General

Jean Danhong Chen Continues Her Immigration Battles in the Face of COVID-19

Martin J. Stallone

The situation in California had been difficult enough for immigrants to the U.S., whether legal or illegal with ICE agents moving swiftly to detain more individuals and families than ever before. The Trump administration had adopted a strict stance for immigrants from Central and South America with the border with Mexico an area of complex issues for local, state, and federal agencies alike. Jean Danhong Chen has been working in the immigration sector for many years with her membership in the American Immigration Lawyers Association stretching across two decades. For Danhong Chen and her team, the closure of U.S. borders is causing major issues across a range of legal areas.

The decision to close U.S, borders in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic came at a time when the immigration services were already struggling to meet its demands to process citizenship forms, according to The Global Dispatch. For Jean Danhong Chen, the added problems for the immigration services of the closure of U.S. borders will continue to be felt long after the pandemic numbers return to normal. 

In terms of those who are already looking to have their immigration cases heard, the anecdotal evidence shows a large amount of fear and confusion about what is happening. In the state of California, where the pandemic has been reaching record highs in mid-July, the issue of immigration is often secondary to simply avoiding exposure to the virus. The March closure of the borders of the U.S. left a major problem for many immigrants from different areas who could no longer return home. Reports stated this was not a major problem for the majority of those in California because they had not intended to risk exposure to the virus by leaving the nation. 

Unhappiness and fear had crept into the Mexican community early in the pandemic when Mexican President Lopez Obrador revealed his protection from COVID-19 were two religious medals carried in his pocket. Political commentators across Mexico had been torn between praising the President for his confident approach to the virus but were concerned his message was confusing to the public. The issue of understanding what is the best response to the COVID-19 crisis was a difficult one for many with borders around the world closing for the first time since World War Two, in some cases. The European Union closed its borders within the political region despite the open borders agreement that exists between its members.

Jean Danhong Chen reveals the concern regarding the closure of borders has led to a range of other issues being brought to the attention of lawyers specializing in these areas. The battles taking place over COVID-19 include those relating to how certain cases are being handled with many pointing to a change in policy for those patrolling the Californian border with Mexico. The border is a difficult area for those patrolling the region that will have even greater problems in the coming months as reports come in of those crossing over the border between ports of entry being immediately returned to Mexico. 

This is a difficult option for the majority of immigrants with the majority of nations looking to enforce quarantine rules that include 14 days. Salem News reports Chinese nationals arriving in the majority of countries have been subject to a 14-day quarantine rule that will make it difficult for immediate returns to be made. There is some question over the legality of the capture and return policy being implemented by Border Patrol professionals throughout the State of California.

Along with the problems caused by the decision to return the majority of those newly caught trying to enter the state of California from Mexico, the other problem is the sheer number of undocumented immigrants being captured by ICE. Adding to the problems being seen by Jean Danhong Chen is the closure of borders with the majority of those who are being held for deportation having no way of leaving the nation. Closing the borders of the U.S> with Mexico and other nations in Latin America means the holding areas for those about to be deported are overflowing with people. The closure of the USCIS offices is having an impact on how immigration lawyers are able to handle cases to have a positive impact on their cases. The Attorney General of California is leading the court challenge against the U.S. Government in a bid to keep student visas active regardless of the classes being taken.

The focus is often placed on the issue of Latin American immigrants arriving in the U.S. However, another issue that has been highlighted for Jean Danhong Chen during the pandemic has been the growing problem of Chinese immigrants being barred from entry to the U.S. because of their association with the arrival of COVID-19. Alongside those who are looking to make their way to the U.S. to work and live, the problem of foreign students is a growing one for immigration lawyers. The initial lockdown in the SPring in California came with a call for those usually prohibited from taking online-only classes because of a visa to be allowed to remain. The Trump Administration has since changed its stance and plans to refuse visas to those who are not taking face-to-face classes in a troubling change of policy.

Special Considerations For AC Users In Humid Areas

Martin J. Stallone

Air Condition

When it comes to staying comfortable during the summer months, humidity can create an even more significant challenge than rising temperatures. Humid conditions make it difficult to stay comfortable and in extreme cases can even create health issues like headaches and asthma attacks.

If you are living in an area with a particularly humid climate, you are going to have to have an HVAC system that is capable of handling the humidity to keep your household safe and to avoid damage to your home and HVAC equipment.

