Alex P. Vidal Quotes

 

Papers to prepare for Biden’s ‘amnesty’ for all Pinoy TNTs

“Every single immigrant we have, undocumented or documented, is a future American. That's just the truth of it.”

—Junot Diaz

 

By Alex P. Vidal 

 

I HAVE written this in the past and I am writing this again: Filipinos with expired temporary visitor’s visa, among other expired non-immigrant visas and passports who have been staying in the United States as TNT (“Tago Ng Tago”) along with some 11 million undocumented immigrants from other countries, should prepare for a possible amnesty program under the Biden-Harris administration.

This has been “long-overdue” and was first championed by former President Barack Obama, but failed after the Republican-dominated congress did not support him.  

President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., who defeated President Donald Trump, 302-232, in the November 3 election, had promised to undertake comprehensive immigration changes even during the campaign period.

The Democratic Party former vice president who will assume as the United States’s 46^th president noontime on January 20, 2021, has said that on his first day as president he will produce comprehensive immigration legislation that creates a pathway to citizenship for 11 million migrants living in the U.S. illegally. 

It would also provide a pathway to citizenship for people commonly known as DREAMers, many of them Filipinos, who are part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Mr. Biden has additionally pledged to make the DACA program permanent on his first day in office, a move that comes after years of Trump administration attempts to rescind the program.

 

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The 78-year-old President-elect is also expected to stop family separation at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The president-elect has vowed to stop the practice of separating immigrant families trying to enter the U.S. from Mexico. 

On Day 1 as president, Mr. Biden has said he plans to pass an executive order establishing a task force focused on reuniting children and parents separated at the border.

Within the first 100 days of his administration, Biden says he wants to reform the U.S. asylum system and the treatment of people at the border with Mexico, specifically calling for a stop to the Trump administration's Migrant Protection Protocols as well as to the policy of "metering" asylum cases.

The president-elect also pledges to take away funding toward continued construction of a wall along the southern U.S. border. 

But Mr. Biden says he wouldn't take down parts of the wall that have already been built.

The president-elect's immigration plan also would increase government supervision over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as Customs and Border Protection, calling for the need to hold personnel "accountable for inhumane treatment." 

This comes as a whistleblower complaint was filed in September concerning medical conditions at a Georgia immigrant detention center.

 

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DOCUMENTS TO PREPARE. According to prominent immigration lawyer Michael J. Gurfinkel, who happened to share our optimism about the amnesty program for undocumented immigrants under the Biden-Harris administration, Pinoy TNTs should prepare the following papers: 

1. Your current, unexpired passport and the passport you originally entered the US on.

2. Entry documents, such as your entry visa and I-94. If you entered the US under a different/assumed name, that would still be considered an “entry.”

3. Identity documents, including your birth certificate, state ID or driver’s license. If you have US citizen children, their US birth certificates or proof of immigration status.

4. Docs showing your continuous presence in the US from the date you arrived until the present. 

Previous amnesties required people to demonstrate they were in the US before a certain date, and remained in the US continuously since then. 

There are lists of the types of documents USCIS would accept to document your continuous presence in the US.

5. Documents on your US immigration history, including all petitions filed for you, applications, other filings, denials, records of any deportation/removal proceedings, etc. 

It is important to obtain these documents, to determine and evaluate a person’s current immigration status and to determine if any of the reforms or proposals could apply to them.

If the person no longer has their records (they threw them out, moved and lost track of them, etc.), there are ways to obtain their complete immigration file from DHS.

6. Documents relating to any criminal matters. Were you ever charged, arrested, tried or pled guilty to any crime? It’s important to determine what those crimes were and the effect they would have on a person’s immigration status and eligibility. 

Sometimes, a conviction for a particular crime would make a person ineligible for immigration benefits, even if there are reforms or amnesties. 

Sometimes it’s possible to go back to state court and have the criminal matter or sentence modified to lessen the immigration consequences.

“These documents are useful not only in connection with possible future immigration reforms and changes, but are important when applying for current immigration benefits as well,” Gurfinkel wrote in his website.

“That’s why a person should already consult with an attorney in preparation for possible reforms (just like a person might go to a doctor for a ‘checkup’ in connection with a possible future surgery). It doesn’t mean you’re going to be ‘operated on’ right now, just like you would not be filing right now. But it is best to already gather appropriate documents and determine eligibility and possible issues/problems in your case in preparation for these reforms.”

(The author, who is now based in New York City, was a former editor of two dailies in Iloilo, Philippines)

 

 

Alex P. vidal Quotes

 

My fourth COVID-19 test

“Please kindly go away, I’m introverting.” 

—Beth Buelow, Author

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

THE day I decided to take my fourth coronavirus disease 2019 (COIVD-19) test on November 19 in New York City, was the same day the United States neared 252,000 new coronavirus infections as the pandemic claimed its highest daily death toll since May 7, 2020.

Together with a friend who suspected he had been infected while taking a daily ride in the subway train, I visited the CityMD, a health center, in Jackson Heights, Queens at past 10 o’clock in the morning for the swab test.

