warning: direct discussion of U.S. politics and racism
Three life events that led to my focus on serving the immigrant business community
I did not intend to choose immigrant clients as a service niche. But as I notice more and more of my best clients fitting this description, I took time to think about events of the past that led to this position. After taking on a new financial technology client this week who was, appropriately, uncertain of my ability to coach him through a tax problem, I realized that I am really good at solving immigrant business and tax compliance issues and wondered how it came to be without me even noticing a focus in this niche. This essay explores three pivotal experiences that shaped my focus on immigrant business advocacy.
Medsave
Back in the middle 1990s I formed a small online company to provide health insurance to building contractor clients and their employees. I describe it now as a first generation health insurance exchange and an early dot com business model that was later sold to a public technology company in California. I have no understanding of what they have done with it since them. During the years under my management, Medsave was the leading online provider (at least for a short time until Ehealth went public in 2006) of health insurance for immigrants in the U.S. I often found myself defending the rights of immigrants to purchase private health insurance, according to our underwriters. The ability to buy insurance from a private insurance company is not connected in any way to your citizenship or immigration status. This is a simple and clear fact of the private insurance industry. Insurance is connected, of course, to your location of residence because this determines the legal jurisdiction of the insurance policy and where you are most likely to receive medical care. Some immigrants applying for citizenship had to provide evidence of medical coverage in those days. I spent much time addressing the legal requirements of immigrants in each state. I was a frequent public speaker, instructor, and author in those days, and I remember defending against attacks in person and on social media by people who believed that immigrants should not be able to buy health private insurance. Almost by accident, I became a defender of immigrant rights. I will never know my dis-invitation to testify before Congress in 2003 was triggered by my stance on immigrants’ rights or another progressive position.
Money Island Marina
A decade later, I purchased a neighboring marina property from a federal bankruptcy trustee. I was a creditor in the bankruptcy, and this seemed like the best way to resolve my debt. The plan was to purchase the property and then resell it to the State of New Jersey as open space. The controlling state officials thought it was a good idea and agreed informally, so I put in the application paperwork. However, our plans were scuttled in the fall of 2012 by Superstorm Sandy. The state coastal management offices were in disarray and eventually backed out of purchase plan. Over the following years I spent more than a million dollars attempting to rebuild more sustainably. I was not directly involved with management of the facility in the spring of 2013 when one of the longstanding marina customers told me “I just chased away a couple of n**** who wanted to come fishing”. I lost my cool and yelled “This is 2013 and we do not chase away anybody we don’t like based on their race.” That neighbor/customer never returned to the marina but we have made up and are civil with each other now. I have observed that many local residents of his generation hold racist beliefs, and that is something I won’t change.
We implemented a formal acceptable public conduct policy for associates, customers, and guests and incorporated this into our contracts. I banned other divisive symbols like confederate flags on boats. Not long after, I heard from the marina manager that the older customers referred to our place as “Little United Nations”. He was nervous about upsetting long time customers, but eventually came to love the flow of new immigrant visitors , mostly from Philadelphia. Over the past decade, my best experiences and memories stem from the new immigrant friends I’ve met there.
National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI)
I originally served primarily building contractors in southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. I served as president of the local chapter of NARI and as a national board member. In my work, I sometimes found myself on Donald Trump’s sites in the 1990s and connected with both immigrant workers (for health insurance) and the contractors (for accounting services and employee benefit plans). In two cases I was directly involved in contract disputes where Trump refused to pay. I tried to help as a negotiator, but he lied to me about payments made. Eventually both contractors won civil fraud judgements against him, but neither collected because Trump filed bankruptcy. I was aware that the majority of construction workers were immigrants. In those days, the State of New Jersey Department of Community Services web site said that over 70% of workers in industries like construction, farming and fishing were undocumented. The page was removed when Governor Christie announced his candidacy for president. Since then, I’ve met hundreds of construction workers who came here legally, hired immigration lawyers to get a green card, and then waited for years for the government to process their paperwork. I was often asked to give public talks to contractors in those days, and found myself in the position of warning other contractors about Trump. As an employee benefits expert for immigrants, I spoke up in editorials about insurance benefits for immigrant employees. Then in 2016 when the Republican party nominated Trump for president, many of my former associates in the construction trades turned against me as the person who helped prosecute Trump for fraud and expose the hypocrisy of immigrant workers on his properties.
Trends over the most recent decade
As more and more of our technology and science professionals seem to come to the U.S. from other nations, I am often asked for help to help form businesses, maintain compliance, and solve tax problems. Clients come from South America, Australia, Europe, Russia, India, and Canada. Many of these clients become business owners and investors here in the U.S. and eventually seek citizenship. Here in rural South Jersey many who came to this country as laborers are now business owners who appreciate having someone in their corner who can be called on as needed. Clients include owners of farms, fisheries, contractors, and landscaping companies. Immigrant clients in urban areas include recruiters, IT specialists, financial professionals and real estate investors. Some of my best small business clients are foreigners who opened or purchased businesses here in the U.S. They find the maze of U.S. business law and tax procedures to be dizzying. The 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA)
expanded grounds for deportations, including minor nonviolent offenses and tax noncompliance, affecting even legal permanent residents. Tax evasion or even minor offenses like incorrect tax or business filings could trigger removal. This often triggers anxiety even in immigrants who are doing their best to follow the law. I am grateful to be able to provide both the emotional assurance that we will handle the issues as well and the technical expertise to make short work of it. I am not aware of any client I’ve worked with who had a negative final outcome, although some have had their businesses raided by ICE. My observation is that the immigrant business people and professionals I have served are among the most conscientious business owners and taxpayers.
While I do not expect to have any significant influence on out nation’s decades old problems with racism and immigration, I do think that it is worthwhile to share my story. And, of course, live true to my core values that guided me through these three past life events.