There are a few special considerations you’ll have to be aware of and address if you’re living in an area where you have to deal with excessive summer humidity. The following are three special considerations to take into account:

Staying comfortable

Probably your number one consideration is going to be simply staying comfortable. Naturally, you’re going to do this with a good air conditioner. It’s important to remember that air conditioners don’t just reduce the temperature in a home. They also function to remove humidity from the air.

If you run your air conditioner but it doesn’t dry out your air enough to make it comfortable on your home’s interiors, you may want to run a dehumidifier in addition to your air conditioner. A dehumidifier will remove moisture from the air without dropping the air temperature like an air conditioner does.

Running fans in your home can also help you to deal with humidity issues and stay comfortable in your humid home. Fans work to circulate air, and blown air tends to have a drying effect. Running a fan can make it feel a few degrees colder in your home.

Keeping air conditioning equipment in good shape

Living in a humid climate puts extra stress on an air conditioner. The air conditioner model you choose is going to have a significant impact on how easy it is to keep your home comfortable in a humid climate. When it comes to areas with high humidity, it’s a good idea to use an air conditioner unit that offers a variable-speed air handler. You should ask an air conditioning specialist like All Year Cooling to find the ideal air conditioner unit for your unique situation.

There are many things you can do to make it easier for your existing air conditioner to keep your air less humid. For example, you can seal up any leaks in your ducts or other components of your home so that they do not let air out. Other things you can do to ensure greater airtightness include covering crawl spaces with a vapor barrier or keeping gutters and downspouts clean to prevent leaks. You can also make sure that you are venting any appliances that may create humidity- like clothes dryers- to the outside of your home.

Preventing water damage like mold and mildew growth

If you’re dealing with very high humidity levels in your home, your home may be more susceptible to water damage issues. Humidity in the air can seep into building components and furniture pieces in your home. It can seep into walls and damage your paint. It can also create an ideal environment for mold and mildew growth and pest infestations.

If you notice signs of moisture damage like wet spots on your walls or mildew growth, you need to address your humidity problem to keep your home healthy and comfortable.

If you need to learn more or have some HVAC work done on your home to deal with humidity, you need to get in touch with an HVAC services provider in your area like All Year Cooling to learn more. The only way to be sure that you’ll stay comfortable, avoid HVAC malfunctions, and prevent mold and mildew growth this summer is if you consult with HVAC technicians who understand all the challenges presented by humidity.

 

Your Rights If Bitten By Someone Else’s Dog

Martin J. Stallone

Dogs are supposed to be man’s best friend, so an attack can feel like the ultimate betrayal. If you’ve been bitten by a dog, you’re probably angry, hurt and confused, and you might not know what to do next. The legal team at Hunter Law P.A. has succeeded in helping many victims of dog bites in the state of Florida.

You’ve Been Bitten by a Dog: What Do You Do?

It’s important to stay calm and keep your wits about you. The first step is to contact the authorities. You might not think that your injuries are severe enough to require a 911 call, but this is a public safety protocol. If someone in your community has an aggressive dog that they’re unable to control, it’s a major threat to everyone’s safety, and the authorities need to make a report. If you allow the incident to go unchecked, the dog could continue to be a danger to the members of the community, including small children and other pets.

Another reason to dial 911 is to get medical attention as quickly as possible. A dog attack is a frightening thing to go through, which means you’ll be in shock afterward. You might not realize the severity of your injuries. You also might not realize the risk of contracting a disease from the dog bite. Getting the injuries cleaned and dressed by a medical professional and receiving other treatments right away will ensure you recover quickly as possible.

Lastly, you need to document your injuries in case you want to pursue a lawsuit in the future. The experts at Hunter Law P.A. have seen the difficulties that come from injuries going undocumented. Instead of risking a problem with your case, be sure to get everything on paper while you can.

Dog Bites in the State of Florida: What Are Your Rights?

In Florida, dog owners have strict liability, meaning they are responsible for what their dog does to others. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. For example, if you’re attacked by a dog while trespassing on someone’s property, the owner won’t be considered at fault. If the owner has put up a sign warning of a dangerous dog, and you proceed into the area anyway, the owner may be released from any liability as well.

  1. Comparative Negligence

Every case is unique, and knowing you were at fault doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t speak with a personal-injury attorney. In some cases, both the dog owner and the victim are partially at fault, and you still might be able to recover some of your medical costs and other damages. This type of situation is known as comparative negligence.

