Pirate's Cove

I mean, there weren’t any Americans she could hire?

‘It wasn’t an easy fight.’ After suing Trump to get work permit, Healey aide returns to work.

Valentina Amaro Bowser is used to the spotlight. As Governor Maura Healey’s multicultural media director, Bowser often appears on Spanish-language TV or radio programs to discuss the latest issues facing Massachusetts.

But Bowser herself became the news this year when she was put on leave from her state government job amid the federal administration’s efforts to restrict immigration — including for those with legal immigration status like herself.

Now, after more than a month of court fights, Bowser has returned to work as a liaison between Massachusetts government and the state’s immigrant communities, a link whose absence was amplified by the very chaos that severed it.

“It’s crazy that this is affecting hundreds of thousands of people who are constantly contributing to this country,” Bowser said of the Trump administration restricting immigration. “Those five weeks were a lot of reflection of, ‘OK, when I come back, what else? What ideas do we have to do things differently?’”

There are rules to working in this country, Champ, and, apparently, your job is to help illegal aliens

Bowser, a Venezuelan citizen who previously worked for the state on an H-1B work visa, and her husband, Brandon Bowser, a US citizen, sued the Department of Homeland Security and US Citizenship and Immigration Services in January, arguing that federal officials had stalled Valentina Bowser’s efforts to become a permanent resident and extend her work visa because she is from Venezuela.

She came to the US on a student visa in 2013, then stuck around, somehow receiving an H1-B visa, which is “a non-immigrant visa that allows U.S. employers to temporarily hire foreign professionals in “specialty occupations” requiring highly specialized knowledge and at least a bachelor’s degree. It is commonly used for fields like technology, engineering, and science, with an initial stay of three years, extendable up to six years.” So, she has like another year left, right? Because they are not supposed to be renewable after that total of 9 years. Further, is her job actually that specialized? She’s basically doing stupid politics things. Did she get married for love or a legal status?

Immigration officials issued Bowser an employment authorization card that she received on March 20, allowing her to continue working while they decide on her petition to become a permanent resident. Bowser returned to her role in Healey’s office three days later.

US Attorney Leah Foley’s office last week asked the court to give the federal government until May 14 to “continue processing” Bowser’s remaining applications and “account for any updated guidance issued during this period.”

And at no point during her time did she consider applying for citizenship, she just wants it all free.

Healey’s office said in her role, which the governor’s office created in 2023, Bowser works with more than 60 multicultural media outlets in Massachusetts, from organizing roundtables with state officials to translating government materials into other languages.

Is that really what an H1-B is for? Does this really bring value for American citizens? Eh, we all know what Democrats really want: for people like Bowser to be able to vote, even if just local, county, and state, and, then, maybe they can “unintentionally” vote in federal elections on the same ballot.