THE author (right) and his friend. 

Enduring a long line and a cold temperature, we were able to finally enter the health center at around 2 o’clock in the afternoon.  

CityMD locations all over New York City have been experiencing hour-long lines of eager New Yorkers awaiting coronavirus tests since the cold season started.

Residents wanting to make sure they would not be included in the statistics of COVID-19 cases, have once again populated the landscape of the city as infections rise and concerns of spread linger through each borough. 

Our visit was timely since all CityMD locations close 90 minutes earlier starting Monday, Nov. 16, the company announced in a statement, citing a months-long strain on medical staff and doctors.

 

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My friend, in his early 50s and doesn’t have pre-existing conditions, had a rapid test and got the result sent through e-mail some 30 minutes after we walked out from the CityMD.

My result will be known after three days. 

I had previous COVID-19 tests in New Jersey (once) and in New York City (twice) in the last three months.

The 182,832 new cases reported Thursday (November 19) represent an all-time high, according to a report in the Washington Post.

More than 170,100 new cases were reported Wednesday.

A high in current COVID-19 hospitalizations (about 81,000) threatened again to push the United States’ health-care system to the brink in several states, as state public health officials worried about reaching ICU bed capacity. 

Thursday was the ninth day in a row that hospitalization numbers have reportedly set records.

From coast to coast, stricter measures have been put in place in an effort to control the rate of infection. 

New York City officials announced that schools would close temporarily to in-person instruction beginning November 19; in California, a curfew will require most residents to stay home between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. The new restriction goes into effect on November 21, Saturday, and lasts through Dec. 21, 2020.

There are 11.8 million cases in the United States and some 252,000 have died as of November 20.

 

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) issued one of its sternest warnings to date, urging Americans not to travel unnecessarily for the Thanksgiving holiday. 

For those who do gather, families have been encouraged to gather outdoors, wear masks and keep a distance of at least six feet from others.

Because the case-fatality rate has stayed fixed for so long and there are now so many reported cases, predicting the virus’s death toll in the near term has become a matter of brutal arithmetic: 150,000 cases a day, times 1.5 percent, will lead to 2,250 daily deaths. 

In the spring, the seven-day average of daily deaths rose to its highest point ever on April 21, when it reached 2,116 deaths. 

With cases rising as fast as they are, the U.S. could cross the threshold of 2,000 daily deaths within a month. Without a miraculous improvement in care, the United States is about to face the darkest period of the pandemic so far.

The new estimates were prepared by Trevor Bedford, a genomic epidemiologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, in Seattle, using data from the COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic, which compiles the cases and deaths that states report. 

(The author, who is now based in New York City, was a former editor of two dailies in Iloilo, Philippines)

 

 

 

 

Alex P. Vidal Quotes

 

‘Stop justifying the President-reject’s tantrums’

“For good ideas and true innovation, you need human interaction, conflict, argument, debate.” 

—Margaret Heffernan

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

MOST Filipinos in our predominantly Asian community in Elmhurst, Queens have finally decided to bury the week-long post-U.S. Presidential Election tiffs as the Americans mourned November 18 the death of a quarter of a million people in the United States from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

“(Let’s) move on with our lives and brace ourselves for the pandemic’s deadly spike in this cold season,” appealed Benhur, 72, a retired cop from Bayambang, Pangasinan. “Tapos na ang eleksyon at marami nanaman ang namamatay sa covid. Do you monitor the news?”

Bernhur is among the regular habitues in a Colombian-owned coffeeshop in the corner of Broadway and Elmhurst Avenues, known as the “Crossroads of the World”.

He tangled with President Trump’s loyalist Rolando, who made a scene these past days endorsing the unfounded conspiracy theories being yelled in the social media by pro-Trump groups that “the election was stolen by (President-elect Joseph) Biden.”

Biden has defeated Trump, 306-232.

Three elderly Filipinos have sustained Rolando, 64, a former crew member of a Norwegian oil tanker that got stranded in the Staten Island in 1996, prompting him to “jump ship” and lived in East Elmhurst. 

 

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“Ang iba kasing mga Pilipino na bomoto kay Biden mga stupid (Other Filipinos who voted for Biden were stupid.),” ranted Rolando, who regularly paid for the coffee of those who lent him their ears and wouldn’t oppose him.

“Yan ang dahilan bakit hindi ka pinapansin ng mga tao dito dahil kapwa mo Pilipino ay ini-insulto mo (You have been ignored here because you kept on insulting your fellow Filipinos.),” retorted Benhur, who’s son, Albert, is also a former cop in Connecticut. “Stop justifying the President-reject’s tantrums in the Twitter. Stop insulting your fellow Filipinos.”

Greg, 74, a retired employee of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) in Cardona, Rizal, pacified Benhur.

“Hayaan mo sia. Nobody is taking him seriously here. He (Rolando) has become irrelevant,” Greg said. “Umuwi na tayo at mag social distancing na. Mahigit 250,000 na pala ang namatay (as of Novemer 18).

