2020, and, yes, as long as they have a reason to be in the US.

Heroes work for either themselves or the Government, Mercs are Metahumans who work for money, and Corporate Metas work for, well, corporations.

Besides the Hero/Merc/Corporate distinction, there are two main factions:

The Reformist Council - A group of Government Operatives, Honest Corporate Executives, and Civil Society Leaders who strive for peace and harmony between Metahumans and Normal Humans. However, some of them might go too far in the pursuit of justice.

The Underground Movement - A group of Metahumans who refuse to believe that peace is possible between Metas and Normals, and so either want to 1.) hide from the Normals, or 2.) make war on them and take over. Some of them can be good guys who are just pessimistic about peace, others, well, others are not.