Tag: San Francisco

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Leaving our hearts in San Francisco after 30 years

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I had the bragging right of doing business in the most beautiful city in America for 30 years. Until this year, when I decided not to renew our lease. This morning, as I read the news that more big tech companies were leaving their San Francisco offices, it validated what I already knew, that this city we were proud of has been transformed from a bustling tourist town to an unsafe place where crime and the homeless population have significantly increased. To be specific, I can cite the area where our office is located, right above the BART Powell Station, on 5th and Market. This is also where the Tourist Information Center is located.

On Christmas Day, I received holiday text greetings from close friends who also shared a news release from the UK DailyMail.com describing the taxpayer-funded San Francisco Christmas Market (located right were our office used to be on Hallidie Plaza) as a “dystopian hellhole after being besieged by city’s famed druggies.” My friends knew that I had been in that part of the City for three decades, so when I told them we had moved the office to Burlingame (20 minutes from the City), they all said “good decision.”

In 1992, as new immigrants with a very young family, my husband and I took a leap of faith and opened our own law firm. We had to choose the best location, and at the time, what could be better than being near the Powell station, the cable car turn- around, The Emporium, San Francisco Shopping Center and Union Square. I told my husband as we were starting, perhaps we would have walk-in clients or entice clients to visit us in the best part of the City, which is accessible to all tourist spots and the best shopping malls. True enough, we were able to slowly build our client base as the office location was convenient and attractive to those who wanted to travel to the City.

Our office overlooked Market Street from Hallidie Plaza, and our clients sometimes took pictures as if the office was also a tourist spot. The view from my office was like a wide TV screen showing the energetic mood of people walking around Market and Powell either as tourists, residents or workers. I found joy in the appreciative comments about our office location. Clients would hang out in the malls or just walk around Union Square while waiting for their appointed time to consult us. During office breaks, we would go down to the mall for coffee or a brief lunch with friends who also worked in the City. The restaurants near Hallidie Plaza were favorite hangout spots after work hours, and we did not mind what time we left the City. We knew that where we parked our cars was safe. It was a perfect location. In fact, there was even a time when chess boards were laid down on a sidewalk for anyone who wanted to play. I can still vividly recall onteresting scenes from the City.

Fast forward to the pandemic days. March 2020. With COVID-19 outbreak, we strongly suggested that the law firm operations in its physical location be suspended. To sustain our operations, we converted to a virtual law practice. In 2021, when businesses began to open in the City, we had to make a difficult decision again. Would we resume operation in the City? It was during this time that hate crimes and incidents against Asians increased. We were to beware of the virus and hate crime perpetrators as well. With homeless camps and crime rates growing, we decided not to renew our lease.

We moved our physical office in Burlingame CA. This time my view is no longer the once bustling city, but the San Francisco Bay. I now can see planes landing and taking off from the San Francisco airport. It is calming and the beginning of a new era for the law firm.

Whether the decision to move our law firm out of San Francisco was good or bad, it was honestly a difficult one to make. I know there are other areas that may be safer than Fifth and Market, in the City I called home, where we grew our careers and spent half of my life. Deep inside, I hope that one day, San Francisco will regain its old glory, as a favorite tourist destination and an ideal place to work.

(Atty. Lourdes S. Tancinco is an immigration attorney and immigrant rights advocate based in the San Francisco Bay area  and a partner at the Tancinco Law P.C.. She may be reached at law@tancinco.com, www.tancinco.com, facebook/tancincolaw, or at 1-888-930-0808)

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Tancinco Law 4.0: 2023 Onwards. The Era of a Hybrid Law Firm.

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Typewriters, copier machines, telephone landlines and stack of legal pads..these were the initial office tools that we had when Tancinco Law opened in May 1992.  The office was located at the center of downtown San Francisco on Fifth and Market.

In 1992, Tancinco Law was founded by two alumni of the University of the Philippines College of Law, spouses Rey and Lourdes Tancinco. Equipped with a law degree, Philippine and California bar licenses, they started their own practice to provide legal services to their fellow immigrants in their adopted land.

F.B.I. were the initial areas of practice:  Family Law, Business Law and Immigration. As the years passed and as the client base increased, it found itself practicing 80% immigration law with clients mainly from the first generation of Filipino immigrants.