Others in the coffeeshop have also refused to tackle the election result.

“Nakaka sawa na. Let’s wear our masks and stay at home mukhang tumaas nanaman ang covid,” suggested Mang Rody, 80, of Morong, Bataan.

“Huwag na tayong mag debate sa result ng eleksyon. Basta huwag lang kayo ko-kontra kay Rolando,” retorted Mang Pepe, 82, a self-confessed former gunrunner in Nueva Ecija.   

 

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The feud among the retirees ensued as the United States passed a grim milestone on November 18, hitting 250,000 coronavirus-related deaths, with the number expected to keep climbing steeply as infections surge nationwide.

Experts predict that the country could soon be reporting 2,000 deaths a day or more, matching or exceeding the spring peak, and that 100,000 to 200,000 more Americans could die in the coming months.

Just how bad it gets will depend on a variety of factors, including how well preventive measures are followed and when a vaccine is introduced.

The deadliest day of the pandemic in the United States was April 15, when the reported daily toll hit 2,752, according to the New York Times.

There is always a lag in deaths, compared with the rate of infection and hospitalizations, and with the latter measure now hitting records every day—76,830 Americans were hospitalized on Tuesday, according to the Covid Tracking Project—the death toll is certain to go on rising.

Covid-19 deaths have continued their bleak march with little respite throughout the year.

By April 24, 50,000 people had died. 

That number doubled to 100,000 by May 27 and added another 50,000 within two months, by July 29. Two months later, on Sept. 22, the total reached 200,000.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, was a former editor of two dailies in Iloilo, Philippines)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ll take the vaccine

 “Misinformation or distrust of vaccines can be like a contagion that can spread as fast as measles.”   

— Theresa Tam

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

“WILL you be taking the COVID-19 vaccine?” asked a survey in the United States undertaken by KTUL Channel 8.

Even after being tested negative in three COVID-19 tests in the last three months in New Jersey (once) and New York City (twice), my answer was a quick “yes, I will take the vaccine as soon as it is available.”

Will you take the vaccine from Pfizer or Moderna?

“Both if necessary—one after the other,” was my second answer.

Like the swings at a playground, says the KTUL Channel 8, when it comes to feelings about a COVID-19 vaccine it's not uncommon for people to waver back and forth.

ALEX P. VIDAL: Tested negative 3 times

“We've been waiting on one or more COVID-19 vaccines for months, unsure of not only when they would arrive but how effective they would be when they did,” C/Net’s Dale Smith observed.

“Now it appears the two vaccines that will most likely be the first to receive Food and Drug Administration authorization might get here before 2021. Not only that, but clinical trials have demonstrated both are over 90 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 infections.” 

That means at least nine out of 10 people who receive those vaccines will likely not contract COVID-19, even if they're exposed to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease, after being inoculated, Smith surmised.

StatNews reported that Moderna, joined by U.S. government scientists, announced November 16 that their mRNA vaccine candidate was 94.5 percent effective in preventing Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, according to an interim analysis of a 30,000-patient clinical trial. 

The news comes exactly one week after Pfizer and BioNTech said their respective Covid-19 vaccine candidate, also created using mRNA technology, was more than 90 percent effective in its own 60,000-patient clinical trial. 

 

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Here’s what we know—and still need to learn—about the two most advanced Covid-19 vaccines and how they might reshape the pandemic that has killed 1.3 million people worldwide and infected at least 54.5 million, according to StatNews.

It’s too early to tell for certain, but the overall efficacy of the vaccines appears to be similar, based on the data disclosed to date. 

This isn’t altogether surprising, since the Moderna and the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine candidates are reportedly both based on the same kind of technology.

Based on data disclosed November 16, “the Moderna vaccine appears to have been protective in important subsets of participants—the elderly and people from communities of color, the latter of which make up 37 percent of the volunteers in Moderna’s trial.” 

Moderna also released data about the number of participants who developed severe Covid-19. 

There were 11 cases of severe disease, all of them in the placebo group. The elderly often respond less robustly to vaccines and are more vulnerable to having severe cases of Covid-19, if infected.

The clinical trial conducted by Pfizer and BioNTech reportedly included the same subpopulations of participants, but specific results have not been disclosed.

 

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‘VACCINES’ safety profile encouraging.’ So far, both vaccines appear to be generally tolerable—but by no means painless, added the StatNews. In its announcement November 16, Moderna said it observed a few short-lived severe side effects in volunteers, including fatigue, muscle pain, and headache. 

None required hospitalization. 

For its part, Pfizer said last week that its independent data monitors reported no serious safety concerns. 

In an earlier update from its Phase 1 clinical trial, Pfizer’s vaccine led to mild or moderate fever and pain at the site of injection, side effects that resolved over time, the company said.

But the most important safety data won’t come until patients have been followed for months and even years. 

Pfizer and Moderna have promised to collect and disclose that information in time.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, was a former editor of two dailies in Iloilo, Philippines)