Press

Mexicans investing in America

Date: Friday, October 21, 2011, 5:00am CDT

Cody Lyon, Staff writer - Austin Business Journal

The call came into Texas Franchise Connection not long ago. On the other end was a 19-year-old young man from Mexico who needed to invest $5 million of his family’s money in America before he turned 21.

If he can find a restaurant or retail franchise that suits him — and there are many having trouble finding franchisees with capital — the EB-Investment Visa program could allow him to become a permanent resident relatively easily.

It’s exactly the scenario Austin-based Texas Franchise Connection is counting on happening more in the future. The company is trying to excel in steering Mexican investment money toward American franchises and real estate.

Permanent residence is possible for commercial enterprise investors if the enterprise benefits the U.S. economy, according to the U.S. Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services. The minimum investment is $1 million, and 10 jobs must be created. That amount falls to $500,000 if the investment is made in a rural area or an area with high unemployment.

As of August, the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services estimates the EB-5 program has created 41,070 jobs and $2.1 billion of capital nationwide since its 1990 inception, said Timothy Counts, a department spokesman.

Franchisor Bill Roberts, owner of Texas Family Wings LLC in Pleasanton, hopes some of that capital finds its way to his company.

He recently bought the Texas development rights to Hurricane Grill and Wings, a 65-unit family sports bar and grill based in Florida, and wants to grow the chain quickly here.

Despite the supposed availability of Mexican cash, Roberts has yet to firm up commitments. Still, he has faith that groups such as Texas Franchise Connection will guide investors and franchisees to his business.

“There is a severe disconnect between investors and the opportunity [because Mexican] investors have had to keep under the radar screen in order to not become a target of violence and corruption in Mexico,” said Greg Stanislawski at Texas Franchise Connection.

He said it is almost impossible to approach individuals directly, that his company had to foster relationships with allies to be deemed a reliable source for investment opportunity here and across the state.

Despite the sensitivity, some said the capital has tremendous promise in Texas.

“We have the largest population, favorable job growth, dynamic opportunity, but there’s one problem: Banks aren’t providing any capital,” said Bob Honts, owner and manager of Texas Lone Star Enterprises LLC, an EB-5 center in Austin approved by the Department of Homeland Security to serve the entire state.

His government-affiliated organization said it has EB-5 investment opportunity in varied industries, including assisted living facilities, hotels, housing developments, and hospitality and tourism.

Beyond any flow of capital, some experts compare the exodus of wealthy Mexicans to migrations of the past.

“When Castro said this would be a new Havana, that turned out to be Miami,” said John Butler, professor at the University of Texas’ McCombs School of Business and president of the IC² Institute.

Butler also teaches an MBA program in Mexico City. One day, a student showed up with two business ideas and about $6 million in worth.

“She picked up and left, moved, bought a house in Austin,” Butler said.

Obtaining one of 10,000 EB-5 visas issued annually usually takes about eight months.

That’s relatively quick, but calls are being made to streamline it even more because developers and other business professionals work on shorter time lines.

“There is a tremendous amount of capital out of Mexico looking for business opportunity in the United States,” said Mehron Azarmehr, an Austin-based immigration lawyer who has had an office in Monterrey, Mexico, since 1990. “I’d estimate around 90 percent of that capital is looking at Texas.”

Once a month, he crosses over and gives special EB investment visa presentations at the Club Industrial in Monterrey, counseling wealthy individuals and families about opportunities in Texas.

Much of the impetus for investing in America stems from the violence feared by wealthy Mexicans, he said.

“It’s gotten to the point that it’s not safe to succeed in business in Mexico,” said Nayeli Gallegos, director of economic development programs at the Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber has set up a program offering education on immigration laws and tax strategies, and information on business incubators in Austin.

“When we get questions about investment opportunity, we give them a list of Austin chamber members who are looking for investors,” Gallegos said.

Meanwhile, Azarmehr marvels at the shift in immigration patterns from Mexico.

“Traditionally, it was the workers looking to move here,” he said. “Now, it’s the ruling class.”

August of 1979, Parvis Azarmehr, a general officer in the Iranian Army, made a momentous decision for his youngest son, Mehron. As political tensions reached a feverish pitch in Tehran, he and his family faced a dangerous and uncertain future – professional military personnel were pinchered between old alliances to the Shah – supported by the West and the revolutionary masses – encouraged by the Ayatollah Khomeini and his fundamentalist clerics in Paris.

Mehron was 14 when he arrived in Denton, Texas to spend a couple of months with his older brother, a college student at North Texas State University. His parents gave him $150 to spend on his vacation’ – plenty of money for a carefree summer abroad.

