Tainted Chinese drywall shows up in Katrina homes
Headline Legal News
Thomas Stone and his wife rebuilt after their home was flooded by sixfeet of water during Hurricane Katrina, never dreaming they would facethe agony of tearing it apart all over again.
They tapped Lauren Stone's 401(k) retirement savings and saved $1,000by installing Chinese-made drywall throughout their two-story home. Nowthe Stones are among hundreds of Katrina victims facing another, thistime unnatural, disaster.
Sulfur-emittingwallboard from China is wreaking havoc in homes, charring electricalwires, eating away at jewelry, silverware and other valuables, andpossibly even sickening families.
"The bathroom upstairs has acorroded shower-head, the door hinges are rusting out," said50-year-old Thomas Stone, the longtime fire chief of St. BernardParish, outside New Orleans. And then there's the stench, like rotteneggs, that seems to get worse with the heat and humidity.
"It makes me wish there would be another flood to wash it out," said his wife Lauren, 49.
Chinesemanufacturers flooded the U.S. market with more than 500 million poundsof drywall around the same time Katrina was flooding New Orleans, anAssociated Press review of shipping records has found.
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USCIS Issues Clarifying Guidance on NAFTA TN Status Eligibility for Economists
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it is clarifying policy guidance (PDF, 71 KB) on the specific work activities its officers should consider when determining whether an individual qualifies for TN nonimmigrant status as an economist.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) TN nonimmigrant status allows qualified Canadian and Mexican citizens to temporarily enter the U.S. to engage in specific professional activities, including the occupation of economist. The agreement, however, does not define the term economist, resulting in inconsistent decisions on whether certain analysts and financial professionals qualify for TN status as economists.
TN nonimmigrant status is intended to allow a limited number of professionals and specialists to work temporarily in certain specifically identified occupations in the United States. This updated guidance provides USCIS officers with a specific definition of one such category – economists – allowing them to adjudicate applications in a way that complies with the intent of the agreement. This policy update clarifies that professional economists requesting TN status must engage primarily in activities consistent with the profession of an economist. Individuals who work primarily in other occupations related to the field of economics — such as financial analysts, marketing analysts, and market research analysts — are not eligible for classification as a TN economist.