  1. Negligence

The standard in Florida is for dog owners to be liable, but an additional level of liability can sometimes be established if the owner did something to contribute to the attack in addition to simply not controlling their dog.

  1. Negligence Per Se

This simply means that the owner violated a law that led to you getting attacked by the dog. For example, if someone is violating leash laws by allowing their dog to roam freely through the neighborhood, they will be found negligent if their dog causes an injury.

  1. Intentional Torts

This means that someone purposefully tried to get their dog to attack you, usually by shouting a command or working the dog into a state of aggression until it attacks. It’s terrible to think of someone using an innocent creature as a weapon like this, but it unfortunately does happen.

Statute of Limitations in Florida: How Long Do You have to File Your Personal-injury Claim?

You have four years from the date of the attack to file a lawsuit in the state of Florida. However, waiting years to file will significantly reduce your chances of recovering damages. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t file if some time has passed, but if the dog bite is recent, and you’re going back and forth about whether you should file or not, know that the sooner you do, the better. Even if you got your injuries documented by a medical professional, it may prove to be difficult to get in contact with witnesses or others who could help back up your case after years have passed.

If you’ve suffered an injury as the result of a dog attack, and you aren’t sure what to do, please contact Hunter Law P.A. today. Their experienced legal team is ready to guide you through this tough time, providing you with qualified legal guidance and getting your case settled as quickly as possible.

 

Online Reputation: Why Should You Care?

Martin J. Stallone

The internet is a realm of opportunities. Businesses go online to expand their markets. Business owners are still rushing to claim their piece of the online real estate pie in a digital village. Just like an offline store, it takes significant resources to get your online presence to a profitable level.

Online reputation refers to the goodwill your business or brand enjoys online. A good online image encourages customers to interact with you. This leads to increased sales. Bad reviews and a general negative online image can adversely affect your business. Online reputation management involves monitoring your online image with the aim of improving your standing among competitors. It ensures that people find useful and positive content about your business.

 

How Does Your Online Reputation Go Bad?

Your online storefront is open to everyone with internet access. Negative content could affect your business. Your employees could post embarrassing photos on your social media pages. Unhappy customers may attack your products and brands with negative reviews. Your competitors may pay for negative marketing strategies and online content that tells a different story.

Disgruntled or fired employees may want to get back at you by posting negative opinions online. Additionally, you may have failed to update your online content. This might make it misleading. Similarly, it may be a case of miscommunication on your part. In other instances, frivolous matters from a distant past may come back to haunt you. For example, details of a past dismissed lawsuit could come back to dominate your online conversations.

 

The Importance of Reputation Monitoring

A survey sponsored by GE Capital shows that majority of customers research a business online before purchasing from them. This means bad reviews can change their purchase decisions. Reputation management ensures people find the right information about your business.

It also increases brand loyalty. Consistently engaging people empowers them to identify with your brand. It is easier to maintain a positive image than it is to repair negative online reputation. Reputation monitoring helps you engage your target audience better. You can use the insightful feedback received to guide business policy.

Reputation monitoring enables you to discover new platforms and channels where people may be talking about your business. It helps you identify and correct misleading information in time. This puts you back in control of your online conversations.

 

Tips To Improve Your Online Reputation

These tips aim at countering or eliminating harmful content online. This is by proactively building positive content. It enhances your good standing and credibility as well as customer’s confidence. Some of the things you can do include:

  • Create strong, positive, and accurate online content. Tell your story.
  • Use platforms where you can directly control the conversation. This includes your websites and social media platforms.
  • Decide when to respond to detractors. Silence may be the best answer to some specific situations.
  • Monitor where sensitive personal details are posted. Avoid populating people-search sites. Do not use services that are likely to resell your data.
  • Do not open the negative links. Similarly, don’t promote them by sharing the information or word of mouth.
  • The internet never forgets. Assume everything you or your associates post online will be available to the world permanently.
  • Develop a consistent strategy to counter harmful content timely and effectively.
  • Provide interactive spaces where customers can engage with you. Use incentives such as discounts to encourage positive reviews from your customers.

It is important to decide early when to work with reputable online reputation management experts. This helps you avoid pitfalls where the result is the same as the beginning. Protect your business by engaging professionals to help you repair and improve your online reputation. Aaron Minc is a renowned attorney and online reputation defender. He offers practical tactics to effectively deal with online defamation, cyber-attacks, and harmful content.

