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Asian American New Yorkers have seen the highest surge in unemployment of any group in New York City, a study from the Asian American Federation found. The organization recently released a report looking into the impact the coronavirus had on unemployment in the community. It found at the beginning of the pandemic, Asian Americans in the city had a jobless rate of 3.4 percent. By May, that rate surged to 25.6 percent, the largest increase of all major racial groups. Howard Shih, research and policy director for the Asian American Federation, said the results “point to the precariousness of many Asian low-income workers and the vulnerability revealed by the COVID shutdown.” NBC News
Study Shows NYC Tech Industry is Inclusive for Immigrants
The barriers to entry to New York City’s tech world are high. But once you’re in, “it is an environment that is open and inclusive,” said Victor Nee, a professor and author of a new study that examined the relationship between immigration and the New York City tech industry. Nee and a co-author surveyed 325 Manhattan and Brooklyn tech firms in 2015 and found that 45 percent of their CEOs were first or second generation immigrants. The researchers explored factors that could indicate a bias against the immigrant founders, including the funding they received and company performance, but found few differences between white and nonwhite immigrant entrepreneurs. Cornell University
NJ Immigration Attorney Censured for Missing Child Client’s Hearing
A Dover, New Jersey, immigration attorney was censured by the New Jersey Supreme Court after failing to show up to a removal hearing for two Honduran children. Nelson Gonzalez accepted $4,000 in 2010 to represent two boys, ages 8 and 9, who are cousins and traveled to the U.S. from Honduras. One of the boys was seeking asylum. Gonzalez did not attend a hearing in 2012 and because of this, the court ordered the boys’ removal from the U.S. Gonzalez remained their lawyer until 2018, when they retained a new lawyer who informed them of their removal orders and filed a motion to reopen their cases. New Jersey Law Journal
Postal Service Officers Raid Sunset Park House, Sparking Fears of ICE
Officers with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service raided a Sunset Park home Wednesday morning, setting off fears ICE agents were detaining immigrants in the neighborhood. Advocates report ICE has been regularly doing that for the past couple of weeks. The postal service broke down the door of a house on 46th Street at 7 a.m. on a warrant they obtained after the resident allegedly transported narcotics through the mail. The incident drew neighbors and members of Sunset Park’s ICE watch. NYPD was called to the scene and ended up violently arresting an observer. Brooklyn Paper
