Immigration – Page 2 – Silicon Valley One World

Modi Fever Fuels Silicon Valley Head Rush

27Sep

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Modi Fever Fuels Silicon Valley Head Rush

By Sharon Simonson SAN JOSE — Naren Gupta, founder of Nexus Venture Partners with offices in Menlo Park and Mumbai, confided to a room of 50 reporters at San Jose City Hall on Sept. 24: He has not been involved in politics in the past. Gupta is co-chairman of the Indo-American Community of West Coast, or IACWC, the organization managing the community reception for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi today at San Jose’s SAP Center. Modi, Gupta admitted, has turned his head: “He is an absolutely remarkable leader.” Reaching across a sea, the prime minister has coalesced the diverse Indian community in the United States. The “whole diaspora has come together,” said Khanderao Kand, who helped create the IACWC in July to accept responsibility for making the Modi reception happen...

Federal Prosecutors Pursue Charges against Chinese Prof. Hao Zhang as U.S. Attorneys Drop Like Cases in Philadelphia, Ohio

24Sep

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Federal Prosecutors Pursue Charges against Chinese Prof. Hao Zhang as U.S. Attorneys Drop Like Cases in Philadelphia, Ohio

By Sharon Simonson SAN JOSE, Calif.—Will the San Jose indictment against Chinese professor Hao Zhang be the next one the federal government decides to abandon? Zhang is accused of conspiracy to steal trade secrets from two semiconductor companies with Silicon Valley ties for his own benefit and the Chinese government’s. In March and then again this month, federal prosecutors in Philadelphia and Dayton, Ohio, dismissed indictments against two Chinese-Americans accused of similar crimes. Both cases relied heavily on email communications, as does the case against Zhang. Both alleged the theft of secret and valuable information, as does the case against Zhang. In both cases federal prosecutors sought to dismiss after they lost the use of purported evidence key to their claims. In ...

14Sep

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It’s A Goal!

By Sharon Simonson SAN JOSE—Balmy breezes extended pleasant welcome to ten newly pledged U.S. citizens in the hour before the evening start of the soccer game at San Jose’s new Avaya Stadium. The city’s new Office of Immigrant Affairs and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had arranged a special naturalization ceremony at the 18,000-seat open-air landmark. The city’s long-time soccer team, the Earthquakes, faced the Seattle Sounders Football Club. The game, 1-1, was a draw. The new citizens were invited to stay for the match after taking the oath of allegiance, including on-field recognition at halftime. “Thanks to the Earthquakes and USCIS for making us feel special,” 42-year-old Dhiraj Bora, a native of Uttarakhand state in India, said before ceremonies began. ...

22Aug

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Immigrants Rising

By Sharon Simonson SAN JOSE—Even as nativist opposition to immigration roils national political discourse, in dozens of American communities nationwide the foreign-born are emerging as heroes of local economies. In historic immigrant gateways including the Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York City and Chicago as well as less traditional immigrant entry-points from Atlanta, Ga., to Denver, Colo., cities, mayors and other local leaders are targeting the foreign-born with new offices and resources. In Rust Belt cities from Detroit to Cleveland to Pittsburgh, Penn., advocates are calling the movement “immigrant economic development” and touting immigration as a solution to declining populations and unstable economies. A 2012 study of the Saint Louis metropolitan area includin...

Judge Tells Federal Government: You Can’t Have Cake, Eat It Too

30Jul

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Judge Tells Federal Government: You Can’t Have Cake, Eat It Too

By Sharon Simonson A U.S. magistrate judge has warned the U.S. departments of Justice and Homeland Security that he would recommend dismissal of criminal charges against Chinese Professor Hao Zhang if federal immigration authorities sought to detain Zhang again in relation to alleged visa violations. U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins said the federal government could pursue immigration charges at a later time. But, relying on a July 23 ruling by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Cousins said that during Zhang’s preparations for trial for conspiracy, trade-secret theft and spying to benefit the Chinese government, immigration authorities could not detain him with a stated goal of deportation even as the U.S. Justice Department proceeded toward trial. “If the go...

Reaching for a Higher Self, Finding Better Technology

25Jul

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Reaching for a Higher Self, Finding Better Technology

By Sharon Simonson SAN MATEO—A Silicon Valley tech executive who exited the corporate fast lane in 2011 to study yoga in The Himalayas has returned bearing new insights that she believes can enhance worker productivity, creativity, innovation and happiness. Samya Boxberger-Oberoi never expected to write a book on yoga, to spend three-and-a-half months in an ashram or to see her life come full circle when she left Lab126, the research and development arm of Amazon, where she helped develop the Kindle e-reader for international buyers. But four years after her departure, she published “The Philosophy and Science of Yoga: The Power of Self-Expression 5,000 Years in the Making” exclusively on the Kindle. Friends say it is the doctoral dissertation she never finished. She...

15Jul

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Hao Zhang Back in Federal Custody

By Sharon Simonson Not so fast. A Chinese professor accused of conspiracy, economic espionage and theft of trade secrets is facing a second turn in government custody after being released only days ago following six weeks in the Santa Clara County Main Jail. U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins on July 8 ordered Hao Zhang released based on a $500,000 secured bond despite objections from federal prosecutors that he remained a flight risk. Cousins confined Zhang to a Mountain View home and ordered his movements be electronically monitored. But on July 13, U.S. immigration authorities served Zhang with a “Notice and Order of Expedited Removal” authorizing his deportation based on the revocation of his visitor’s visa by the U.S. State Department. The Department of Homeland S...

8Jul

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Judge Releases Zhang

By Sharon Simonson SAN JOSE — A Chinese professor accused of espionage and trade-secret theft should smell the sweet air of freedom later today after spending nearly eight weeks imprisoned at the Santa Clara County Main Jail. But Hao Zhang’s reprieve could be short and is definitely limited. He remains under threat of re-detention by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which has rescinded his tourist visa, and so long as he remains out of jail must stay all day every day at a monitored Mountain View home. Over the objections of federal prosecutors, U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins ordered Zhang freed on a $500,000 bond. The bond is secured by $225,000 in U.S.-located retirement savings and other financial assets belonging to Zhang and his wife, as well as the equi...