Almost 25 years later, Mehron sits in his offices in Austin, Texas and reminisces about those times. “It never occurred to me that I would remain in the United States and that my vacation money’ would be the last payment I would ever receive from home”.

Back in Iran, the political cacophony intensified and Mehron’s father was sentenced to death by a firing squad.  As the Azarmehr family held their breath, it was decided – at the last moment – that his father’s skills might be useful to the new regime and he was pardoned – for one year.  For a long time thereafter, General Azarmehr would be given annual extensions of the pardon until he finally retired and was no longer considered a threat to the state.

Meanwhile, Mehron struggled to adjust to his family’s seismic circumstances.  Within the span of a couple of months, his fate had been dramatically – and irrevocably – transformed – the homeland of his childhood was gone forever and the homeland of his future was completely foreign to him.

Mehron’s brother immediately enrolled him in a local high school – quite an accomplishment for a young university student with an even younger brother.  They both also worked whenever they weren’t studying – sharing chores and responsibilities.

Even while Mehron wrestled with the English language, he excelled in academics – and graduated from high school at the age of 16 – two years before his peers.
In our interview, he also hastens to add that his education in Iran was superior to the public education systems of the State of Texas – a common experience for many immigrants from developed nations.

Working three jobs, he applied and was accepted to North Texas State University – where he received a Bachelor’s of Arts in Economics in 1985 and a Masters in Economics in 1987.   Somehow – and we can only guess when he found the time – Mehron also met Heather Sholty – the woman who would one day become his wife.

Upon graduation from the University with a Masters in Economics, he landed a job in Washington, D.C. with the World Bank.  His work there was fascinating – the research and presentation of ideas that could affect millions of lives in countries all over the world was challenging.   Mehron enjoyed the work immensely and learned plenty of valuable lessons – including the revelation that large organizations such as the World Bank move at an elephantine pace.

At the impatient age of 25, he was eager to see the results of his work and he began to explore other career options.  Finally deciding upon the study of law, he returned to Texas determined to attend the University of Texas in Austin. Not coincidentally, Heather also happened to be attending graduate school in Texas – earning her Masters in Art History at the prestigious Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas. Soon after Mehron returned to Texas, he and Heather were married – in May of 1990.

Mehron was discouraged but not defeated when the University of Texas rejected his application.  Instead, he enrolled at St. Mary’s University, the oldest and largest Catholic University in the state – situated in the city of San Antonio – 45 minutes South of Austin.

During his first year of study, Mehron’s reputation as a diligent and promising student grew – and at the beginning of the second semester, he was granted an audience with the newly installed Dean of the Law School.  After exchanging introductions and pleasantries, Mehron requested her help in transferring to the University of Texas in Austin.  The following semester, he started attending classes there as a visiting student.  He received a University of Texas School of Law Public Interest Presidential Scholarship and graduated from St. Mary’s School of Law with a Degree in Juris Doctorate in 1992.

Although there is no doubt that Mehron is a persuasive and articulate young professional, he attributes these kinds of successes to perhaps more valuable qualities he inherited from his forefathers – tenacity and adaptability.

His grandfather immigrated from Azerbaijan in 1930, settling in Tehran to open a grocery store and raise his family, including a son who would rise to the rank of General in the Iranian Army.

Perhaps their long history of navigation in the turbulent political waters of Iran instilled these kinds of qualities in the Azarmehr family.  Whatever the roots, it is exactly these qualities that translate to success in the United States.

While attending the University of Texas Law School, Mehron worked as a clerk for a Justice at the Texas Supreme Court.  After graduating from the law school, he worked as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Texas – prosecuting cases against corporate polluters.  In 1996, he began practicing immigration law at the firm of Gardere & Wynne, L.L.P., in Dallas.

As Mehron gained experience in immigration law, he realized that he wanted to devote his career to immigration law – assisting others – like himself – to build their lives in the U.S. He also recognized the enormous potential of an immigration law practice serving the Texas business community:

Bordering Mexico and the rest of Latin America on the South, Texas is home to
469 miles of the total 1,421 miles of Interstate Highway 35 that stretch from Mexico – through the U.S. – to Canada.  Over one-half of all goods traded between these two countries is carried by trucks on this major artery of the U.S. highway system.

Historically, Texas has been the destination for millions of immigrants from Mexico and other countries of Latin America – legally and otherwise.  With the adoption of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994 and the lowering of trade barriers, trade among the three nations more than doubled in 8 years – from US$297 billion to US$622 billion in 2001.

So, in 1998, Mehron decided to start his own immigration practice in Austin – a considerable risk for a family man with 2 young children – but Heather encouraged and supported him and once again, the Azarmehr family adapted.

