when he was pulled aside at Newark airport Friday, he said.
"I was really hassled perhaps because of my name being Khan. These guys just wouldn't let me through," he said in a text message to reporters in India.
After a couple of hours' interrogation, he was allowed to make a call, he said, and he got in touch with the Indian consulate who vouched for him and secured his release.
"Absolutely uncalled for, I think. I felt angry and humiliated," said Khan, who had just finished a month-long shoot in the United States for his upcoming film "My Name is Khan," which is about a Muslim man's experience with racial profiling.
A U.S. consul official in India told a television channel they were inquiring into the matter.
As news of Khan's detention broke on Indian television channels, which have played up attacks in Australia on Indian students, fans and actors began posting angry comments on the Internet.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
BASEBALL PLAYER, HORSE GROOMER FACE DEPORTATION OVER CRIMINAL CHARGES
While American citizen athletes seem to get in to criminal trouble all the time, foreign-born athletes face the ominous risk of deportation if they get into even minor trouble with the law. Consider these two cases:
- A Guatemalan horse groomer was turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement after illegally hitting a bird with a slingshot.
- A minor league baseball player from the Dominican Republic faces deportation after an on-field melee led to a ball thrown at a fan.
# posted by Greg Siskind @ 11:56 PM
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- A Guatemalan horse groomer was turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement after illegally hitting a bird with a slingshot.
- A minor league baseball player from the Dominican Republic faces deportation after an on-field melee led to a ball thrown at a fan.
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