CARIBBEAN TODAY S0 c n AI Photograph by Sharon Bennett Howard Dodson, left, executive director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, explains aspects of the trans- atlantic slave trade route ("Middle Passage") to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, who earlier this month declared open an exhibition commemorating the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade at U.N. headquarters in New York. The exhibition, entitled "Lest We Forget The Triumph Over Slavery" and scheduled to run through Mar. 30, covers the Caribbean's link to the slave trade. Some 35 such pieces are on display at the U.N. Visitor's Lobby in Manhattan, including a freshly minted Jamaican $500 bank note featuring National Hero Nanny of the Maroons, as a heroine of the abolition movement. The exhibition is being presented with the cooperation of CARICOM, the Permanent Mission of India to the U.N., UNDPI, UNESCO and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, New York. It is the first in a series of events leading up to Mar. 26, 2007 when member states of the U.N. will recognize the day with a global celebration New York. U.S. reveals new travel booklets with enhanced security features WASHINGTON United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued a redesigned travel booklet as part of ongoing security improvements to update agency documents. The identification book- lets, which the USCIS claims are fraud resistant, include dig- ital photographs and signatures and other enhanced security features to deter potential counterfeiting schemes. Additional improvements include a new teal blue cover and color images of patriotic symbols of the U.S., such as the Statue of Liberty and the American flag. "We intend to periodically update our documents to capi- talize on advances in security technology and to stay ahead of efforts to circumvent our legal immigration system," said USCIS Director Emilio Gonzalez in a press release issued in mid-February. PERMITS The personalized pass- port-style booklets contain either a Permit to Reenter the United States (Form I- 327); or a Refugee Travel Document (Form 1-571). The reentry permit establish- es that permanent or condi- tional residents do not aban- don their legal status when they travel outside the U.S. for more than one year. A person with refugee or asylum status who wishes to travel abroad should carry the Refugee Travel Document to return and maintain their sta- tus. In most cases, a refugee may use the document for travel purposes in place of a passport. Travel documents current- ly in circulation are valid until the expiration date in the booklet. USCIS issues approx- imately 200,000 travel book- lets each year. USCIS said it has notified federal and international law enforcement and homeland security agencies of enhanced forensic security features included in the booklet so that agents and inspectors may recognize and validate the redesigned documents. Permanent and conditional legal residents may find more information on the reentry per- mit on the USCIS web site at: http://www.uscis.gov/files/arti- cle/B5.pdf Details on how to apply for a refugee travel document is available online at: http://www.uscis.gov/files/arti cle/d4_english.pdf On Mar. 1, 2003, the USCIS became one of three former Immigration and Naturalization Service components to join theU.S. Department of Homeland Security. USCIS is charged with transforming and improving the delivery of immi- gration and citizenship services, while enhancing the integrity of our nation's security. r niHow to adopt a non-U.S, 'iMMIGRATION resident; and getting a V KORNER job or work permit QUESTION: I was wonder- ing if someone who is a United States citizen can file for a child that is not biologically his but names him as the father on the birth certificate? ANSWER: The only means that this can happen legally is through adoption, says attorney Kerry William Bretz of the Manhattan- based law firm of Bretz & Coven, LLP. A U.S. citizen can bring his/her adopted child to live per- manently in the U.S., but note that merely naming a U.S. citizen on the birth certificate does not satisfy the complex rules regard- ing overseas adoption, added the attorney Your best option to make this work is to consult a competent immigration attorney. Note that U.S. law allows the adoption and immigration of children who are under 16 years of age, with two exceptions: bio- logical siblings of a child adopt- ed by the same parents may be adopted if under 18 years of age; and orphans over the age of 16 may be adopted, as long as the 1-600 petition was filed on their behalf before their 16th birth- day, or in the case of an orphan who is the sibling of a child adopted by the same parents, before their 18th birthday. QUESTION: I would like to work and live legally in the U.S. but do not have a work permit/visa. I have a valid 10- year visitor's visa, but do not want to spoil it by over staying. What avenues can I use to seek employment legally in the U.S.? ANSWER: You cannot work in the U.S. when you are present on a B1/B2 non-immigrant visa, advises attorney Courtney Smith of the Bronx-based law firm of Palma & Smith. The avenues you can seek to obtain employment legally in the U.S. are to apply for a H-1B and H-2B non-immi- grant visa, he added. You should seek the advice of an immigration attorney before applying for a H-1B or H-2B non-immigrant visa. Additionally, where an immigrant visa petition has been filed on your behalf - example, through a parent, spouse or sibling sponsorship - and a visa is immediately avail- able, you can apply for work authorization. But note that it is of the utmost importance that you do not over stay on your current visa, Smith added. Compiled by Felicia Persaud The above column is created (CONTINUED ON PAGE 8) March 2007 STRUGGLE AND TRIUMPH It's a place where you are not a customer.