Benefits of Embracing Test Case Management

Martin J. Stallone

Every business aspires to make progress and with this progress earn profits. But this is often derailed by the lack of reliable tools that can make the production process smooth. Software companies need to automate tests so they are able to get information about the products they build. Having a clear timeline of the processes that are needed eliminates time wastage and leads to the development of bug-free applications. Managers who have large teams find it challenging to understand test cases when they opt to pursue every detail manually, but with a test management system, all data needed is shared through a platform that gives a representation of the achievements each developer has made.

Agile planning an execution

A good example of tools that can be used to improve the relationship between teams is using the QASymphony test case management tool, which brings together agile teams including testers, developers, and managers to collaborate to address high-priority issues raised by customers. This is not often the case in many production processes and if such a decision has to be reached it takes a lot of time to resolve the problems noted. Coming together in one system ensures accurate answers are given to settle the problems at hand so production can proceed with a focus on producing high-quality software.

Test scheduling automation

Manual test methods are time consuming and tedious. They are also prone to errors, so managers need to come up with automation processes that can allow them to easily observe the development process. Many test case management tools allow you to schedule testing and automate the processes so you are able to receive relevant information whenever needed. For example, you should be receiving messages about errors lodged into the system so you can take the most appropriate action to speed up development. Automation means you don’t need to perform manual test runs, all you need is to adjust your settings and the system will give you a report of what is happening in the production process in real-time.

Better control features

Working with teams is a perfect idea, but how these teams are able to handle different processes is what determines if you are doing what is expected of you to come up with superior products. Test case management tools allow you to control of who does what based on the metrics recorded about the performance of each individual. It helps you to assign the right individuals to handle the right roles.

Intelligent error detection process

Error detection and handling is a vital process that every manager should include in the management of production. Making software is different from producing other types of products because you need to observe for the occurrence of errors. Even the slightest mistake in the development process could affect the final product and this is why having a test case management system is necessary so errors are lodged immediately they are detected. You are assured to move from one step to the other without carrying defects along and this leads to the development of high quality software.

What Are The Benefits Of Corporate Philanthropy?

Martin J. Stallone

Corporate philanthropy is a case where businesses take action to improve the communities around them and society in general. This could include donations of things like medical equipment to nearby hospitals, supporting the nurturing of talent, offering support to educational programs that benefit the community and fundraising for a good cause. Businesses that engage in corporate philanthropy enjoy several advantages that stem from their actions to the communities. Below are some of the advantages a business can get for supporting the community through philanthropy.

Support from the community and market creation
Offering support to projects that help the community to achieve different goals brings people closer to the business and creates a positive relationship between the two. The community is made to feel part of the business due to the inclusion brought by these philanthropic projects. Therefore, they will always respond by giving support to the products sold by the company, which translates to market creation. Businesses that invest in nearby communities boost their sales and are guaranteed to have a stronger base of customers. Additionally, offering support to communities leads to greater economic success, so with the purchasing power earned they are able to contribute to the growth of the business.

More confidence in the business
Philanthropy convinces the communities targeted that they are considered a vital part of the business, and in this spirit, they feel more secure using the products offered by the business. Therefore, giving to the society helps by allowing the company to enjoy more support in whatever products it sells. It creates a market and reinforces the support received from the communities. In a market where there are many competing businesses, this is one of the ways a business can create an image for itself.

Market development through reputation
As River Cohen cites, reputation can make or break a business. A good reputation is cultivated and this means spending both on refining products as well as buying the trust of the market through things like philanthropy. To develop a market, a company can come up with philanthropic projects that help by raising its reputation and trust among buyers and the market in general. It is the easiest way to beat competition and to reiterate the mission statement of a business by touching on values the community considers vital for its growth and prosperity.

However, despite the benefits that come with corporate philanthropy, there are things that businesses should beware of to avoid plunging into a crisis. First, supporting philanthropic projects is time consuming and costly. The business has to also make huge decisions every day, which could interfere with its operations if the process is not monitored well. Excessive focus on philanthropy could hamper the goals set by the business, which in turn could delay the implementation of vital projects that can enhance growth. Ensure you have a set plan that should be followed while running philanthropic projects and the business will reap the benefits that come with giving back to the society.