Mehron found an affordable office downtown – in the Texas State Teachers’ Association Building.  Each time his clients arrived for an appointment – they were forced to undergo a curious security check before someone from Mehron’s office arrived to escort them to his office. (Author’s note:  As one of Mehron’s clients, I never understood what the Texas State Teachers’ Association could have been protecting so diligently).

Despite the inconvenience, Mehron’s clientele grew rapidly and he and Heather – who had volunteered to manage the office part-time – were soon working 60 and 70 hour weeks while raising their young children.  In 2000, Azarmehr & Associates occupied 5 offices on the 3rd floor of the building and they were running out of room to expand when Mehron made another bold move – to buy his own office building. Marshalling their courage, Mehron and Heather gambled all of their hard earned gains on their ability to succeed. The bet paid off.

In  2001, the Greater Austin International Coalition selected Mehron and another attorney, John Fitzpatrick, to present findings and recommendations at their Conference: “Going Global:  A Call to Action Conference” on International Work Force Issues.

In the same year, the television program Nightline, of ABC News, followed Mehron on one his recruiting trips to San Luis Potosi, Mexico – where he demonstrated how businesses that could not find a sufficient work force in Texas could legally and economically hire Mexican citizens.

U.S. officials were also keenly interested in Mehron’s pilot program  – for years, unethical businesses – on both sides of the border – had preyed upon Mexican citizens by offering illegal visas at exorbitant prices.

As Mehron points out:  “This is one of those rare moments in history when you have a win-win situation – it’s good for the workers, it’s good for the
companies, and it brings the two governments together.”

Since the first day Mehron opened his offices, he has succeeded in bringing hundreds of citizens of other countries to the U.S. – including many from the Former Soviet Union.  His personal experiences as an immigrant – as well as his love of the country that afforded him so many opportunities, uniquely qualify him to serve his clients with the utmost respect and care.

When MAKC International decided to include a monthly column dedicated to immigration law, we wanted to find the best.  Mehron graciously and immediately accepted the post – in keeping with his ongoing efforts to educate and assist those who would like to follow in his footsteps.

To better serve his readership, Mehron has hired an assistant, Polina, a graduate student at the University of Texas whose parents immigrated to the U.S. in 1989.  Offered a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship at Southern Methodist University, she decided to pursue a degree in Economics at the University of Texas in Austin instead – much like her mentor.

Polina will be helping Mehron to answer all of our readers’ questions – so please feel free to write Mehron at ImmigrationLaw@Makcmagazine.com or to give them a call at 512-732-0555.

Enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws were once punctuated with news reports showing dozens of illegal workers being rounded up by law enforcement before being sent back to where they came from.

Such scenes will probably be less common during the coming years.

Although the laws are mostly the same, policies dictating how they are enforced are not. And those changes could have major implications for business owners.

In April, the Barack Obama administration and U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials said immigration law enforcement will refocus its efforts on employers that hire illegal immigrants. Effectively, that means the onus has shifted to business owners, who are now held responsible for maintaining the proper documentation for their workers, law experts say.

Businesses are increasingly facing civil fines and criminal sanctions for immigration noncompliance, said Robert Loughran, an Austin-based partner for immigration law firm Foster Quan LLP.

“We see this evolving as the government gets more confident and is obligated to prosecute,” said Loughran, who is a member of the State Bar of Texas Committee on Laws Relating to Immigration and Nationality. “We believe this will evolve into the realm of white-collar business.”

There are an estimated 2 million undocumented workers in Texas, the largest number in the United States, he said.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, stepped up work site enforcement resulting from investigations of compliance failures involving Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification. The ICE is replacing the old model in which local field offices wielded broad discretion and often focused on “low-hanging fruit” rather than egregiously abusive employers.

Enforcement has increased exponentially in terms of the number of employers pursued and the severity of punishment across every industry and region of the country, and this trend is continuing under the Obama administration.

The Washington, D.C.-based Immigration Policy Center has indicated that of the 6,000 workplace immigration arrests made in 2008, only 135 were of employers. The center’s director, Mary Giovagnoli, said it’s too early to tell how the changes will affect businesses and their owners.

“This is a shift in attitude and approach that I think can right the imbalance a bit,” she said. “Our system of enforcing the law has gotten so out of whack.”
More flexibility sought

In Austin, Ivan Giraldo, co-owner of Clean Scapes, an Austin-based landscaping company, said the ICE limits the number of workers who annually enter the United States with H2B visas for temporary work. For the past three years, Giraldo has been pleased with the H2B visa program and its process, although this year the quota for H2B visas had been filled by the time Clean Scapes’ application was reviewed.

