Tainted Chinese drywall shows up in Katrina homes
Headline Legal News
Thomas Stone and his wife rebuilt after their home was flooded by sixfeet of water during Hurricane Katrina, never dreaming they would facethe agony of tearing it apart all over again.
They tapped Lauren Stone's 401(k) retirement savings and saved $1,000by installing Chinese-made drywall throughout their two-story home. Nowthe Stones are among hundreds of Katrina victims facing another, thistime unnatural, disaster.
Sulfur-emittingwallboard from China is wreaking havoc in homes, charring electricalwires, eating away at jewelry, silverware and other valuables, andpossibly even sickening families.
"The bathroom upstairs has acorroded shower-head, the door hinges are rusting out," said50-year-old Thomas Stone, the longtime fire chief of St. BernardParish, outside New Orleans. And then there's the stench, like rotteneggs, that seems to get worse with the heat and humidity.
"It makes me wish there would be another flood to wash it out," said his wife Lauren, 49.
Chinesemanufacturers flooded the U.S. market with more than 500 million poundsof drywall around the same time Katrina was flooding New Orleans, anAssociated Press review of shipping records has found.
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USCIS Adjusting Premium Processing Fee
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today it is adjusting the premium processing fee for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker and Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers beginning on Oct. 1, 2018 to more effectively adjudicate petitions and maintain effective service to petitioners.
The premium processing fee will increase to $1,410, a 14.92 percent increase (after rounding) from the current fee of $1,225. This increase, which is done in accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act, represents the percentage change in inflation since the fee was last increased in 2010 based on the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers.
“Because premium processing fees have not been adjusted since 2010, our ability to improve the adjudications and service processes for all petitioners has been hindered as we’ve experienced significantly higher demand for immigration benefits. Ultimately, adjusting the premium processing fee will allow us to continue making necessary investments in staff and technology to administer various immigration benefit requests more effectively and efficiently,” said Chief Financial Officer Joseph Moore. “USCIS will continue adjudicating all petitions on a case-by-case basis to determine if they meet all standards required under applicable law, policies, and regulations.”
Premium processing is an optional service that is currently authorized for certain petitioners filing Forms I-129 or I-140. The system allows petitioners to request 15-day processing of certain employment-based immigration benefit requests if they pay an extra fee. The premium processing fee is paid in addition to the base filing fee and any other applicable fees, which cannot be waived.