The First Decade: 1992-2002 “Baby Steps” Years

Just like a toddler learning to walk, the first 10 years were marked with baby steps to building clientele. Family and close friends were indispensable to building the practice. In fact, the first few attorneys and staff were close friends. It was during this first decade that Attorney Lourdes Tancinco (Atty Lou) engaged voluntarily in community service by providing pro bono legal services to Filipino World War II veterans who were new immigrants then arriving under the IMMACT90. Through the free legal clinic, thousands of elderly veterans were able to reunite with their spouses and other family members.A 501(c)(3) organization was co-founded by Attorney Lou, the San Francisco Veterans Equity Center (SFVEC).

Tancinco Law’s immigration practice took on general immigration cases such as family and employment based visas. Highlights of the practice was the increase of the healthcare workers being petitioned by hospitals and health care agencies. During this decade the H1A visas, specifically created for registered nurses, were issued to many Filipino nurses assisted by the firm.  The firm also assisted with getting visas for managers and employees of businesses in the Philippines extending their operations in the United States. In 1997, a legislation was passed resulting in the major overhaul of the Immigration & Nationality Act making it more difficult for those with prior fraud immigration violations and criminal cases to legalize their stay in the United States.

While no legalization law was enacted, Section 245i was enacted giving opportunity for those in unlawful presence to adjust status as long as they have approved petitions filed before April 30, 2001. Thousands of Filipino clients took advantage of this legislation.

Second Decade: 2002-2012 “Expansion Years”

The second decade is about expansion. Physical locations of the Tancinco Law were established. First with the Manila office in 2007, Vallejo in 2008, Milpitas in 2012. With the physical offices in various locations Tancinco Law attorneys were able to reach more clients in close proximity to the office location.

With no new legislation affecting immigrants coupled with the 2008 Recession, the practice of law was somehow adversely affected. Nonetheless, the firm continued its immigration advocacy as Atty Lou continued to engage in educational campaigns through her newspaper columns published weekly in Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine News and Filipino Guardian. It was also during this second decade that Attorney Lou embarked on a non-traditional lawyering project, that of a Host and Producer of an Immigration TV show known as GMA’s Pusong Pinoy Sa Amerika. Pinoy Panawagan at TFC’s Balitang America was also launched where she appeared on TV answering viewers’ questions on immigration matters. 

One of the historic moments during this decade was enactment into law of the Filipino Veterans Compensation Act of 2009. Atty  Lou through the San Francisco Veterans Equity Center, and other community advocates actively lobbied for the passage of this Act which benefited thousands of Filipino veterans who fought during World War II.

The Third Decade 2012-2022 “Survival Years & the Birth of the New Normal”

With four physical locations in existence, a fifth location was established in 2015. The goal was to reach more clients in the Los Angeles area. The law firm became busy this era not because we had more clients availing of services but because we had more inquiries about consequences of Trump’s anti-immigrant policies. Restrictive deportation rules were enforced. The firm was able to assist clients in their removal cases and successfully got their green cards despite the lengthy wait.

This decade experienced the worst and unexpected crisis: the COVID-19 outbreak in the early months of 2020. The firm closed all of its 4 physical locations. Operations of Tancinco Law were done remotely. Attorneys and staff using technology were all working from home but efficiently reached out to clients and completed tasks more productively. The pandemic years gave way to the new normal, the hybrid law firm where the practice will continue to use technology to provide efficient service to its clientele.

The physical location of the office moved from the City of  San Francisco CA to Burlingame CA (near SFO Airport about 20 minutes away from the City). Tancinco Law remains very accessible to existing and potential clients. On its website, clients may reach attorneys and schedule appointments. The phone number and email addresses are the same.

2023 will be the beginning of its 4th decade. No more typewriters and paper files. It is an operational hybrid firm that has adopted the new normal of being a paperless office, staff working remotely and communicating more efficiently using different platforms. Tancinco Law is moving forward and continuing its commitment to provide services to the immigrant community especially now that it has retooled using new and best digital technology. 

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Revisiting the “Parole in Place” Policy for Children of WWII Veterans

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When U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials visited the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco in July 2015 for a briefing on the Filipino World War II Veteran Policy, the issue that was of serious concern is about the eligibility of those who are in the United States in unlawful status. It was emphasized that the the FWVP parole is only for those outside the United States. Those who are in the United States must leave the country to get the parole but risk being barred for 3-10 years.

Those who are in the United States in unlawful status may still consider applying for a parole in place under the November 15, 2013 USCIS policy memorandum. However, parole in place has limited applicability.

Parole in Place

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released a Policy Memorandum titled “Parole of Spouses, Children and Parents of Active Duty Members of the U.S.Armed Forces, the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve, and Former Members of the U.S. Armed Forces or Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve and the Effect of Parole on Inadmissibility under Immigration and Nationality Act§ 212(a)(6)(A)(i)”. Pursuant to this Memorandum the children, parents and spouses of active duty members of the US Armed Forces as well as the veterans of the US Armed Forces are entitled to a “parole” status.

