2015 Old Blog

Director

Phil is a Venture Partner with USVP. He joined the venture capital firm in 1985 after a successful 28-year career as an executive in the retailing industry. Prior to USVP, he served as President and CEO of Macy’s California, leading both the store’s sales growth from $200 million to nearly $1.2 billion and its profit growth from $17 million to $108 million. He also worked for R.H. Macy, Inc. and served on the Board of Directors for Apple Computers from 1979 to 1987.

Director

Mr. Morasca has served as an advisor, active board member, and chairman of middle-market, privately held companies. He has actively served on eight boards, chairing four of them. Morasca is an Executive Partner with SOLIDexecutive, Inc., an operating partner with Sterling Partners, a global private equity firm; and a staff advisor for the Gerson Lehrman Group Consultancy.

Director

Mr. Udell is founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of AccuQuote. AccuQuote has firmly established a leading position in the term life insurance market. He founded Byron Udell & Associates in 1986 and, for the first eight years, focused mainly on helping wealthy individuals and families with their permanent and term life insurance and estate planning needs. Byron Udell holds a Bachelors Degree (BS) in Business Administration from the University of Illinois.

Manager of Customer Support

VISANOW promises to provide exceptional customer service and as Manager of Customer Support Jenny Terlinden is part of fulfilling that promise.

Before she joined VISANOW, Jenny earned a Bachelor of Science in English Lit and Spanish, with a Minor in Global Cultures and European Studies from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Director

Mr. Lim has over 25 years of hands-on successful experience in investing and managing high technology private and public companies. Mr. Lim has served as Chairman and CEO for startups, buyouts, and turnarounds after re-founding Ditech Communications (DITC) in 1994 and grew it to IPO in 1999. In year 2000, Mr. Lim has established Lim Capital Group to invest in venture capital, private equity and hedge funds.

The last time a major piece of immigration reform legislation was passed by the U.S. government was 1986. Ronald Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) on November 6, 1986 as means to secure the border and establish a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Will the 2013 immigration reform bill ultimately arrive at the President's desk, almost thirty years after its counterpart passed under Reagan?

If the past is any indication, the 2013 version of reform still has hope in passing through the legislative branch, despite more than a few recent setbacks. Examining the similarities between the 1986 and 2013 bills help us understand that reform is still possible.

Both bills came at a time of desperate need for reform, decades after the most recent major reform laws

In 1986, the most recent prior immigration legislation was the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, an important set of laws that completely restructured the demographic makeup of U.S. immigrants. However, after the influx of unauthorized immigrants in the 1970s and early 80s, it was clear the Immigration and Nationality Act wasn't enough.

We are seeing the same issues with IRCA in 2013, 27 years later: it does not address the needs of the current U.S. economy and immigrant population. The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (referred to here as the 2013 bill) is an attempt to modernize immigration policy for a U.S. economy with great demand for high-skilled immigrant workers and attempts to address the now 11+ million undocumented immigrants living here as a second class, with no laws currently in place to realistically solve the problem.

The 1986 and 2013 bills are both derived from several previous unsuccessful attempts at reform

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter proposed new legislation that would secure the border, impose fines on employers who hired undocumented workers, and grant a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. His efforts were shot down by Congress, but led to the formation of a commission led by Reverend Theodore Hesburgh that made recommendations for new immigration policy in 1981.

In 1982, the first iteration of what would become IRCA was introduced to Congress, and it ended up dying in the House of Representatives. The bill was reintroduced and subsequently died again in the House in 1984. The bill was finally revived in the fall of 1986 and passed into law, and it is still the basis for most of our immigration policies today.

U.S. political leaders and legislators had/have extreme doubts about both bills passing

Many were shocked by the 1986 bill's final success after years of heated debates and setbacks. U.S. labor groups were mostly opposed to IRCA: they very concerned about the new I-9 form requirements and employment enforcement policies, which harshly punished employers for hiring undocumented workers for the first time in U.S. history. Employers and civil rights groups were also concerned about a possible national ID system stemming from these new enforcement policies, which never ended up happening.

The 1986 bill was declared practically dead just weeks before it was signed. Thanks to several last-minute compromises, it passed. U.S. Representative Dan Lungren said the following about IRCA's passing, "It's been a rocky road to get here. We thought we had a corpse. But on the way to the morgue, a toe began to twitch." In the face of all the issues and doubters, the 1986 Congress found a way to get the bill to the President's desk, thereby changing the course of immigration and impacting immigrants' lives for years to come.

Supervising Immigration Specialist

Candace brings avidity and a keen sense of awareness to the role of Immigration Specialist on the VISANOW-retained attorney team.

While studying, she worked as the general manager of her college radio station, a role that made her comfortable with leadership and organization. After graduating, Candace joined the fast-paced video gaming industry where she wrote content and managed a popular blog.

Despite being in the midst of a U.S. government shutdown, House Democrats gathered on Capitol Hill today to announce their own comprehensive immigration reform bill. The 78-page bill is based on the Gang of 8's bill that passed this summer. The new bill drops the controversial Corker-Hoeven border security amendment that was added to appease certain opponents of the original Senate bill. In its place is a provision for the Department of Homeland Security to establish a plan for arresting at least 90% of immigrants who try to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the New Democrat Coalition, House Minority Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and many other House Democrats joined together to present this bill at a time when it seems that Democrats and Republicans can't or won't see eye to eye on any legislation.

The Democrats' emphasis was on bipartisanship, with multiple representatives repeatedly stating that each part of the bill had bi-partisan support and therefore should be acceptable for House Republicans to consider.

Less than two weeks ago, a bi-partisan group was supposed to produce an immigration reform bill for the House but fell apart due to two Republican members of the group dropping out.

How viable is the Democrats' immigration reform bill?

Those who monitor the immigration debate are predicting this bill will go ignored by Republicans and is meant more to make a statement about the need for reform than to actually pass legislation. DREAMer activist organization DREAM Action Coalition released a statement today in response to the bill's release, saying they were "skeptical" and warning that "the path to citizenship should not be used as a political weapon to hurt the other party or kill any chance of reform, including piecemeal legislation."

The consensus seems to be that Republican House members will not consider an immigration reform effort led by Democrats, but there have been no official statements released from House Speaker John Boehner or other GOP leaders in the House.

Stay tuned for more updates on the House Democrats' immigration reform bill on Facebook and Twitter.