Now, however, the policy has changed to count returning workers toward the quota, making things more difficult for employers such as Clean Scapes, which typically hires 50 of its nearly 200 peak season workers with H2B visas from Mexico. That change forces employers like Clean Scapes to hire new workers who need to be trained each year, Giraldo said.

“Managers have to work harder to make up some of that consistency,” he said. “I think [ICE] needs to be more flexible about this program in particular.”
Problems with E-Verify

Meanwhile, the Internet-based E-Verify system, developed in part by the Social Security Administration, has caused problems because the Social Security card is the most altered form of identification in the United States, Loughran said.

E-Verify enables employers to compare Form I-9 information with more than 425 million records in the Social Security Administration’s database and more than 60 million records in Department of Homeland Security immigration databases.

But Loughran said companies that rely on E-Verify as their primary auditing tool are providing potentially flawed and “mineable” data to the government before conducting their own internal reviews.

Since April, employers have been required to use a new I-9 form that includes several changes, such as the acceptance of only unexpired documents as proof of identity. Several new documents have been added to the list that establishes identity and employment authorization, including passport cards, Loughran said.
Demand for visas vary by type

The demand for two of the three popular types of work visas has decreased this year. A contraction in the technology industry has lessened the demand for H1B visas, which are popular with foreign engineers and software developers, said Mehron Peter Azarmehr, an Austin-based lawyer.

Also, demand for H2B visas for nonprofessional workers has dropped with the sharp decline in the housing construction industry, he said.

But a shortage of registered nurses has fueled a strong demand for H1C visas. And proponents advocate loosening restrictions to alleviate the shortage that encourages the overuse of nurses, Azarmehr said.

Such a measure could have far-reaching implications, he said.

“By eliminating that shortage, you cut out the cost of temporary contract nurses and eliminate the overtime costs,” he said. “And the hospitals would reduce burnout and turnover. Perhaps it would improve the quality of our health care.”

Original Article: http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2009/07/13/focus1.html

ZACATECAS, Mexico – More than 1,000 men from the Mexican state of Zacatecas have been recruited by U.S. companies through a special state program that helps them obtain legal visas to work temporarily in the United States.

Now women want in, too. And as it turns out, more and more U.S. employers – from Midwestern cleaning services to landscapers based in Austin – are in the market for female seasonal laborers.

Zacatecas is an arid state where jobs are as scarce as water. Many people have died in deserts or drowned in rivers trying to cross into the United States to look for work illegally. Women are no exception; in May, a smuggler abandoned migrant Amalia Martinez Esparza, leaving her to die of dehydration on the Texas border.

“I was on the brink of crossing like that as well, but my mother was very against it,” said Diana Navarro, 28, who trained as a secretary in Zacatecas but has only been able to find work as a store clerk for $45 a week.

Navarro is seeking a legal visa through the state program and is on a list for a possible temporary job as a janitor in the Detroit area with Kellermeyer Building Services, the largest janitorial company in the United States. Kellermeyer is based in Maumee, Ohio, and operates in 45 states.

Scores of other women from Zacatecas also have registered to vie for as many as 100 seasonal positions with Kellermeyer, which cleans department stores and offices.

Kellermeyer must show it has attempted to recruit domestically in the Detroit area before it can obtain permission to hire the Mexican women. The U.S. Labor Department and the Immigration and Nationalization Service screen the applications.

“So far, it seems that only men have come and gone. Well, I went down and asked why women couldn’t go, too,” said Silvia Navarro, 46, Diana’s aunt, who also hopes to be selected.

Rosa Leticia Bonora, 45, a single mother of four who has worked mostly as a seamstress, is another applicant. She heard that she might earn at least $7 an hour and that the company would find her an apartment to share with other women from Zacatecas.

Other possibilities are emerging in Austin, where a landscaping company called Gardens is considering collaborating with the Zacatecas program, Austin immigration lawyer Mehron Azamehr said.

“Initially, the Zacatecas program was all men. Now almost all my clients are open to hiring women, too,” said Azamehr, who has arranged for residents of Zacatecas to work in meatpacking, food processing, construction and in resort hotels that require seasonal help.

In Dallas, a Spanish-language TV executive is working with Zacatecas and other Mexican states to recruit certified, bilingual nurses, male or female. Luis de la Garza, president of TeleAmerica in Dallas, said he’s been told that hospitals in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas are in serious need of bilingual nurses.

“This kind of program is the only solution to illegal migration,” de la Garza said. “Right now the Zacatecas program is one of the only programs where people can come safely, without fear and without having to be slaves.”

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