Parole status means that those eligible will be considered granted temporary relief from removal and that they will be provided with employment authorization document. The new policy also shall allow immediate relative who are eligible for this parole in place status to adjust their status if they have an approved petition visa petition from their US citizen immediate relative. Parole status does not erase any period of prior unlawful presence.

Usually “parole” status is granted to those who are entering the United States but have no valid visas. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has the authority to grant parole based on humanitarian or emergency circumstances of the applicant for parole. In this new policy memorandum, the grant of parole status is extended to those who are already in the United States in unlawful status but who have entered the United States without inspection or admission. Those who have entered with a valid visa and later on had the visa expired are not eligible for the parole in place.

Considering that the “parole in place” relief has limited applicability to spouses, children and parents of members and veterans of the military service, only children of war veterans who entered without inspection are entitled to parole. Most Filipinos who enter the United States have in their possession valid nonimmigrant visas. At the time of their entry, they are inspected and admitted. Since they were inspected, even if there are those who failed to maintain lawful status, they still will not be eligible for the parole in place.

The case will be different for children of veterans who crossed the Canadian or the Mexican border. When someone crosses the border without the appropriate visa, these are considered to have entered without admission or inspection (known as “EWIs”). If such is the case, then the “parole in place” may be applied with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Yet. those who are not eligible for parole in place may explore the option of adjustment of status under Section 245(i) since most of the veterans petition for their children were filed in before 2001.

(Lourdes Santos Tancinco, Esq is a partner at the Tancinco Law Offices, a Professional Law Corp. Her principal office is located at One Hallidie Plaza, Ste 818, San Francisco CA 94102 and may be reached at 1 888 930 0808 or email at law@tancinco.com or go to their website at tancinco.weareph.com/old or at www.facebook.com/tancincolaw.)

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Global Pinoy

US parole for WWII Filvet families: Good news, bad news

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Beginning June 8, 2016, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services will accept applications for parole from eligible children of Filipino WWII veterans. This is a positive development for veterans who have been waiting for many years to be reunited with their children. However, this policy is being implemented at a time when many of our veterans, or their widows, have passed on or are elderly. Will they be able to reap any benefit from this program?

Family-based preference visas are numerically limited per year, resulting in significant waiting periods for immigrant visa issuance. For the Philippines, the waiting period for first preference immigrant category covering adult, single children of US citizens is almost 10 years.

Worse yet, it is taking more than 20 years for married children of US citizens. Many elderly veterans with petitions have gone on from this world unable to wait for their children to immigrate. Of those still alive, many are now sickly and living alone.

Due to the dysfunction of the US immigration system, President Obama released a 2015 report called the “Modernizing and Streamlining of the Immigration System,” which included a mandate to allow the families of Filipino veterans to enter the United States. Hence, the parole program was conceived.

Unlike a US visa, a discretionary grant of parole allows a person to temporarily enter the US for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit. The new parole program will allow the children of Filipino WWII veterans who have approved petitions to come to the US while waiting for their immigrant visas.

Recently, I gathered a group of veterans and widows in San Francisco to make a presentation on the parole program. I explained clearly to them that with this parole program, they will soon be reunited with their children in the coming months. As I was speaking with excitement, the veterans seemed quiet instead of their usual smiles and celebratory noise. Were they in shock that their children would soon be coming to the US? Why didn’t they seem happy? Don’t they understand the impact of this parole program?

It was disheartening to see their joyless reactions. After I spoke, I approached Nana Auring, a widow of a veteran, who appeared downcast during my presentation. She whispered to me, “I was told to wait. That’s what I have been doing.”

I told Nana she didn’t have to wait long anymore because of the parole program. She just sadly nodded. Her husband died waiting to be reunited with their children. She’s been living alone in her room for many years just waiting. At that point, I realized I was addressing elderly and ailing seniors in their late 80s and early 90s who had already given up hope.

The few veterans and widows who attended my presentation may not be representative of all the beneficiaries of the program. To many, I believe, this opportunity of coming to the US through parole, will help realize the lifetime dream of many Filipino veterans (or their widows) wishing for family reunification. To some, this will be too little too late.

(Atty. Lourdes S. Tancinco is an immigration attorney based in San Francisco CA. She may be reached at law@tancinco.com, tancinco.weareph.com/old, www.facebook/tancincolaw, or at 1-888-930-0808)